VP anaphora and verb-second order in Danish

Abstract: 

This paper argues that Danish verb-second clauses have two structural instantiations and that each structure is associated with distinct information-structural properties. Information-structurally undifferentiated V2 clauses are realized as TPs, whereas information-structurally differentiated V2 clauses are CPs. The evidence for this correlation comes from the behavior of the overt VP anaphor det, which exhibits a complex, but principled, positioning pattern in V2 clauses. I develop a feature-driven analysis of V2 clauses that accounts for previously unnoticed restrictions on the initial position in declarative V2 clauses.

Publication date: 
May 15, 2015
Publication type: 
Recent Publication
Citation: 
Mikkelsen, Line. 2015. VP anaphora and verb-second order in Danish. Journal of Linguistics 51:595-643. doi:10.1017/S0022226715000055.