The author questions the assumption that all languages have some basic, syntactically defined, constituent order, which can be altered for pragmatic purposes. It is argued that in a number of languages, the order of constituents does not reflect their syntactic functions at all, but rather their pragmatic functions: their relative newsworthiness, in terms of new information, new topic, or contrast-marking, within the discourse at hand. Data from Cayuga (an Iroquoian language in Ontario), Ngandi (an Australian aboriginal language of eastern Arnhem Land), and Coos (an Oregon language).