Re: V2

From: "Sally Caves"

> Carlos Thompson wrote:
>
> > V2 languages are languages that have the verb in the second position.
This
> > means that the usual stucture is SVO (or OVS), as English, but unlike
> > English, when another part of the struct is fronted, the verb remains in
> > the second position and the subject falls in the third.
> > i.e.
> >   jag läser tidningen idag
> >   S   V     O         C
[snip]

> > while in English the SV order is strict, in Swedish, and most Germanic
> > languages, the second position of the verb is strict.
> The same is true of Old English, where SV is reversed when an adverb
> fronts the sentence, as in this made up sentence--Ceolstan, son of
> Wulfstan, acquired (lit. seized to) the realm of Essex:
>
>         Ceolstan Wulfstanes sunu feng to Esseaxna rice
>         S                         v
>
> But:
>         Her feng Ceolstan Wulfstanes sunu to Esseaxna rice
>         Adv  V   S
And are there not vestiges of this structure in modern English?

Never have I seen such a beautiful painting. (a little poetic, I'll grant
you, but in my idiolect at least, it's the only grammatical possibility if
you front "never").

Under no circumstances may you have a piece of cake before dinner.

So do I.

Neither do I.

Nor do I.

Negativity seems to play a major role here (and still involves adverbs or
adverbial constructions), but I seem to remember having come up with a
couple of affirmative examples as well (these things usually hit while I'm
in the shower or driving to work and totally escape me just now -- pass the
luffa (sp?) sponge.). Anyway these *are* vestigial structures.

> > I could generalize that V1 languages are those with verb in the first
place:
> > VSO and VOS... but don't quote me on that.
>
> What about verbs that resolutely stay in final position?  As in Teonaht?
And Géarthnuns! The verb (indicating mood and meaning) hangs out resolutely
at the end no matter how the rest of the sentence runs amok. There is a
verbal particle (for want of a better term -- it's not an auxiliary verb; it
has no real semantic meaning on its own) called a shléts (indicating tense
and voice) which hangs V2 position in ordinary utterances. Nevertheless, I
consider Géarthnuns SOV. There was a *strong* pull (my German studies?) way
back when to keep it there if one fronted other elements, but I decided it
felt to "Germanish" and opted against it. It now almost always follows the
nominative of the sentence (placing an element between the nominative and
the shléts stresses that element to the extreme [more so than fronting]). In
fact, with regard to sentence rhythm, the nominative and the shléts almost
become a unit, sounding a bit, rhythm-wise, like the topic/subject markers
"wa" and "ga" in Japanese. We'll see how that unfolds.

Kou