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Verb first or second in subordinate clauses

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Afrikaans has two word-order strategies that result in verb-first or verb-second for subordinate clauses. The first option is called inversion, because it appears on the surface as if the verb that would usually be in the second position of the main clause, comes to occupy the first position and is followed immediately by the subject, and then the remainder of the clause in the middle field and verb-final position. The semantic effect is to yield a conditional clause, which is followed by the main clause. The order has to be conditional clause first, and main clause thereafter, as illustrated by example (1). The adverbial clause still functions as the clause-initial constituent of the main clause, and is therefore followed by the main clause verb in verb-second position, before the subject and the rest of the constituents follow in the middle field and other required positions.

Sou die ranke nie gereeld water kry nie, was die vrugte soms bitter.

[(CI/ADVC) [(V1) sou] [(MF) die ranke nie gereeld water] [(VF) get] [(NEG) nie]] [(V2) was] [(MF) die vrugte soms bitter]

will.AUX.MOD.PRT the vines not frequently water get.INF PTCL.NEG be.PST the fruits sometimes bitter

If the vines did not regularly get water, the fruit was sometimes bitter.

The second option is a clause that starts with al though, optionally preceded by modifiers like selfs even or ook also, in which the word al functions like a clause-initial adverbial, with the verb-second position immediately thereafter. This type of clause has a contrastive or concessive meaning. The concessive meaning is enhanced by the presence of selfs. The options are illustrated by the examples in (2).

Al het hy soms persoonlik geraak, het sy hom netjies gesystap.

[(CI/ADVC) [(CI) al] [(V2) het] [(MF) hy soms persoonlik] [(VF) geraak]] [(V2) het] [(MF) sy hom netjies] [(VF) gesystap]

though have.AUX he sometimes personal get.PST have.AUX she him neatly side-step.PST

Though he got personal at times, she side-stepped him neatly.

Selfs al breek hulle my pen, sal my woorde vlam vat.

[(CI/ADVC) [(CI) selfs al] [(V2) breek] [(MF) hulle my pen]] [(V2) sal] [(MF) my woorde] [(VF) vlam vat]

even though break.PRS they my pen will.AUX.MOD my words flame catch

Even if they break my pen, my words will ignite.

Conditional clauses with verb-first
Concessive and contrastive clauses with al

[+]Conditional clauses with verb-first

Conditional clauses formed through inversion can only occur in the sentence-initial position, as clause-initial constituent of the main clause. The conditional clause cannot follow the main clause. Syntactically speaking, the word order of the conditional clauses through inversion is identical to polar (yes/no) questions that are also formed through inversion of subject and first verb. Some form of disambiguation is therefore required, which can be achieved by having the inversion clause followed immediately by the first verb and then the subject of the main clause, to signal its subordinate status. Conditional clauses with verb-first can usually be paraphrased as regular subordinate clauses with the subordinator as if, in which case the word order returns to the verb-final word order of subordinate clauses. The possible and impossible variations are illustrated by the examples in (3).

a.	Staan jy bo in die straat, dan sien jy net twee lang rye Adamsvybome.
	stand.PRS you up in the street then see.PRS you just two long rows adams.fig.trees
	If you stand at the top of the street, you will only see two long rows of Adams fig trees.
	TK

a.'	As jy bo in die straat staan, dan sien jy net twee lang rye Adamsvybome.
	if you up in the street stand.PRS then see.PRS you just two long rows adams.fig.trees
	If you stand at the top of the street, you will only see two long rows of Adams fig trees.

a.''	*Jy sien net twee lang rye Adamsvybome, staan jy bo in die straat.
	you see.PRS just two long rows adams.fig.trees stand.PRS you up in the street
	You will only see two long rows of Adams fig trees if you stand at the top of the street.

a.'''	Jy sien net twee lang rye Adamsvybome, as jy bo in die straat staan.
	you see.PRS just two long rows adams.fig.trees if you up in the street stand.PRS
	You will only see two long rows of Adams fig trees if you stand at the top of the street.

b.	Is die ma baie ongelukkig en gespanne, klop die fetus se hartjie vinniger en sy bloeddruk verhoog.
	be.PRS the mother very unhappy and tense beat.PRS the fetus PTCL.GEN heart.DIM quicker and his blood.pressure increase.PRS
	If the mother is very unhappy and tense, the fetus's heart beats faster and his blood pressure increases.

b.'	As die ma baie ongelukkig en gespanne is, klop die fetus se hartjie vinniger en sy bloeddruk verhoog.
	if the mother very unhappy and tense be.PRS beat.PRS the fetus PTCL.GEN heart.DIM quicker and his blood.pressure increase.PRS
	If the mother is very unhappy and tense, the fetus's heart beats faster and his blood pressure increases.

b.''	*Die fetus se hartjie klop vinniger en sy bloeddruk verhoog, is die ma baie ongelukkig en gespanne.
	the fetus PTCL.GEN heart.DIM beat.PRS quicker and his blood.pressure increase.PRS be.PRS the mother very unhappy and tense
	The fetus's heart beats faster and his blood pressure increases if the mother is very unhappy and tense.

b.'''	Die fetus se hartjie klop vinniger en sy bloeddruk verhoog, as die ma baie ongelukkig en gespanne is.
	the fetus PTCL.GEN heart.DIM beat.PRS quicker and his blood-pressure increase.PRS if the mother very unhappy and tense be.PRS
	The fetus's heart beats faster and his blood pressure increases if the mother is very unhappy and tense.

Example (3a) also illustrates that the word dan then is frequently used to introduce the main clause, which further serves to disambiguate the construction by emphasising where the apodosis begins, since the protasis is not marked formally by a disambiguating subordinator. However, as example (3b) shows, the use of dan is not obligatory in Afrikaans.

The tendency of Afrikaans to revert to verb-second order with subject in the first position is exemplified by (3b), where the main clause is a coordinate main clause with en and, but where the first clause has the verb before the subject, after the clause-initial adverbial clause, the second clause opts for subject-verb order, despite also being under the scope of the condition expressed by the protasis. The alternative word order for the coordinate main clause is for both verbs to precede their subject, which would have been perfectly acceptable and strictly speaking more grammatical in Afrikaans, but in the corpus, non-inversion after a coordinator is widely attested.

[+]Concessive and contrastive clauses with al

The concessive and contrastive clauses introduced by al can precede or follow the main clause, unlike the conditional clauses with verb-first due to inversion. The contrast is illustrated by the examples in (4), where an authentic corpus example with each of the two orders is presented first, and the grammatically acceptable variant is presented as the primed example.

a.	Al kan ek hulle nie sien nie, hoor ek hulle skree.
	though can.AUX.MOD I them not see.INF PTCL.NEG hear.PRS I them shout.INF
	Though I cannot see them, I can hear them shout.
	TK
	[Concessive clause first]

a.'	Ek hoor hulle skree, al kan ek hulle nie sien nie.
	I hear.PRS them shout.INF though can.AUX.MOD I them not see.INF PTCL.NEG
	I can hear them shout, though I cannot see them.

b.	Ek kan weer die venster oopmaak, al trek die lig die motte aan.
	I can again the window open.INF though draw.PRS the light the moths closer
	I can open the window again, though the light attracts moths.
	TK
	[Main clause first]

b.'	Al trek die lig die motte aan, kan ek weer die venster oopmaak.
	though draw.PRS the light the moths closer can I again the window open.INF
	Though the light attracts moths, I can open the window again.

The word order of the main clause, when it follows the concessive clause, can be either inversion order, with verb preceding subject, or non-inversion order, with subject preceding verb. Both options are attested and regarded as acceptable in Afrikaans. They suggest two different grammatical statuses for the concessive clause: it is either integrated into the main clause as clause-initial adverbial constituent, or it is unattached and regarded as an independent clause outside of the main clause. The contrast can be illustrated with the idiomatic expression that is recorded in the WAT as Al dra 'n aap 'n goue ring, hy is en bly 'n lelike ding. though carry.PRS a monkey a golden ring he be.PRS and remain.PRS an ugly thing Even if a person of poor background becomes rich, he continues to reveal the traces of his background.. The dictionary entry for the idiom has the main clause in the word order Subject-Verb, but a Google search reveals that the reordering of the words to Verb-Subject is widely attested on Afrikaans websites, yielding forms like Al dra 'n aap 'n goue ring, bly hy 'n lelike ding. though carry.PRS a monkey a golden ring remain.PRS he an ugly thing. The word order with inversion in the main clause, i.e. Concessive Clause – Verb – Subject, is more widely attested in the corpus data, but the non-inverted order is nevertheless present in non-negligible proportions. Two corpus examples of the non-inverted order are presented in (5), where the primed exaples are grammatically accepted reformulations with inversion order.

a.	Al is hy nie 'n profeet nie, hy moet gaan.
	though be.PRS he not a prophet PTCL.NEG he must.AUX.MOD go
	Though he isn't a prophet, he must go.
	TK

a.'	Al is hy nie 'n profeet nie, moet hy gaan.
	though be.PRS he not a prophet PTCL.NEG must.AUX.MOD he go
	Though he isn't a prophet, he must go.

b.	Al vat dit honderd jaar, die kloof sal weer toegroei.
	though take.PRS it hunderd year the gorge will.AUX.MOD again overgrow.INF
	Though it may take a hunderd years, the gorge will be overgrown again.
	TK

b.'	Al vat dit honderd jaar, sal die kloof weer toegroei.
	though take.PRS it hunderd year will.AUX.MOD the gorge again overgrow.INF
	Though it may take a hunderd years, the gorge will be overgrown again.

The initial al of the concessive clause can be strengthened by selfs even or ook also/as well, to enhance the notion that there is a clear contrast between the events represented by the two clauses. The extent to which their use allows one to distiguish between mere contrast and concession is not obvious from the data. It appears to be a matter of interpretation whether the contrast, which is always present in the relationship between the subordinate clause and its main clause, should be read as a concession too. In most examples, the two meanings seem to be present simultaneously. The use of these emphatic markers is illustrated by the examples in (6), where the inversion of the two clauses would also be acceptable, and would retain the emphatic marker preceding al.

Selfs al kry ek net my geld terug, sal dit verligting bring.

Even if get.PRS I only my money back will.AUX.MOD it relief bring.INF

Even if I only get my money back, it will bring relief.

Ook al laat God die eindbestemming van sy skepping nie los nie, is deformasie 'n wesenlike gevaar.

also though let.LINK God the end-destination of his creation not leave PTCL.NEG be.PRS deformation a fundamental danger

Even if God doesn't let go of the final destination of his creation, deformation remains a very serious danger.

References

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About this article

Author(s): Bertus van Rooy

Category: Afrikaans Syntax

Keywords: subordinate clauseconcessiveconditionalverb-firstverb-second

Version: 1.0, May 2020

Version history:

version	editor(s)	date	remarks
1.0	Bertus van Rooy	May 2020

This is a beta version.

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