Why is SOV the most common word order?

Answer 1

SOV is the most common because in many of the world's languages, it is beneficial to know what the subject of the sentence is first to orient the listener. The verb should be close to the object but this could be before or after (as is the case with SOV and SVO, the two most popular). The advantage that SOV has is that both the subject and the object are articulated early and the context of the situation presented in a sentence has been established for the listener, who could infer the verb depending on their personal knowledge of the subject and the object.