Verb second

Definition
Verb second is name for the phenomenon that, or the process by which, the verb in declarative root clauses ends up in second position. If a language has verb second as a characteristic property it is called a verb second language.

Example
The contrast between the Dutch (i)a and the English (i)b shows that Dutch, but not English, is a verb second language.

(i) a Jan sla ik        J hit I     b  John I hit

Verb second is no longer considered a process, but is rather taken to be an epiphenomenon, the effect of the interaction of as yet ill-understood parameter-settings and principles.

Links

 * Utrecht Lexicon of Linguistics