Re: V2

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):
>
>     [ John ]  GAVE  [ the book ]  [ to Daniel ]  [ yesterday ]
>     [ the book ]  GAVE  [ John ]  [ to Daniel ]  [ yesterday ]
>     [ to Daniel ]  GAVE  [ John ]  [ the book ]  [ yesterday ]
>     [ yesterday ]  GAVE  [ John ]  [ the book ]  [ to Daniel ]
>
>  In other words, V2 languages can be SVOX, OVSX, or XVSO.
     So in these languages can the subject and object only be determined by
inflection and/or context?  Or are certain of the above patterns used in
specific situations?  I guess the biggest concern would be how to distinguish
the first two...

Thanks for the explanation, btw.

Dale