V2 word order
Encyclopedia
In syntax
, verb-second (V2) word order is the rule in some languages that the second constituent
of declarative main clauses is always a verb, while this is not necessarily the case in other types of clauses.
It may seem that the verb is in the third position in the last sentence, but it is the second constituent; the first constituent is "dit boek" (this book). The word "dit" is a proclitic
in this phrase and lacks prosodic
independence.
Note the contrast with the following embedded clauses:
Similar examples can be given for German.
The usual analysis of the Dutch (and German) V2 phenomenon is that the "normal" position of the verb is at the end of the clause (SOV) and that in main clauses, the inflected
verb moves to the second position. This is supported by the fact that in sentences with verb clusters, only the auxiliary
appears in the second position:
In German these phrases have different word orders for the auxiliaries, that closely resemble the SOV word order (auxiliaries following the main verb). Presented below for contrast with the Dutch above.
Note that the last example would normally be perceived as too awkward and be replaced with the straightforward "Ich wollte dieses Buch lesen können", unless the speaker wants to emphasize tense.
. (Modern English
is a notable exception, but Old English had V2 word order.) However, it is also present in some languages that may have been influenced by the Germanic languages, such as some Rhaeto-Romance languages
and Old French
, as well as in certain other languages, for example Kashmiri
and O'Odham
. Other verbs are placed in the position dictated by the prevailing word order of the language: in otherwise SVO languages, such as Swedish
and Icelandic
, the verb is placed after the subject but before the object; in otherwise SOV languages, such as German
and Dutch
, the verb is placed after the object.
In addition, there are two prime distinctions of V2 languages. The CP-V2 languages such as Swedish and German only allow the movement in main clauses. The term asymmetric V2 may also be applied to these languages, as V2 effects are only found in matrix clauses. On the other hand, the IP-V2 languages such as Icelandic and Yiddish require movement in subclauses too. The term symmetric V2 may also be used, as V2 effects occur in both matrix and subordinate clauses. Kashmiri
constitutes a third, intermediate type in which there is "movement" in main clauses and sentential-object clauses but not in relative clauses. The CP and IP refer to a particular theory of grammar in which there is a position known as the complementiser, to which the verb moves in CP-V2 languages. Finding it already occupied by the complementiser pronoun 'that' in subclauses, movement is prohibited. On the other hand, in IP languages, a position known as I is found directly after the C position, which is never occupied (except after V2 movement) and thus movement is allowed in subclauses. Although this theory is explained with reference to a particular theory, the difference between Swedish and German grammar on the one hand and Icelandic and Yiddish grammar on the other is real, and the terms 'CP-V2' and 'IP-V2' are used even by those who do not subscribe to the theory.
An earlier stage of English was V2, and some vestiges of its former structure have remained in fixed phrases such as 'so am I', adverbial time phrases such as 'not once has he bothered to phone', and productive structures like 'I didn't go and neither did he', with the verb before the subject ('I' and 'he', respectively). It has been argued that older English word order was of the SVO, IP-V2 sort, and it is easy to see how such an order can with little change develop into a simple SVO language as is Modern English today.
, and Dutch
examples, Dutch being the first example given. Note that Dutch and German word order differ when several verbs are placed together at the end of the clause; German places the inflected verb last in the sequence, while Dutch places it first (and the remainder in the order opposite to German). German word order is therefore somewhat more true to SOV than Dutch.
I said that today read I this book.
Syntax
In linguistics, syntax is the study of the principles and rules for constructing phrases and sentences in natural languages....
, verb-second (V2) word order is the rule in some languages that the second constituent
Constituent (linguistics)
In syntactic analysis, a constituent is a word or a group of words that functions as a single unit within a hierarchical structure. The analysis of constituent structure is associated mainly with phrase structure grammars, although dependency grammars also allow sentence structure to be broken down...
of declarative main clauses is always a verb, while this is not necessarily the case in other types of clauses.
V2 effect
The V2 effect is clearly demonstrated in the following Dutch sentences:| Ik | las | dit boek | gisteren. |
| I | read | this book | yesterday |
| "I read this book yesterday." | |||
| Gisteren | las | ik | dit boek. |
| yesterday | read | I | this book |
| "Yesterday I read this book." | |||
| Dit boek | las | ik | gisteren. |
| this book | read | I | yesterday |
| "This book I read yesterday." | |||
It may seem that the verb is in the third position in the last sentence, but it is the second constituent; the first constituent is "dit boek" (this book). The word "dit" is a proclitic
Clitic
In morphology and syntax, a clitic is a morpheme that is grammatically independent, but phonologically dependent on another word or phrase. It is pronounced like an affix, but works at the phrase level...
in this phrase and lacks prosodic
Prosody (linguistics)
In linguistics, prosody is the rhythm, stress, and intonation of speech. Prosody may reflect various features of the speaker or the utterance: the emotional state of the speaker; the form of the utterance ; the presence of irony or sarcasm; emphasis, contrast, and focus; or other elements of...
independence.
Note the contrast with the following embedded clauses:
| Het boek, | dat | ik | gisteren | las |
| the book, | that | I | yesterday | read |
| "The book I read yesterday" | ||||
| Ik | zei | dat | ik | gisteren | dit boek | las |
| I | said | that | I | yesterday | this book | read |
| "I said I read this book yesterday." | ||||||
Similar examples can be given for German.
The usual analysis of the Dutch (and German) V2 phenomenon is that the "normal" position of the verb is at the end of the clause (SOV) and that in main clauses, the inflected
Inflection
In grammar, inflection or inflexion is the modification of a word to express different grammatical categories such as tense, grammatical mood, grammatical voice, aspect, person, number, gender and case...
verb moves to the second position. This is supported by the fact that in sentences with verb clusters, only the auxiliary
Auxiliary verb
In linguistics, an auxiliary verb is a verb that gives further semantic or syntactic information about a main or full verb. In English, the extra meaning provided by an auxiliary verb alters the basic meaning of the main verb to make it have one or more of the following functions: passive voice,...
appears in the second position:
| Ik | heb | dit boek | gelezen. |
| I | have | this book | read |
| "I've read this book." | |||
| Ik | heb | dit boek | willen lezen. |
| I | have | this book | want read |
| "I've wanted to read this book." | |||
| Ik | wilde | dit boek | kunnen lezen. | |||
| I | wanted | this book | can read | |||
| "I wanted to be able to read this book." | ||||||
In German these phrases have different word orders for the auxiliaries, that closely resemble the SOV word order (auxiliaries following the main verb). Presented below for contrast with the Dutch above.
| Ich | habe | dieses Buch | gelesen. |
| I | have | this book | read |
| "I've read this book." | |||
| Ich | habe | dieses Buch | lesen wollen. | ||
| I | have | this book | read want | ||
| "I've wanted to read this book." | |||||
| Ich | habe | dieses Buch | lesen können | wollen. |
| I | have | this book | read can | wanted |
| "I've wanted to be able to read this book." | ||||
Note that the last example would normally be perceived as too awkward and be replaced with the straightforward "Ich wollte dieses Buch lesen können", unless the speaker wants to emphasize tense.
Classification
V2 word order is primarily associated with Germanic languagesGermanic languages
The Germanic languages constitute a sub-branch of the Indo-European language family. The common ancestor of all of the languages in this branch is called Proto-Germanic , which was spoken in approximately the mid-1st millennium BC in Iron Age northern Europe...
. (Modern English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
is a notable exception, but Old English had V2 word order.) However, it is also present in some languages that may have been influenced by the Germanic languages, such as some Rhaeto-Romance languages
Rhaeto-Romance languages
Rhaeto-Romance languages are a Romance language sub-family which includes multiple languages spoken in north and north-eastern Italy, and Switzerland...
and Old French
Old French
Old French was the Romance dialect continuum spoken in territories that span roughly the northern half of modern France and parts of modern Belgium and Switzerland from the 9th century to the 14th century...
, as well as in certain other languages, for example Kashmiri
Kashmiri language
Kashmiri is a language from the Dardic sub-group and it is spoken primarily in the Kashmir Valley, in Jammu and Kashmir. There are approximately 5,554,496 speakers in Jammu and Kashmir, according to the Census of 2001. Most of the 105,000 speakers or so in Pakistan are émigrés from the Kashmir...
and O'Odham
O'odham language
O'odham is an Uto-Aztecan language of southern Arizona and northern Sonora where the Tohono O'odham and Pima reside. As of the year 2000, there were estimated to be approximately 9750 speakers in the United States and Mexico combined, although there may be more due to underreporting...
. Other verbs are placed in the position dictated by the prevailing word order of the language: in otherwise SVO languages, such as Swedish
Swedish language
Swedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along its coast and on the Åland islands. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish...
and Icelandic
Icelandic language
Icelandic is a North Germanic language, the main language of Iceland. Its closest relative is Faroese.Icelandic is an Indo-European language belonging to the North Germanic or Nordic branch of the Germanic languages. Historically, it was the westernmost of the Indo-European languages prior to the...
, the verb is placed after the subject but before the object; in otherwise SOV languages, such as German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
and Dutch
Dutch language
Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
, the verb is placed after the object.
In addition, there are two prime distinctions of V2 languages. The CP-V2 languages such as Swedish and German only allow the movement in main clauses. The term asymmetric V2 may also be applied to these languages, as V2 effects are only found in matrix clauses. On the other hand, the IP-V2 languages such as Icelandic and Yiddish require movement in subclauses too. The term symmetric V2 may also be used, as V2 effects occur in both matrix and subordinate clauses. Kashmiri
Kashmiri language
Kashmiri is a language from the Dardic sub-group and it is spoken primarily in the Kashmir Valley, in Jammu and Kashmir. There are approximately 5,554,496 speakers in Jammu and Kashmir, according to the Census of 2001. Most of the 105,000 speakers or so in Pakistan are émigrés from the Kashmir...
constitutes a third, intermediate type in which there is "movement" in main clauses and sentential-object clauses but not in relative clauses. The CP and IP refer to a particular theory of grammar in which there is a position known as the complementiser, to which the verb moves in CP-V2 languages. Finding it already occupied by the complementiser pronoun 'that' in subclauses, movement is prohibited. On the other hand, in IP languages, a position known as I is found directly after the C position, which is never occupied (except after V2 movement) and thus movement is allowed in subclauses. Although this theory is explained with reference to a particular theory, the difference between Swedish and German grammar on the one hand and Icelandic and Yiddish grammar on the other is real, and the terms 'CP-V2' and 'IP-V2' are used even by those who do not subscribe to the theory.
An earlier stage of English was V2, and some vestiges of its former structure have remained in fixed phrases such as 'so am I', adverbial time phrases such as 'not once has he bothered to phone', and productive structures like 'I didn't go and neither did he', with the verb before the subject ('I' and 'he', respectively). It has been argued that older English word order was of the SVO, IP-V2 sort, and it is easy to see how such an order can with little change develop into a simple SVO language as is Modern English today.
CP-V2, SOV
GermanGerman language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
, and Dutch
Dutch language
Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
examples, Dutch being the first example given. Note that Dutch and German word order differ when several verbs are placed together at the end of the clause; German places the inflected verb last in the sequence, while Dutch places it first (and the remainder in the order opposite to German). German word order is therefore somewhat more true to SOV than Dutch.
- Basic sentence
- Ik las dit boek gisteren.
- Ich las dieses Buch gestern.
- I read this book yesterday.
- With auxiliary verb
- Ik wou dit boek gisteren lezen.
- Ich wollte dieses Buch gestern lesen.
- I wanted this book yesterday (to) read.
- With fronted adverb
- Gisteren las ik dit boek.
- Gestern las ich dieses Buch.
- Yesterday read I this book.
- With auxiliary and fronted adverb
- Gisteren wou ik dit boek lezen.
- Gestern wollte ich dieses Buch lesen.
- Yesterday wanted I this book (to) read.
- Subordinate clause
- Ik zei dat ik dit boek gisteren las.
- Ich sagte, dass ich dieses Buch gestern las.
- I said that I this book yesterday read.
- Subordinate clause with auxiliary verb
- Ik zei dat ik dit boek gisteren wou lezen.
- Ich sagte, dass ich dieses Buch gestern lesen wollte.
- (Dutch) I said that I this book yesterday wanted (to) read. / (German) I said that I this book yesterday (to) read wanted.
- Subordinate clause with fronted adverb
- Ik zei dat ik gisteren dit boek las.
- Ich sagte, dass ich gestern dieses Buch las.
- I said that I yesterday this book read.
- Subordinate clause with auxiliary verb and fronted adverb
- Ik zei dat ik gisteren dit boek wou lezen.
- Ich sagte, dass ich gestern dieses Buch lesen wollte.
- (Dutch) I said that I yesterday this book wanted (to) read. / (German) I said that I yesterday this book (to) read wanted.
CP-V2, SVO
ex. Swedish:- Basic sentence
- Jag läste denna bok i går.
- I read this book yesterday.
- With fronted adverb
- I går läste jag denna bok.
- Yesterday read I this book.
- Subordinate clause
- Jag sade att jag läste denna bok i går.
- I said that I read this book yesterday.
- Subordinate clause with fronted adverb
- Jag sade ju att jag läste denna bok i går.
- I said certainly that I read this book yesterday.
IP-V2, SVO
ex. Yiddish, Icelandic:- Basic sentence
- Ikh leyen dos bukh haynt.
- Ég las bókina í dag.
- I read the book today.
- With fronted adverb
- Haynt leyen ikh dos bukh.
- Í dag las ég bókina.
- Today read I the book.
- Subordinate clause
- Du veyst, az ikh leyen dos bukh haynt.
- Þú veist að ég las bókina í dag.
- You know that I read the book today.
- Subordinate clause with fronted adverb
- Du veyst, az haynt leyen ikh dos bukh.
- Þu veist að í dag las ég bókina.
- You know that today read I the book.
IP/CP-V2, SOV
ex. Kashmiri- Basic sentence
- mye per yi kyitaab az.
- I read this book today.
- With fronted adverb
- az per mye yi kyitaab.
- Today read I this book.
- Subordinate clause
- mye von zyi mye per yi kyitaab az.
- I said that I read this book today.
- Subordinate clause with fronted adverb
- mye von zyi az per mye yi kyitaab.
I said that today read I this book.
- Relative clause
- yi chi swa kyitaab ywas mye az per.
- This is the book which I today read.
- Relative clause with embedded subordinate clause
- yi chi swa kyitaab ywas mye veny zyi mye per az.
- This is the book which I said that I read today.