Re: V2

Nik Taylor wrote:

> Dale Morris wrote:
> >
> > jmpearson@FACSTAFF.WISC.EDU writes:
> >
> > > To give some examples, if English were V2, then each of the following
> > >  sentences would be grammatical (here square brackets are used to indicate
> > >  constituents):
>
> Actually, there are a few vestiges of V2 in English, as in "Never have I
> heard such nonsense" (compare *"Never I have heard ..."), but, of
> course, this is only in a few cases.
It seems to be invoked for added emphasis in conjuction
with adverbials. Compare:

(a)  I would have spoken to him then.
      _Then_ I would have spoken to him.
      Only _then_ would I have spoken to him.
     *Only then I would have spoken to him

(b) I knew then that...
      Only then did I know that...
      *Only then I knew that...

(This last example from (b) would, though, be grammatical for
me in other contexts, with a concordant shift in meaning)

So, the adverbs seem to also trigger Do-support, as with
questions and negations.

======================================
Tom Wier <artabanos@...>
ICQ#: 4315704   AIM: Deuterotom
Website: <http://www.angelfire.com/tx/eclectorium/>
"Cogito ergo sum, sed credo ergo ero."

Non cuicumque datum est habere nasum.
It is not given to just anyone to have a nose.
        -- Martial
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