Re: V2 languages

Sally Caves wrote:

> Do V2 languages regularly front the object like that?
> In other words, OVS?
What you're really addressing here, Sally, is topicalization:  it's not
so much the *object* that's pushed to the front, but the topic, the
main idea.  For example, in German you could say:

    Diesen Nachmittag gehe ich ins Kino, um _Star Wars_ zu schauen.
    This afternoon go I into-the movie-theater in order _Star Wars_ to watch.
    This afternoon I'm gonna go to the movies to see _Star Wars_.

Here the topic, the time of day, is pushed forward in the sentence
to emphasize it.  Note that this also happens in the English translation.
In German, because case distinctions are still retained, this can be
done on an even broader scale.  Object topicalization is
rare in English and can usually only happen in sentences like:

"*Him* I know"

where pronouns indicate case.

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