V2 word order

In syntax, verb-second (V2) word order is a specific restriction on the placement of the finite verb within a given clause or sentence. A V2 clause has the finite verb (the verb inflected for person) in second position with a single major constituent preceding it, which functions as the clause topic.

V2 word order is common across the Germanic languages and is also found in Indo-Aryan Kashmiri, Northeast Caucasian Ingush, Uto-Aztecan O'odham and fragmentarily in Rhaeto-Romansh Sursilvan. Among members of the Germanic family, English, which has predominantly SVO instead of V2 order, is an exception (although certain vestiges of the V2 phenomenon can also be found in English).

Most Germanic languages do not normally use the V2 principle in embedded clauses, except in a certain semantic type of clause with certain verbs. Thus, German, Dutch and Afrikaans revert to VF (verb final) word order after a complementizer. Two Germanic languages, Yiddish and Icelandic, allow V2 in all declarative clauses: main, embedded, and subordinate. Kashmiri has V2 in 'declarative content clauses' but VF order in relative clauses.

The following examples from German illustrate the V2 principle:

(The asterisk * is the standard means employed in linguistics to indicate that the example is grammatically unacceptable.) The sentences a–d, which are all perfectly acceptable, have the finite verb spielten in second position, whereby the major constituent which appears in the first position varies. The e and f sentences are bad because the finite verb no longer appears in second position there, but rather it has been pushed to the third position. The V2 principle allows any major constituent to occupy the first position as long as the second position is occupied by the finite verb.

The following examples from Dutch illustrate the V2 principle further:

We again see in sentence a–c that as long as the finite verb (here las) is in second position, the major constituent in first position is variable. When two (or more) major constituents appear before the finite verb as in sentences d and e, the V2 principle is violated and the sentence is bad. Data similar to these examples from German and Dutch could easily be produced for the other Germanic languages.

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