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Re: Verb-second ... verb-penultimate languages?

From:Joe <joe@...>
Date:Saturday, April 22, 2006, 20:08
R A Brown wrote:

> Yahya Abdal-Aziz wrote: > >> On Fri, 21 Apr 2006, Jim Henry wrote: [snip] >> >>> Does anyone know of any verb-penultimate languages? >>> I suppose they would be VS in intransitive sentences, >>> SVO in transitive, and SOVA where there is a sentential adverb; >>> maybe SOVR (source/recipient last) in ditransitive sentences? >>> Part of me suspects this is unnatural, and yet it doesn't seem any >>> odder w.r.t. V2 languages than OVS or OSV languages, which >>> do exist in small numbers. >>> ------------------------------ >> >> >> >> How would this work? To get an idea of it, I need to >> create an example or two. >> > [examples snipped] > >> An example that is not subject-final is a little harder for me to >> envisage. > > > I agree. > > As I understand it, the so-called V2 languages, it's really: TOPIC + > VERB + REST OF SENTENCE. > > Of course the topic is more often the the grammatical subject; but > when the topic is not the subject, we front the topic and the > grammatical subject is 'tucked away' after the verb. >
I'm not sure. Can you count a whole clause as a topic? Example from German: Weil ich der Koenig bin, sollte ich mein Land regieren Because I am the King, I should govern my country I'm actually not meaning this a criticism so much as a query. Do clauses count as topics, especially one like the above?

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Chris Bates <chris.maths_student@...>