[tied] Re: PIE's closest relatives

--- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, Harald Hammarstrom <haha2581@...>
wrote:

> > I think the subject-verb inversion after sentence-initial non-

subject

> > in the Germanic languages other than English makes those languages
> > partly VSO.
>
> Not if you are talking about 'basic word order' (which VSO usually

means)

> because the VS orders in Germanic are marked. But if you are talking
> about characterising the basic constituent order I belive V2 is the
> appropriate and generally accpeted term.

The so-called 'Didrichsens sætningsskema' for Danish (I think it
works for Norwegian too) is:

Front-field || v|n|adv || V|N|Adv

which means one might choose to see a 'normal' SVO sentence as one
with fronted subject.

>
> > Where did that inversion come from?
>
> Good question.
>
> I for one don't know any other languages that mark questions by
> inverting the 'basic' order of SV.

Doesn't eg. French?

>Languages with different order
> if another constituent that the subject is fronted I believe should
> be easier to find.

Mandatory? Name one.

Torsten