More on German
1 Recap
subordinate clause
comp 1 (2) (3) V (pass) (perf) tense
important points
presence of comp
we haven’t discussed why this is important yet, but it seems to play a preventative role in V2
order of argument domain
straightforward – same as English
order of inflection domain
straightforward – opposite to English
position of verb
straightforward – follows argument domain, precedes inflection domain
main clause
1st tense (1) (2) (3) V {pass, perf, pass perf}
inflection domain = tense + others
1st V tense (1) (2) (3)
inflection domain = tense
important points
1st position element
possible disruption to order of argument domain
tense in second position
disruption to order of inflection domain
verb in front of inflection domain remnant
unless only tense
verb in second position
2 Analysis
argument domain
in main clauses this may not follow the basic pattern if
the topic is not the subject:
1top 2 3
2top 1 3
3top 1 2
the wh-element is not the subject
1wh 2 3
2wh 1 3
3wh 1 2
note that in both cases the residual argument domain elements follow the basic order
this is complicated by focus, which allows the optional fronting of the focussed element within the residual argument domain – but we will abstract away from this
this is easily achieved with the following constraints:
whPDa > topPDa > 1PDa > 2PDa > 3PDa
thus if a wh-element is present it will always come first, even if it is also an argument
if a topic is present, it will precede the argument domain (unless there is a wh-element) regardless of its argument status
if there is a wh-element and a topic, the topic feature will have no effect – the topic will not be second
topPwh, topFwh > Faith(top)
thus, in the presence of a wh-element the topic feature is deleted
the remaining arguments behave as normal
the most prominent (non-topic/wh-element) will be second, the next third, etc.
V2
this requires the tense to be in the second position in the argument domain
tense*PDa > tensePDa > tenseFDi
But there are problems
the verb precedes the inflection domain
so why does it not precede tense in V2 when there are other members of the domain present?
verbFDa > verbPDi
if tense follows the inflection domain, why don’t the other members of this domain end up in V2 position along with the tense
verbPDi > memberDiFDi
t*PDa / tPDa / vFDa / vPDi / tFDi / pFDiF1 t 2 v p / * / * / *
1 v t 2 p / * / *! / *
t 1 2 v p / *! / * / *
v t 1 2 p / *! / ** / *
1 p t 2 v / * / **! / *
1 v p t 2 / * / *! / *
1 2 v t p / **! / * / *
1 2 t v p / **! / *
More problems
when the tense is the only member of the inflection domain, the verb precedes it
but this is not predicted by the analysis above
t*PDa / tPDa / vFDa / vPDi / tFDi / pFDi*F1 t 2 v / * / *
1 v t 2 / * / *!
t 1 2 v / *! / *
v t 1 2 / *! / **
1 2 v t / **!
1 2 t v / **! / *
this seems to indicate that the verb preceding the inflection domain is more important that it following the argument domain
t*PDa / tPDa / vPDi / vFDa / tFDi / pFDi1 t 2 v / * / *!
F1 v t 2 / * / *
t 1 2 v / *! / *
v t 1 2 / *! / **
1 2 v t / **!
1 2 t v / **! / *
but then this predicts the wrong result in the previous case
t*PDa / tPDa / vPDi / vFDa / tFDi / pFDi1 t 2 v p / * / *! / *
*F1 v t 2 p / * / * / *
t 1 2 v p / *! / * / *
v t 1 2 p / *! / ** / *
1 p t 2 v / * / **! / *
1 v p t 2 / * / *! / *
1 2 v t p / **! / * / *
1 2 t v p / **! / *
A possible solution Domain index deletion
How do constraint know which input elements belong to which domain?
suppose we assume that domain membership is marked by an index
1a, 2a, 3a
tensei, perfi, passi
the problem above seems to be caused by the V2 tense, which acts as though it is not a member of the inflection domain when there are other members of this domain present, but acts as though it is a member when it is the only one present
perhaps its domain membership can be cancelled
this can be achieved by deletion
relevant constraint > Faith(di) di= domain index
when is the index deleted?
when tense is in V2 and there are more members of the domain present
tenseFDi > Faith(di)
thus when tense is forced into a position where it cannot be last in the inflection domain, its index will be deleted
when tense is the only member of the domain, it will be last in the domain no matter where it is
so its index will not delete
if it is more important for the verb to precede the inflection domain than it is to follow the argument domain. and the inflection domain is in V2, then the verb will be in V2
one more constraint is needed however
it is more important for the verb to follow the argument domain than it is to be faithful to the inflection domain index
vFDa > faith(di)
this is what causes the index to delete rather than staying and forcing the verb in front of the tense in V2
t*PDa / tPDa / vPDi / vFDa / tFDi / pFDi / faith(di)1 v p ti 2 / * / *! / *
F1 t 2 v p / * / * / *
t*PDa / tPDa / vPDi / faith(di) / vFDa / tFDi / pFDi
F1 v p ti 2 / * / * / *
1 t 2 v p / * / *! / *
But this ranking will pull the verb to the end of the argument domain when tense is the only inflection
t*PDa / tPDa / vPDi / vFDa / tFDi / pFDi / faith(di)1 ti 2 v / * / *!
1 v ti 2 / * / *!
ti 1 2 v / *! / *
v ti 1 2 / *! / **
1 2 v ti / **!
F1 2 ti v / **! / *
1 t 2 v / * / *
1 v t 2 / * / *! / *
t 1 2 v / *! / *
v t 1 2 / *! / ** / *
1 2 v t / **! / *
1 2 t v / **! / *
what we need is a constraint that forces the verb to be adjacent to an inflection
iAv
this might be seen as a set of constraints (tAv, pAv, etc.). It isn’t a domain based constraint and so is unaffected by the deletion of the index on the tense
this is reasonable, given that inflections are always closer to the verb than arguments
it is this constraint that pulls the entire inflection domain into second position in the argument domain in English
t*PDa / tPDa / vPDi / iAv / vFDa / tFDi / pFDi / faith(di)1 ti 2 v p / * / *! / * / *
1 v ti 2 p / * / **! / * / *
ti 1 2 v p / *! / * / ** / *
v ti 1 2 p / *! / ** / ** / *
1 p ti 2 v / * / **! / *** / *
1 v p ti 2 / * / * / *! / *
1 2 v ti p / **! / * / *
1 2 ti v p / **! / * / *
F1 t 2 v p / * / * / * / *
1 v t 2 p / * / **! / * / * / *
t 1 2 v p / *! / ** / * / *
v t 1 2 p / *! / *** / ** / * / *
1 p t 2 v / * / *! / *** / * / *
1 v p t 2 / * / * / *! / * / *
1 2 v t p / **! / * / * / *
1 2 t v p / **! / * / *
t*PDa / tPDa / vPDi / iAv / vFDa / tFDi / pFDi / faith(di)
1 ti 2 v / * / *! / *
F1 v ti 2 / * / *
ti 1 2 v / *! / * / **
v ti 1 2 / *! / **
1 2 v ti / **!
1 2 ti v / **! / *
1 t 2 v / * / *! / *
1 v t 2 / * / * / *!
t 1 2 v / *! / ** / *
v t 1 2 / *! / ** / *
1 2 v t / **! / *
1 2 t v / **! / *
Main vs. subordinate clauses
why is V2 a main clause phenomena and what role does the complementiser have to play?
the standard analysis that the complementiser sits in the V2 position and therefore prevents the tense from occupying it cannot work as in AS positions are defined in a relative way not an absolute one.
one approach might be to assume that the complementiser is able to satisfy the V2 constraints so that the tense does not have to.
if the tense doesn’t have to, it will prefer to stay at the end of the inflection domain and satisfy the constraints that place it there.
the V2 constraints require that tense precede the argument domain, but not in first position.
complementisers are often subcategorised for finiteness – in some languages (e.g. Irish) complementisers bare tense morphemes
therefore it is not surprising that the complementiser could satisfy the V2 requirements on tense.
the difference is that the complementiser comes first, not second
this is due to a higher ranked condition that requires comeplementisers to be at the edge of the proposition they introduce
in this case the anti-precedence constraint which is the highest ranked of the V2 constraints is undermined and the precedent constraint can therefore be satisfied
cPDprop / tense*PDa / tensePDa / vPDi / iAv / vFDa / tFDi / pFDi / faith(di)Fc 1 2 v p ti / * / *
1 c 2 v p ti / *! / * / * / *
c 1 ti 2 v p / * / *! / * / *
c 1 2 v p t / * / * / *!
1 c 2 v p t / *! / * / * / * / *
c 1 t 2 v p / * / * / *! / *