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Verb-Second and Initial-Weak Prosody

The verb-second order (V2) has been discussed mainly in syntax in generative grammar since 1980’s (e.g. den Besten [1]). Most studies assume that V2 order is derived from the base order by a syntactic head-movement of T to C position together with a movement of a constituent to the specifier position of C. In the minimalist program, the status of head-movement as a syntactic movement is questioned. Chomsky [2] argues that head-movement is a phonological movement, not a syntactic one. However, the nature of this phonological movement is not clear. In this paper, I propose that V2 order is realized by the language-specific prosody at Externalization, not by syntactic movement nor by phonological movement. I argue that languages with stem-initial stress (and unstressed prefixes) allow V2 order (e.g. Germanic languages except for modern English, Kashmiri). These languages allow an unstressed initial syllable in a word. I argue that this initial-weak word-prosody projects up to phrasal prosody in the languages. Constructions with V2 order have an unstressed verb in a prosodic phrase. I propose that the prosody of the V2 languages accepts the order because the V2 order matches the initial-weak word/phrase prosody of the languages.