The Decline and Loss of V2 in French

Abstract

In this chapter I take a broader diachronic perspective in order to consider the replacement of the V2 grammar of OFr by a non-V2 grammar between the 13th and the 16th centuries. Following Roberts (1993), I distinguish between the decline of V2, which we have partially documented in Chapter 6, and the actual loss of the constraint, which Roberts claims is due to parameter resetting. Three factors are seen to contribute to the decline of V2: the preponderance of SVX clauses, the rise of CSV orders, and the existence of two means of licensing case on subjects internal to VP, one dependent on government by C° and the other independent of it. Rhythmic factors, as discussed by Adams (1987b) and Kroch (1989a), may have played a role in the rise of CSV. The loss of V2 sometime in the 16th century is claimed to reflect a parametric change similar to the one proposed by Roberts, in which spec-head agreement replaces government as the mechanism of nominative case licensing in French.