A relative claim
A linguistic rarity is a pattern found in relatively few languages under a stated definition and within a stated sample. It is not a property of an entire people, a measure of difficulty, or a stage of cultural development. A feature can be uncommon in a worldwide sample and ordinary across a local region or family. A phenomenon can be rare as a dominant pattern yet frequent as an alternate construction. These different denominators must be named.
WALS chapter 81 counts object–verb–subject and object–subject–verb as infrequent dominant orders among the languages for which it has a value. That result concerns transitive declarative clauses with two full noun arguments. It does not say that speakers of other languages never put an object first, nor that an object-first language uses that order in every sentence. The category and the sampling rule give the claim its meaning.
A sourced observation
The first unit of evidence is an attested form or construction in a dated, identified variety. Keep the source spelling or transcription, its gloss, the author’s analysis, and your own explanation distinct. A short quotation from a grammar may demonstrate that a contrast exists; a claim about productivity or frequency requires a broader set of forms. When a typological database codes a language, follow its citation back to the grammar or text if the question depends on a disputed detail.
For historical languages, the surviving corpus is a selective sample of genres and periods. A feature absent from royal inscriptions might have occurred in conversation, songs, or documents that did not survive. Record “not attested in this corpus” when that is all the evidence warrants. Do not turn a reconstructed grammar into a list of observations from one ancient speaker.
Learning comparison
Every course example names its language and source. Living-language examples are comparative evidence for possible structures; they do not fill gaps in an ancient language’s record. A script, a language, a community, and a transcription are different objects of study. Their labels should stay separate even when a remarkable written sign invites a memorable story.
Practice: rewrite “this is the rarest grammar in the world” as one narrow question. Specify a feature, the clause or word type being examined, the period, and the comparison sample. Then state what one counterexample would show and what it would leave unresolved.
Modern-language examples on this page clarify a linguistic pattern. They do not establish unattested sounds or forms for an ancient language. Follow the cited sources below and keep editorial readings separate from the surviving trace.