5 1370 comparative method applied syntax theoretically reason comparative method could applied syntactic properties however two practical great impediments 1 syntax dealing word order word order word order environments e g ich verstehe sie ploetzlich verstehe ich sie subordinating conjunction ich sie verstehe un grand homme un homme grand chemise propre propre chemise 2 measure difference far svo sov vso know describe syntactic properties satisfactorily know measure differences boils similarities validly argue binary scale different shades grey good enough remains reach valid comparisons basis single feature many languages x n identical features n tempted say syntactic similarity n n true feature weighting top even know constitutes one feature instance may consider svo consisting two three features 1 relative order subject verb 2 relative order verb object 3 relative order subject object necessary disambiguate specify free sv order instance via ternary relation precede follow free thus order free v binary relation precede follow union thus order precede v follow v many questions unanswered fear even unaddressed many questions issuing think found proper methodology shaky grounds better content arguing futilely blue keyboard else set tackling questions daunting task j guy trl oz au