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    7.5.Bibliographical notes
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    Verb clustering, which was also a recurrent topic in Section 5.2 and Chapter 6, has been on the research agenda since Bech (1955) and Evers (1975), and still raises numerous questions and difficulties (both of a descriptive and of a more theoretical nature). Evers' account of verb clustering, which became the standard in early generative grammar, is as follows: in accordance with the general OV-nature of Dutch the bare infinitival clause is base-generated to the left of the matrix verb, as in (185a), and the verbal head is subsequently extracted from this clause and right-adjoined to the matrix verb, as in (185b). This head movement operation has become known as Verb Raising and is supposed to result in the formation of a monoclausal structure.

    185
    a. dat Jan [[het boek naar Els brengen] wil].
    underlying structure
      that  Jan    the book  to Els  bring  wants
    b. dat Jan [het boek naar Els [wil brengen]].
    structure after Verb Raising
      that  Jan   the book to Els  wants  bring

    Since the early 1990's there have also been analyses that assume that infinitival clauses are base-generated to the right of the matrix verb, as in (186a). The surface order can then be derived as in (186b) by leftward movement of the non-verbal elements in the clause, as in (186b): see Coppen & Klein (1992), Den Besten & Broekhuis (1992), Zwart (1997), and many others since; Zwart (2011: Part III) provides an extensive review of proposals of this type. An alternative analysis, which is given in (186c), is based on the assumption that the German surface order bringen will is derived by leftward movement of the entire infinitival clause; see, e.g., Lattewitz (1993/1997), Broekhuis (1997a), and Barbiers (2005), The Dutch split pattern can then be derived in the same way by assuming that the infinitive has been extracted from the infinitival clause before the latter is moved leftwards (that is, by so-called remnant movement); see, e.g., Koopman & Szabolcsi (2000), Hinterhölzl (2006), and Broekhuis (2008:ch.5).

    186
    a. dat Jan [wil [het boek naar Els brengen]].
    underlying structure
      that  Jan wants   the book  to Els  bring
    b. dat Jan het boek naar Els [wil [thet boektnaar Els brengen]].
    leftward mvt
      that  Jan the book  to Els  wants  bring
    c. dat Jan [VP het boek naar Els tbrengen] [wil brengen [tVP]].
    remnant mvt.
      that  Jan  the book  to Els  wants  bring

    These movement approaches, of course, also suggest different solutions to the two (b)-examples in (187), in which the verb cluster is permeated by other material. Proponents of the verb movement approach, for example, may assume that not only verbal heads may right-adjoin to the matrix verb but also subparts of verbal projections (as proposed in Den Besten & Edmondson 1983), and proponents of the leftward movement approach may assume that languages vary with respect to the amount or type of leftward movement that they require.

    187
    a. dat Jan boeken naar Els wil brengen.
      that  Jan books  to Els  wants  bring
      'that Jan wants to bring books to Els.'
    b. % dat Jan boeken wil naar Elsbrengen.
    b'. % dat Jan wil boeken naar Elsbrengen.

    There are also approaches to verb clustering that do not involve syntactic movement at all; see Haegeman & Van Riemsdijk (1986), Haider (2003), Kempen & Harbusch (2003), and Williams (2003). Verb clustering is probably one of the most ardently debated issues in Germanic linguistics, and the sketch given above consequently covers merely the tip of the iceberg. A good and more extensive review of the theoretical literature on verb clustering can be found in Wurmbrand (2006).

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    References:
    • Barbiers, Sjef2005Word-order variation in three-verb clusters and the division of labour between generative linguistics and sociolinguisticsCornips, Leonie & Corrigan, Karen P. (eds.)Syntax and variation. Reconciling the biological and the socialJohn Benjamins233-264
    • Bech, Gunnar1955Studien über das deutsche Verbum infinitum, part 1CopenhagenEjnar Munksgard
    • Besten, Hans den & Broekhuis, Hans1992Verb Projection Raising in het NederlandsSpektator2121-34
    • Besten, Hans den & Jerold E. Edmondson1983The verbal complex in continental West GermanicAbraham, Werner (ed.)On the formal syntax of Westgermania. Papers from the "3rd Groninger Grammar Talks", January 1981Amsterdam/Philadelphia155-216
    • Broekhuis, Hans1997Nogmaals Verb Projection RaisingTabu271-27
    • Broekhuis, Hans2008Derivations and evaluations: object shift in the Germanic languagesStudies in Generative GrammarBerlin/New YorkMouton de Gruyter
    • Coppen, Peter-Arno & Klein, Maarten1992Het einde van Verb RaisingKlein, Maarten (ed.)Nieuwe eskapades in de Neerlandistiek. Opstellen van vrienden voor M.C. van den Toorn bij zijn afscheid als hoogleraar Nederlandse Taalkunde aan de Katholieke Universteit NijmegenGroningenWolters-Noordhoff32-46
    • Evers, Arnold1975The transformational cycle in Dutch and GermanUniversity of UtrechtThesis
    • Haegeman, Liliane & Riemsdijk, Henk van1986Verb projection raising, scope, and the typology of rules affecting verbsLinguistic Inquiry17417-466
    • Haider, Hubert2003V-clustering and clause union: causes and effectsSeuren, Pieter A.M. & Kempen, Gerard (eds.)Verb constructions in German and DutchAmsterdam/PhiladelphiaJohn Benjamins91-126
    • Hinterhölzl, Roland2006Scrambling, remnant movement and restructuring in West-GermanicOxford/New YorkOxford University press
    • Kempen, Gerard & Harbusch, Karin2003Dutch and German verb constructions in Performance GrammarSeuren, Pieter & Kempen, Gerard (eds.)Verb constructions in German and DutchAmsterdam/PhiladelphiaJohn Benjamins185-221
    • Koopman, Hilda & Szabolcsi, Anna2000Verbal complexesCambridge, MA/LondonMIT Press
    • Lattewitz, Karen1993A minimalist view on Verb RaisingDe Boer, Ale, De Jong, Jelle & Landeweerd, Rita (eds.)Language and Cognition 3GroningenUniversity of Groningen159-169
    • Lattewitz, Karen1997Adjacency in Dutch and GermanGroningenUniversity of GroningenThesis
    • Williams, Edwin2003Representation theoryCurrent studies in linguistics series 38Cambridge, MA/LondonMIT Press
    • Wurmbrand, Susanne2006Verb clusters, verb raising and restructuringEveraert, Martin & Riemdijk, Henk van (eds.)The Blackwell companion to syntax5Malden, Ma/OxfordBlackwell Publishing229-343
    • Zwart, Jan-Wouter1997Morphosyntax of verb movement. A minimalist approach to the syntax of DutchDordrechtKluwer Academic Publishers
    • Zwart, Jan-Wouter2011The syntax of DutchCambridgeCambridge University Press
    About this article
    Author(s): Hans Broekhuis, Norbert Corver
    Category: Dutch Syntax
    Publication date: 22 November 2023
    Keywords: Verb CluseringVerb Raising
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