in Estonian Heete Sahkai Institute of the Estonian Language Introduction The generalisations that can be formulated about verb placement in ID: 652955
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Slide1
Verb position and prosody in Estonian
Heete Sahkai
Institute
of
the
Estonian
LanguageSlide2
IntroductionThe generalisations that
can
be
formulated
about
verb
placement
in
Estonian
have
exceptions
that
seem
to
be
more
easily
described
in
terms
of
prosody
than
in
terms
of
syntax
or
information
structure
,
suggesting
that
the
syntactic
constraints
on verb
position
may
interact
with
prosodic
constraints
.
Estonian
is
generally
described
as
a V2
language
(
e.g
. Tael 1990,
Huumo
1994,
Erelt
2009).
Second-position
phenomena
generally
have
a
prosodic
aspect
,
being
enclitic
.
The
Estonian
V2
has
also
been
associated
with
prosody
by
Tael (1990:34)
who
seems
to
view
V2
as
a
syntactic
phenomenon
which
has
a
prosodic
motivation
historically
.Slide3
GoalTo present two
types
of
variation
in
verb
placement
that
can
occur
in
simple
declarative
all-new
sentences
:
Variation
in
V2
depending
on
the
accentuation
of
the
finite
verb
The
respective
placement
of
subject
and verb
after
sentence-initial
adverbial
s
The
respective
placement
of
verbs
and
sentence
adverbs
Variation
depending
on
the
prosodic
phrase
structure
of
the
sentenceSlide4
V2 and sentence-initial adverbials 1
By
default
,
the
subject
precedes
the
verb (a).
The
V2
effect
:
When
the
sentence
begins
with
an
adverbial
expression
,
the
order
of
the
subject
and
the
verb
is
„
inverted
“,
i.e
.
the
verb
precedes
the
subject
(b).
a.
Üks mees leidis kahtlase paki
one.nom
man.nom
find.past.3sg
suspicious.gen
package.gen
‘A man
found
a
suspicious
package
’
b.
Mõni päev hiljem leidis üks mees
some.nom
day.nom
later
find.past.3sg
one.nom
man.nom
kahtlase paki
suspicious.gen
package.gen
lit
. ‘A
few
days
later
found
a man a
suspicious
package
’
c. *
Mõni
päev hiljem
üks
mees
(leidis) kahtlase paki (leidis)Slide5
V2 and sentence-initial adverbials 2
Variation
:
under
certain
circumstances
,
the
„
inversion
“
does
not
or
need
not
take
place
,
i.e
.
the
verb
may
be
preceded
both
by
the
adverbial
expression
and
the
subject
,
ceasing
to
be
in
the
second
position
.
These
circumstances
can
be
given
a
prosodic
description
:
the
„
inversion
“
becomes
optional
or
dispreferred
when
the
finite
verb
carries
the
nuclear
accent
.
Although
nuclear
accent
placement
is
determined
by
syntax
,
there
can
be
exceptions
to
this
,
which
suggests
that
verb
placement
cannot
by
reduced
to
syntax
.Slide6
V2 and sentence-initial adverbials 3
Intransitive
verb:
a.
Mõni päev hiljem üks
mees
kadus
some
day
later
one.nom
man.nom
disappear.past.3sg
‘A
few
days
later
a
man
disappeared
’
b. ?
Mõni päev hiljem
kadus
üks meesSlide7
However, the variation cannot
be
described
in
terms
of
intransitivity
:
the
intransitive
verb
occurs
in
the
second
position
when
it
is
the
finite
element
of
a
complex
predicate
(a, b),
or
when
another
element
receives
the
nuclear
accent
(c, d):
a.
Mõni päev hiljem olevat üks mees
kadunud
some
day
later
aux.evid
one
man
disappear.prtcpl
‘A
few
days
later
a man
reportedly
disappeared
’
a’. *
Mõni päev hiljem üks mees olevat kadunud
b.
Mõni päev hiljem kadus üks mees
ära
some
day
later
disappear.past.3sg
one
man
prtcl
‘
A
few
days
later
a man
disappeared
’
b.’ ?
Mõni päev hiljem üks mees kadus ära
c.
Mõni päev hiljem kadus üks
mees
some
day
later
disappear.past.3sg
one
man
d.
Mõni päev hiljem kadus üks mees
ootamatult
some
day
later
disappear.past.3sg
one
man
unexpectedlySlide8
Examples like (c) and (d) cannot be
given
a
syntactic
description
:
the
placement
of
the
accent
on
the
subject
or
the
adjunct
is
not
syntactically
determined
and
would
not
be
possible
in
an
all-new
transitive
sentence
.
Rather
,
to
the
extent
that
it
is
possible
,
it
permits
to
satisfy
the
V2
constraint
without
violating
the
prosodic
constraint
.Slide9
V2 and sentence-initial adverbials 4
V2
may
also
be
absent
from
transitive
sentences
where
the
verb
receives
the
nuclear
accent
for
information
structural
reasons
,
e.g
.
the
argument
is
given/pronominal
:
(
Context
: I
lost
my
phone
)
a.
Mõni päev hiljem üks mees
leidis
selle
some
day
later
one
man
found
it
‘A
few
days
later
a man
found
it
’
a’. ?
Mõni päev hiljem
leidis
üks mees selle
some
day
later
found
one
man
it
b.
Mõni päev hiljem leidis üks mees selle
üles
some
day
later
found
one
man
it
prtcl
‘A
few
days
later
a man
found
it
’Slide10
V2 and sentence-initial adverbials: Summary 1
The
generalisation
whereby
a
sentence-inital
adverbial
causes
the
verb
to
precede
the
subject
does
not
seem
to
hold
when
the
verb
receives
the
nuclear
accent
,
i.e
. V2/verb
movement
seems
to
be
subject
to
an
operative
prosodic
constraint
.
Earlier
descriptions
of
the
lack
of
inversion
also
propose
a
prosodic
account
,
assuming
that
the
inversion
becomes
optional
when
the
subject
is
short
and
unstressed
,
i.e
.
pronominal
(Tael 1990:34,
Lindström
2017).
It
should
be
examined
whether
the
prosodic
properties
of
the
subject
are a
factor
that
operates
independently
of
the
prosodic
properties
of
the
verb. Slide11
It does not seem evident
that
the
properties
of
the
subject
alone
can
override
V2
when
the
verb
is
unaccented
,
i.e
. (b)
does
not
seem
substantially
better
than
(a
):
a. ?
Mõni päev hiljem üks
mees
leidis
some
day
later
one.nom
man.nom
find.past.3sg
kahtlase paki
suspicious.gen
package.gen
lit
. ‘A
few
days
later
a
man
found
a
suspicious
package
’
b. ?
Mõni päev hiljem ta leidis kahtlase
paki
some
day
later
3sg find.past.3sg
suspicious.gen
package.gen
lit
. ‘A
few
days
later
he
found
a
suspicious
package
’Slide12
V2 and sentence-initial adverbials: Summary 2
The
second
position
does
not
seem
to
be
compatible
with
the
nuclear
accent
.
However
,
this
does
not
seem
to
mean
that
the
verb
is
enclitic
on
the
preceding
word
: a
sentence
like
(a)
seems
acceptable
with
a
prenuclear
accent
on
the
verb and a
break
between
the
adverbial
and
the
verb:
a.
Mõni
päev
hiljem
kadus
üks
mees
ootamatult
some
day
later
disappear.past.3sg
one
man
unexpectedly
‘A
few
days
later
a man
disappeared
unexpectedly
’Slide13
V2 and sentence adverbs 1
That
nuclear-accented
verbs
do
not
occur
in
second
position
is
also
suggested
by
the
respective
placement
of
verbs
and
sentence
adverbs
Second
position
verbs
precede
sentence
adverbs
:
a.
Üks mees leidis väidetavalt
kahtlase
paki
one
man
found
reportedly
suspicious.gen
package.gen
‘A
man
reportedly
found
a
suspicious
package
’
a’. *
Üks mees väidetavalt leidis kahtlase paki
one
man
reportedly
found
suspicious.gen
package.gen
b.
Mõni päev hiljem leidis üks mees väidetavalt kahtlase
some
day
later
found
one
man
reportedly
suspicious.gen
paki
package.genSlide14
V2 and sentence adverbs 2
When
the
verb
receives
the
nuclear
accent
,
e.g
.
in
case
of
a
simple
intransitive
verb,
it
preferably
follows
the
adverb:
a.
Üks
mees väidetavalt
kadus
one
man
reportedly
disappeared
‘A man
reportedly
disappeared
’
a’. ?
Üks
mees
kadus
väidetavalt
one
man
disappeared
reportedly
b.
Mõni
päev hiljem üks mees väidetavalt
kadus
some
day
later
one
man
reportedly
disappearedSlide15
V2 and sentence adverbs 3Again,
in
case
of
complex
predicates
,
the
usual
order
is
restored
:
a.
Üks
mees olevat
väidetavalt kadunud
one
man
aux.evid
reportedly
disappear.prtcpl
b. ??
Üks mees
väidetavalt
olevat
kadunud
one
man
reportedly
aux.evid
disappear.prtcplSlide16
V2 and sentence adverbs 4Again
,
the
same
phenomenon
appears
in
information-structurally
marked
transitive
sentences
:
a.
Üks
mees väidetavalt
leidis
selle
one
man
reportedly
found
it
‘A man
reportedly
found
it
’
a’. ??
Üks mees
leidis
selle
väidetavalt
one
man
found
it
reportedly
b.
Üks
mees leidis selle väidetavalt
üles
one
man
found
it
reportedly
prtcl
‘
A man
reportedly
found
it
’Slide17
Prosody and verb-final orderProsodically
induced
variation
can
also
occur
in
contexts
where
V2
alternates
with
verb-final
order.
In
contexts
that
do
not
require
V2,
the
order
is
usually
verb-final
(SOV).
The
alternation
between
the
clause-final
and
second
position
has
been
attributed
to
information
structure
:
the
verb
is
final
when
it
is
focussed
(Tael 1988:42,
Lindström
2017:558).
However
,
again
,
the
alternation
could
be
associated
more
generally
with
the
accentuation
of
the
verb (
cf
. Tamm 2008).Slide18
Alternation of V2 and V-final order in
an
all-new
declarative
subordinate
clause
(
unaccented
verb):
a.
Kui keegi (leiab) juhuslikult
i
f
somebody
find.3sg
incidentally
kahtlase
paki
(
leiab)…
suspicious.gen
package.gen
find.3sg
‘If somebody should find a suspicious package…’
Prosody
and
verb-final
orderSlide19
Preference for the V-final order
in
case
of
an
accented
verb:
a.
Kui
keegi
(?
leiab
) selle juhuslikult (
leiab
)…
if
somebody
find.3sg
it.gen
incidentally
find.3sg
‘
If
somebody should find it…’b. Kui keegi (?kaob
) juhuslikult (
kaob)… if somebody disappear.3sg incidentally disappear.3sg ‘If somebody should disappear…’
Prosody
and
verb-final
orderSlide20
Conclusion on V2 and prosodyWhen accounting
for
the
V2
property
of
Estonian
it
seems
necessary
to
take
into
account
an
apparently
prosodic
constraint which cannot be reduced to syntactic or information structural factors: apparently,
the
second position is not compatible with the nuclear accent, without at the same time
being
enclitic
.Slide21
Single-accent (single-phrase) sentences
Generalisation
:
In
a
simple
all-new
declarative
V2
sentence
the
subject
is
the
initial
constituent
.
When
there
is
no
subject
, another constituent occurs in the initial position.Variation: under certain circumstances
,
this generalisation becomes partly optional.These circumstances can again be described in prosodic
terms
:
the
verb
is
unaccented
and
there
is
a
single
other
(
overt
)
constituent
with
which
the
verb
constitutes
a
single
prosodic
unit
.
In
this
case
the
respective
order
of
the
verb and
the
other
constituent
becomes
free
,
independently
of
the
syntactic
conditions
.Slide22
Overt
subject
S - V - XP - XP
*V - S - XP - XP
*XP - V - S - XP
Naabrid grillivad aias vorste
neighbours
barbecue.3pl
garden.ine
sausage.par.pl
‘
The
neighbours
are
barbecuing
sausages
in
the
garden
’
Subject
pro-drop
V - XP - XP
*XP - V - XP
Grillime aias vorste
barbecue.1pl
garden.ine
sausage.par.plNo subjectXP - V - XP*V - XP - XP
Aias grillitakse vorste
garden.ine
barbecue.impers
sausage.par.pl
Default
order
in
simple
declarative
all-new
sentences
with
and
without
a
subjectSlide23
(
Overt
subject
)
S
-
V
/ *
V
- S
S
- V / V -
S
Naabrid
grillivad
/ *
Grillivad
naabrid
neighbours
barbecue.3pl
Üks
mees
helistas /
Helistas
üks
mees
one
man call.past.3sg
‘A man
called
’
Subject
pro-dropV - XP / *XP - VV - XP / XP - V
Grillime
aias / *
Aias
grillime
barbecue.1pl
garden.ine
Grillime
vorste
/
Vorste
grillime
barbecue.1pl sausage.par.pl
No
subject
XP
-
V
/ *
V
- XP
XP
- V / V -
XP
Aias
grillitakse
/ *
Grillitakse
aias
garden.ine
barbecue.impers
Vorste
grillitakse /
Grillitakse
vorste
sausage.par.pl
barbecue.impersSlide24
Single-phrase sentences: summaryWhen
the
verb
in
unaccented
and
there
is
a
single
other
(
overt
)
constituent
the
verb
constitutes
a
single
prosodic
unit
with it, being either initial or final.Slide25
ConclusionProsodic notions are necessary
in
order
to
describe
certain
facts
about
Estonian
word
order.
Nuclear
accented
verbs
are
not
preferred
in
the
second position.When the verb in unaccented and there is a single other (overt) constituent the verb constitutes
a
single prosodic unit with it, where the order is free.Slide26
ReferencesErelt, M. 2009. Typological overview
of
Estonian
syntax
.
Sprachtypologie
und
Universalienforschung
62: 6−28
.
Huumo
,
T
. 1994.
Näkökulmia
suomen ja viron
sanajärjestyseroihin
.
Lähivertailuja
8,
21–39
.
Lindström
,
L. 2017.
“Lause infostruktuur ja sõnajärg”.
In
M.
Erelt
and H. Metslang, eds. Eesti keele süntaks. (Eesti keele varamu, 3.), 547–565. Tartu: Tartu Ülikooli Kirjastus.Tael, K. 1990. An approach to word order problems in Estonian. Tallinn: Eesti Teaduste Akadeemia.Tamm, A. 2008. Problems of automatic accent
assignment
: A comparison of Hungarian and Estonian verbs. Presentation at Budapest Uralic Workshop 6, 11-12 January 2008Slide27
AcknowledgementsThis research has been supported by the Centre of Excellence in Estonian Studies (CEES, European Regional Development Fund) and is related to the research project IUT35-1 (Estonian Research Council
).
This
presentation
was
made
possible
by
the
projects
„
Contact-induced
change in Finno-Ugric
languages
“ (
Hungarian
Academy
of
Sciences
,
Estonian
Academy
of Sciences) and EKI-ASTRA (Institute of the Estonian Language
,
European Regional Development Fund).