A map is a dataset
A typological map locates coded language varieties according to a published sample and definitions. It does not show every dialect, every historical period or a precise speech boundary. Missing data mean the source lacked a usable classification, not that the feature was absent. Check chapter notes before interpreting a color as a universal property of a region.
Alternative explanations
Two languages may share a pattern through common ancestry, contact, independent development or a very broad human tendency. A typological match by itself cannot choose among those histories. For contact, seek a dated route and other shared innovations; for inheritance, seek regular correspondences and comparative morphology.
Application to a text
If a reference calls a language SOV, still parse the clause in front of you. Identify the subject and object from case, agreement or context and inspect the clause type and genre. A poem or inscription can place information differently from a neutral prose sample without contradicting the typological summary.
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.