Non-temporal dan and the grammar of V2*

Abstract

This paper discusses a pattern in which a finite verb is preceded by a locative PP which combines with an initial or final occurrence of the adverb dan (‘then’) and which may look like a violation of the V2 constraint. The paper is relevant in the context of how to handle what look like exceptions to the V2 pattern, a point that is sometimes neglected in the formal literature, though Zwart (2008a) draws attention to the importance of also capturing such recalcitrant data. Based on standard arguments for constituency, it will be shown that the adverb, which has a non-temporal reading, and the associated PP form one constituent. Thus, a pattern that might at first appear to be a violation of V2 in fact is shown to be in line with the constraint.

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“…as elements that are not part of the syntactic computation of the clause and surface in an apparently clause-internal position. Haegeman and Trotzke (2020), however, argue in a recent paper on non-temporal dan (lit. 'then') in Dutch that at least some of the items of Dutch addressed by Zwart (2005) can be taken to be integrated in the structure.…”