Verb-second Language Research Articles

In the native speaker’s eye: Online processing of anomalous learner syntax

AbstractHow do native speakers process texts with anomalous learner syntax? Second-language learners of Norwegian, and other verb-second (V2) languages, frequently place the verb in third position (e.g., *Adverbial-Subject-Verb), although it is mandatory for the verb in these languages to appear in second position (Adverbial-Verb-Subject). In an eye-tracking study, native Norwegian speakers read sentences with either grammatical V2 or ungrammatical verb-third (V3) word order. Unlike previous eye-tracking studies of ungrammaticality, which have primarily addressed morphosyntactic anomalies, we exclusively manipulate word order with no morphological or semantic changes. We found that native speakers reacted immediately to ungrammatical V3 word order, indicated by increased fixation durations and more regressions out on the subject, and subsequently on the verb. Participants also recovered quickly, already on the following word. The effects of grammaticality were unaffected by the length of the initial adverbial. The study contributes to future models of sentence processing which should be able to accommodate various types of “noisy” input, that is, non-standard variation. Together with new studies of processing of other L2 anomalies in Norwegian, the current findings can help language instructors and students prioritize which aspects of grammar to focus on.

Verb-second and the verb-stranding verb phrase ellipsis debate

Verb-stranding ellipsis, when a verb is stranded outside of the ellipsis site in which it originated, has been identified in a number of languages (Irish, McCloskey 1991; Hebrew, Doron 1999, Goldberg 2005; Greek, Merchant 2018; Uzbek, Gribanova, 2020; i.a.), and has been invoked productively in analyses investigating the position to which verbs move and the timing of verb movement in the grammar. Recently, Landau (2018; 2020a;b) has proposed a phase-based negative licensing condition which restricts head-stranding ellipsis and precludes verb-stranding verb phrase ellipsis (VPE) altogether. He claims that apparent verb-stranding VPE must be reanalyzed either as argument ellipsis (Oku 1998; Kim 1999; Takahashi 2008), or a clause-sized ellipsis that strands main verbs (Gribanova 2018). This article approaches this debate through an analysis of head movement and head-stranding ellipsis in the Indic verb-second (V2) language Kashmiri. We show that Landau’s phase-based approach encounters empirical challenges in accounting for ellipsis in V2 languages and requires an unworkable approach to V2 itself, at odds with accounts of V2 in Kashmiri and crosslinguistically (Holmberg 1986; Travis 1991; Vikner 1995; Zwart 1997; Bhatt 1999; Munshi and Bhatt 2009; Manetta 2011). While the present article argues in favor of the standard account of ellipsis (Merchant 2001; 2008), we affirm the important contribution of Landau’s work in identifying challenges that remain for any complete account of head-stranding ellipsis licensing.

Verb-second in spoken and written Estonian

This paper investigates clausal constituent order in Estonian, a language often described in the literature as exhibiting a verb-second “tendency”. We present a corpusbased study of ordering in independent affirmative declarative clauses, drawing data from both written and spoken corpora. Our results show that, while written Estonian is robustly a verb-second language along the same lines as the modern Germanic standard languages, spoken Estonian exhibits much more variation. Our findings lead us to suggest that spoken Estonian patterns with the recently-established class of “verb-third” languages, and that syntactic analyses developed to account for these languages can also account for our spoken Estonian data.

Information Structure of Sentences in English and Persian

The project Information structure in language acquisition studies the linguistic realization of information structure and its acquisition by children and adults in a variety of languages. The project examines the development of the relationship between semantic/pragmatic functions (topic, focus, given, new, contrast) and corresponding formal devices. Among the various means which are typically used to encode information structure, priority will be given to the study of word order, intonation, pronominal, and particles. Although texts produced by (very) advanced Persian learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) may be perfectly grammatical, they often feel distinctly non-native. Persian, as a verb-second language, makes separate positions available for discourse linking and abruptness-topics. A side-effect of this L1 interference is the underuse of special focusing constructions in English, like the stressed-focus itself.

What is Germanic and what is not about Old French V2

AbstractOld French is considered by many to have been a verb-second (V2) language. Furthermore, 13th century Old French featured a V2 system with strong restrictions on the prefield, meaning only a single constituent was generally accepted to the left of the finite verb. This bears a strong resemblance to the pattern found in the Modern Germanic V2 languages and has occasionally given rise to suggestions that V2 was a Germanic property inherited from the language of the Franks. In this paper, a concrete hypothesis is developed for the diachronic evolution of Old French V2 from Late Latin. It is argued that the hypothesis of Germanic influence is not necessarily incorrect, but too simplistic, as the two synchronic components of the Old French V2 construction -namely V-to-C movement and restrictions on the prefield – most likely have their own and independent diachronies as well. Comparative and historical evidence is presented to show that V-to-C movement is very unlikely to have been a product of Germanic influence and should rather be considered an internal development from Latin. As for the restricted prefield (so-called ‘linear V2’), the scarcity or even absence of evidence does not allow firm conclusions, but some general theoretical insights from the literature on language change and second language acquisition combine to make the idea of Germanic influence quite plausible.

Verb placement and accentuation: Does prosody constrain the Estonian V2?

Abstract The paper contributes to the understanding of the variation in finite verb placement in Estonian, a verb-second language, by establishing two descriptive facts. First, it identifies a previously undescribed finite verb position in Estonian declarative main clauses, which will be referred to as ‘clause-medial’. The clause-medial position is located between clause-medial sentence adverbials on the one hand, and VP adverbials and the complements of the verb on the other hand. Secondly, the paper reports two empirical studies providing evidence in support of the hypothesis that the occurrence of a finite verb in the proposed clause-medial position, as opposed to its occurrence in the second position, correlates with its accentuation. While clause-medial verbs tend to bear a nuclear pitch accent, second-position verbs don’t. Finally, the paper briefly discusses some broader implications of the existence of the clause-medial finite verb position and of the interaction between verb placement and prosody.

Ordini marcati delle parole nell'italiano scritto: apprendenti germanofoni, apprendenti anglofoni e parlanti nativi a confronto

Marked word orders in written Italian A comparison between native speakers, L1-German learners, and L1-English learners This paper focuses on cross-linguistic influence in the acquisition of Italian as an L2 by learners with Germanic L1s (English and German). The general domain under investigation is information structure, notably marked word orders. The English and German languages differ from each other in this domain, since English has a rigid word order (SVO), while German is a Verb-second language, with a relatively flexible word order. The hypothesis tested in this study is that English learners are more reluctant to deviate from a basic word order SVO in response to information structure than their Germans pairs. Approximately 300 written texts were selected from two comparable corpora freely available online, VALICO and VINCA. VALICO is an Italian corpus which includes narratives produced by Italian L2 learners and VINCA is the corresponding control corpus produced by native Italian speakers. Data analysed in this paper lend support to the hypothesis that English learners are more prone to conform to the basic SVO word order pattern than German speakers: They apparently avoid VS orders with inaccusative verbs and overuse presentational sentences with esserci, which are largely employed in their L1. In the last section of the paper some instructional interventions to foster the noticing of marked word orders and their relative functions will be suggested.

Topic and focus in Old French V1 and V2 structures

AbstractThe hypothesis that Old French was not a verb-second (V2) language, but rather a Topic-initial language, is evaluated in a corpus of verb initial (V1) and V2 matrix clauses extracted from a corpus of 12th- and 13th-century texts. It is shown that the initial constituent of V2 clauses is not always a Topic; it may be part of the informational Focus, or it could be an element that is neither Topic nor Focus. In addition, in V1 and V2 sentences with subject inversion, the postverbal subject may be an informational Topic, contrary to the hypothesis that subjects must move to the preverbal position to avoid being interpreted as part of the informational Focus. Therefore, from an Information-Structure point of view, Old French is similar to a standard V2 language like German. However, certain differences between 12th- and 13th-century texts could suggest that the use of the left periphery evolved during the period considered.

How to define relaxed V2 languages and how to distinguish them from non-V2 languages: A reply to Brandtler (2014)

This paper provides evidence for the idea that relaxed verb-second (V2) languages exist and exhibt specific properties which distinguish them from both strict V2 and non-V2 languages. The identification of the relaxed subtype of V2 languages implies that V2 should not be understood as a linear restriction, but as an abstract rule involving the movement of the finite verb to a head of the left periphery in all main clauses.

Erwerb morphosyntaktischer Fähigkeiten im Hinblick auf die Konstituentenverschiebung in die Komplementiererposition

German is a genuine verb-second (V2) language. For V2 languages it is assumed that all sentence structures can be derived from the underlying subordinate clause structure via the movement of individual components. The acquisition of German V2 structures represents a critical step in German first language acquisition and is usually mastered at the age of 3years. However, not all children succeed in filtering the necessary information from the spoken input in order to acquire this key component of German syntax. Use of canonical sentence structures alone is not a confirmation of a successful V2 acquisition. Moreover, this structure often represents some kind of interim grammar. Only the use of complementizer phrase (CP)-related structures, such as wh-questions or topicalizations of objects is a real indication of a successful V2 acquisition.

Information Structure: The final hurdle?

Although texts produced by (very) advanced Dutch learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) may be perfectly grammatical, they often feel distinctly non-native. Dutch, as a verb-second language, makes separate positions available for discourse linking and aboutness-topics. Although the English sentences of these advanced learners conform to the subject-verb-object order of English, the pre-subject adverbial position in English is made to perform the information-structural function of the verb-second discourse-linking position, producing texts that are perceived as non-native, without being ungrammatical. A side-effect of this L1 interference is the underuse of special focusing constructions in English, like the stressed-focus it-cleft. This paper investigates the progress of Dutch writers towards a more native-like use of the pre-subject position and the it-cleft in a longitudinal corpus of 137 writings of Dutch university students of English. We conclude that information-structural differences present the final hurdle for advanced Dutch EFL writers.

Initial subordinate clauses in Old French: Syntactic variation and the clausal left periphery

This paper examines word order variation and change in Old French, in which subordinate clauses that immediately precede a main declarative can occur in at least two distinct syntactic positions with respect to the main clause. Data from a corpus of Old French texts from the 10th until the early 14th centuries show that most initial subordinates are situated outside the main clause proper, although some examples occur in the first position of the main clause. Adopting a richly articulated clausal left periphery (Benincà, 2006), the SceneSetting projection of FrameP is proposed as the default syntactic position for extra-clausal initial subordinates. Although Old French is considered a verb-second language, initial subordinates often yield sequences in which the finite verb of the main clause appears in third or higher position. Following Labelle (2007) and others, I argue that a complex left periphery accounts for descriptively non-V2 word orders, while upholding a V2 analysis for Old French. Finally, following Vance et al. (2010), who examined the role of initial subordinates in the loss of V2 in Old French, I show that for most of the Old French period, the grammar of main declaratives that follow initial subordinates is characteristically V2. Only over the course of the 13th century does the subject–verb order become dominant.

Inversion as an artifact

Dutch is a so-called verb-second language, i.e. the finite verb typically occurs in second position with one constituent in initial position. The element in initial position is often the subject. However, if it is an adverb or an object, the subject occurs after the finite verb. This characteristic, known as ‘inversion’ is acquired in both child first- and adult second-language acquisition as a function of topicalization. Both learner varieties develop from a lexical system to a functional system. At the lexical stage, utterance structure is the result of predicate-argument structure interacting with principles of information structuring. The shift to a functional system comes as a result of the identification of the initial position in a sentence as a structural topic position. It coincides with the acquisition of auxiliary verbs (the category AUX) such that AUX + subject pronoun (subjP) functions as a topicalization device. Hence, inversion is an artifact. It is the result of a process of restructuring due to the acquisition of topicalization. Also the fact that both L1 and L2 Dutch learner systems seem to develop as the result of the interaction between predicate-argument structure and principles of information structuring explains why the process leading to the acquisition of ‘inversion’ takes place similarly in both children and adults.

Wh-questions in Swedish children with SLI

This is an exploratory study of the use of wh-questions in Swedish children with typical and impaired language development. Swedish is a verb-second (V2) language where inverted word order is not unique to wh-questions, but occurs in all utterances that begin with a constituent other than the subject. The purpose was to investigate types and frequency patterns in the use of wh-questions, wh-word and verb combinations, and simplifications. Analysis of spontaneous data from 14 Swedish children with SLI, 14 age-matched and 14 MLU-matched controls showed that the children with SLI used the same types of wh-questions and wh-word and verb combinations with similar frequencies as the controls. The most frequent simplification in all groups was omission of the wh-word. The children with SLI tended to make more non-target productions in general than the control groups, but differed significantly in most respects only from the age controls. Non-inversion was found only in the data from the children with SLI, but wa...

Inversion in Spracherwerb und Sprachgebrauch

Dutch is a so-called verb-second language, i.e. the finite verb typically occurs in second position with one constituent in initial position. The element in initial position is normally the subject. However, if it is an object or an adverb, the subject occurs after the finite verb as, for example, in Gisteren las Karel een boek (Yesterday read Charles a book), Dit boek las Karel gisteren (This book read Charles yesterday). This is what is called Inversion. Both in child first- and adult second-language acquisition inversion is acquired as a function of topicalization. As part of a topicalization device auxiliary verbs (with past participles) play an important role. First, non-modal auxiliaries (AUX) such as heb (have) or heeft (has), then also modal auxiliaries such as kan, mag, moet, wil (can, may, have-to, want) etc. For example: Dat heb ik nooit gezegd (That have I never said), Die wil ik hebben (That want I have). The functioning of the structure Topic + AUX + subject pronoun as a topicalization device explains, why auxiliaries, subject pronouns and inversion are acquired simultaneously and why the relevant processes of L1 and L2 acquisition are the same.

The Malagasy Subject/Topic as an A′-Element

As in other Philippine-type languages, clauses in Malagasy contain a structurally and referentially prominent DP constituent, the trigger, whose grammatical function is indicated by voice morphology on the verb. The trigger shares functional properties with both subjects and topics in other languages. In the Principles and Parameters literature, most researchers identify the trigger as a structural subject, located in the position where nominative case is checked. In this paper, I present evidence that the trigger occupies an A′-position comparable to that of topics in verb-second languages such as Icelandic. I also consider some of the consequences of this analysis– I suggest that voice morphology in Malagasy, rather than marking relation-changing operations like passive, (indirectly) encodes the abstract case features of the A′-chain linked to the trigger, making it akin to wh-agreement in Chamorro. In addition, I argue for a non-traditional treatment of the well-known A′-extraction restrictions in Malagasy, usually captured by means of a language-specific constraint prohibiting extraction of non-subjects. Treating the trigger as a topic rather than a subject, I propose that wh-movement competes with topicalization for the same A′-position (as in verb-second languages), rendering the two operations mutually exclusive within a clause.

EMBEDDED V-TO-C IN CHILD GRAMMAR: THE ACQUISITION OF VERB PLACEMENT IN SWISS GERMAN. Manuela Schönenberger. Dordrecht: Kluwer, 2001. Pp. xx + 410. $150.00 cloth.

This book examines the acquisition of verb placement in Swiss German. In Swiss German, as in the case of German and other verb-second languages, the finite verb occurs in the second position (i.e., C position) in matrix clauses but in the final position in embedded clauses, although verb movement in certain embedded contexts such as complements of bridge verbs and indirect questions is optionally permitted. The child Swiss-German data, collected by the author, come primarily from two children—Moira (age: 3;10–6;01) and Eliza (age: 3;10—6;01)—who were acquiring the Lucerne variant of Swiss German. A positive aspect of this research is that it is based on a vast amount of spontaneous production data gathered longitudinally as well as on elicited data. These data are supplemented by data elicited experimentally from Moira's peers in her kindergarten class in Lucerne. A significant finding of Schönenberger's research is that children acquiring the Lucernese variant of Swiss German make a high number of verb placement errors in embedded clauses, in striking contrast to what has been observed in the case of children acquiring German. Specifically, the two children in Schönenberger's study move the finite verb in any type of embedded clause even when there is an overt complementizer present in these clauses. Although the embedded clauses produced by the Lucernese children do not match those in the adult grammar, Schönenberger argues convincingly that their underlying grammar is only minimally different from that of the adult grammar.

Lexical, Morphological, and Syntactic Aspects of Verb Production in Agrammatic Aphasics

Agrammatic aphasics do not exhibit a normal pattern of verb production; their spontaneous speech is said to lack verbs, and the verbs that are produced lack inflection. The current article focuses on the lexical, morphological, and syntactic aspects of verbs in spontaneous speech of a group of Dutch agrammatic speakers. Dutch is a so-called verb-second language in which the finite verb in the matrix clause is in the second position and nonfinite verbs are in the final position. The analysis shows that agrammatic speakers are sensitive to this relation; they virtually never produce finite verbs in the final clause position or nonfinite verbs in the second position. Nevertheless, they produce significantly fewer finite clauses than do non-brain-damaged speakers. The diversity of the lexical verbs in spontaneous speech is also lower than in non-brain-damaged speakers, but this is due to less variation in the finite lexical verbs. Hence, it is suggested that the problems with verbs in Dutch agrammatic spontaneous speech are restricted to finite lexical verbs. In an experiment, it was evaluated whether these problems with finite lexical verbs are caused by a morphological deficit or a syntactic deficit. The data show that a syntactic deficit is more likely; Dutch agrammatic speakers produce finite verbs in the base-generated position (i.e., in the embedded clause) significantly better than finite verbs that have been moved to the second position (i.e., in the matrix clause). From these data, the authors conclude that in Dutch, a verb-second language, agrammatic aphasics demonstrate specific problems with moved finite verbs, although they are perfectly aware of the relation between verb position and verb finiteness. This syntactic problem affects not only the proportion of finite verbs but also the diversity of the verbs and, hence, communicative contents.

Root Infinitives, Tense, and Truncated Structures in Dutch

In this article, I distress the syntactic properties of child Dutch root infinitives (RIs) in light of recent findings concerning the structure of adult Dutch. The data examined offer support for those analyses that treat RIs in terms of truncated structures and speak against proposals that interpret RIs as root CPs. In the discussion I focus on one analysis representative of the truncation approach, namely, that developed by Rizzi (1993; 1993/1994), and on one analysis representative of the CP approach, that developed by Boser, Lust, Santelmann, and 'Whitman (1992), which is specifically adapted to the Germanic verb-second (V2) languages. This research is based on a corpus of production data for the child, Hein, from ages 2;4 to 3;1, obtained from CHILDES (MacWhinney and Snow (1985), coders: Wijnen and Boers).