The Position of the Functional Heads in Dutch

Abstract

In this chapter, I will present several arguments in support of the idea that the functional projections in Dutch are head initial. This will then serve as a starting point for the analysis of verb movement in chapter VI. The evidence involves a discussion of the ‘lexical’ elements that are taken to occupy functional head positions (complementizers, determiners, and infinitival markers) (section 1), an analysis of clitic placement in Dutch (section 2), and a discussion of complementizer agreement and double agreement phenomena in Continental West Germanic dialects (section 3). Double agreement occurs when the morphology of the finite verb depends on the verb’s position in the clause.