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    Embedded Verb-Second with and without complementiser
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    Direct speech is to be distinguished from indirect speech. There are various constructions for the representation of indirect speech. Clauses representing indirect speech may fail to be embedded syntactically, displaying in this way some main clause diagnostics.

    The unmarked embedded clause normally takes the form of a Verb-Final construction. However, embedded clauses representing indirect speech may feature a complementiser and Verb-Second, as in the following example:

    1
    Hy sei dat hy hie it net witten
    he said that he had it not known
    He said that he had not known it

    CV2 is the abbreviation that is used for this construction featuring a clause introduced by a Complementiser (C) followed by Verb-Second (V2). CV2s, as will be seen, are not syntactically integrated in the superordinate clause in which they are found, so they are unintegrated (U). Correspondingly, we will henceforth refer to CV2s as UCV2s, while noting that ICV2s (Integrated CV2s) are not found in Frisian.

    UCV2 can not only be used for representing the semantics of indirect speech in the context of verbs of saying, thinking and expressing one's opinion. They may also be used for degree clauses and clauses of cause and effect.

    Embedded clauses representing direct or indirect speech may also lack a complementiser while retaining Verb-Second. An example has been given below:

    2
    Hy sei hy hie it net witten
    he said he had it not known
    He said that he had not known it

    NCV2 (No Complementiser V2) is the abbreviation that is used for this construction featuring a clause without a complementiser introduced by Verb-Second. NCV2s may or may not be syntactically integrated in the superordinate structure in which they are found, so there exist both INCV2s and UNCV2s, although integration is something gradual. NCV2s are less restricted than CV2s, and they seem to be more frequent even in contexts in which CV2s are allowed to occur alongside V2s.

    Both direct and indirect speech may be explicitly introduced by the marker fan, literally of, but in this usage more properly translated as like. Two examples are given below:

    3
    a. Se wienen sa fan wy binne de bêste
    they were so of we are the best
    They were like, we are the best
    b. Se wienen sa fan dat sy de bêste wiene
    they were so of that they the best were
    They were like that they were the best

    The first example involves direct speech, the second one indirect speech. Fan-clauses are always syntactically unintegrated.

    The distinction between direct and indirect speech is relevant to the various ways of constructing long questions and topicalisations.

    extra
    Literature

    More details can be found in De Haan (2001) and Hoekstra (2010).

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    More details about embedded Verb-Second with and without complementiser can be found by following the corresponding links:

    References
    • Haan, Germen J. de2001More is going on upstairs than downstairs: embedded root phenomena in West FrisianThe Journal of Comparative Germanic Linguistics43-38
    • Hoekstra, Jarich, Visser, Willem & Jensma, Goffe2010More is going on upstairs than downstairs: Embedded root phenomena in FrisianHaan, Germen J. de, Hoekstra, Jarich, Visser, Willen & Jensma, Goffe (eds.)Studies in West Frisian Grammar. Selected papers by Germen J. de HaanJohn Benjamins99-129
    About this article
    Author(s): Eric Hoekstra
    Category: Frisian Syntax
    Version: ,
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