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    Introduction
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    This chapter takes as its point of departure the discussion in 9.2, which has shown that finite verbs can be found in basically two positions: the clause-final position in embedded clauses and the verb-first/second position in main clauses; the latter position is normally occupied by a complementizer in embedded clauses.

    1
    a. Marie zegt [dat Jan het boek leest].
      Marie says  that  Jan  the book  reads
      'Mary says that Jan is reading the book at this moment.'
    b. Op dit moment leest Jan het boek.
      at this moment  reads  Jan the book
      'At this moment, Jan is reading the book.'

    On the basis of these two positions, the clause can be divided into various "topological" fields: the clause-initial position, the middle field and the postverbal field. This is illustrated in Figure (2), repeated from Section 9.2. This chapter will focus on the placement of the verbs; the core observation is that complementizers and finite verbs compete for the C-position; because embedded clauses are obligatorily introduced by a complementizer normally, verb second is restricted to main clauses.

    2

    Section 10.1 starts by introducing the rule of verb-first/second which places finite verbs in the C-position in main clauses. Section 10.2 continues with a complicating issue, namely that verbal collocations may exhibit different behavior under verb-second: there are verbal, compound-like collocations that undergo verb-second as a whole, collocations that are split under verb-second, and collocations that resist verb-second altogether. In (3), we illustrate this for N+V collocations, but copious similar examples can be found with, e.g., particle verbs. We will discuss a number of properties that distinguish the three types of collocation.

    3
    a. dat Jan haar als verrader brandmerkt.
    inseparable
      that  Jan  her  as traitor  brands
      'that Jan stigmatizes her as a traitor.'
    a'. Jan brandmerkt haar als verrader.
      Jan brands  her  as a traitor
    b. dat Jan elke dag paardrijdt.
    separable
      that  Jan every day  rides.horseback
      'that Jan goes for a ride every day.'
    b'. Jan rijdt elke dag paard.
      Jan rides  every day  horseback
    c. dat Marie in het weekend stijldanst.
    immobile
      that  Marie in the weekend  ballroom.dances
      'that Marie ballroom dances during the weekend.'
    c'. Marie <%stijl>danst in het weekend <*stijl>.
      Marie ballroom.dances  in the weekend

    Section 10.3 concludes with a discussion of verb-first/second in a limited set of supposedly embedded adverbial clauses. Prototypical cases are conditional adverbial clauses such as (4b), which alternates with the regular embedded clause introduced by the complementizer-like element als'if' in (4a).

    4
    a. Als hij te laat komt, dan help ik hem niet meer.
      if  he  too late  comes  then  help  I  him  not  anymore
      'If he gets in too late, I wonʼt help him anymore.'
    b. Komt hij te laat, dan help ik hem niet meer.
      comes  he  too late  then  help  I  him  not  anymore
      'If he arrives too late, then I wonʼt help him anymore.'
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      About this article
      Author(s): Hans Broekhuis, Norbert Corver
      Category: Dutch Syntax
      Publication date: 22 November 2023
      Keywords: FieldVerbVerb-firstVerb-SecondVerb-final
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