V2 word order: Encyclopedia II - V2 word order - Classification

V2 word order - Classification

V2 word order is primarily associated with Germanic languages, English being a notable exception. (French, a Romance language had a V2 stage, and Kashmiri currently does.) 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. On the other hand, the IP-V2 languages such as Icelandic and Yiddish require movement in subclauses too. (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: fixed phrases such as 'so am I' and productive structures like 'I didn't go and neither did he', with the verb before the subject ('I' and 'he', respectively). As with all verb movement in Modern English, only modal verbs can move, and so the dummy do is added when necessary. 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.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Classification", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki