Parametric variation in Romance synchronic V2 through a French lens

Abstract

In this article I provide an analysis of XVS order in (Modern) standard French, and reconcile it with comparative analyses of XVS in (Modern) Romance by taking into account recent conceptual accounts for topic and focus. I concentrate on XVS clauses in Modern standard French where X is an adverbial or an adjectival phrase, and provide empirical evidence for the assumption that – contrary to what is often assumed – these are similar to XVS clauses in Romance and not subject to a special syntactic licensing constraint distinguishing them from other Romance languages. I claim that XVS clauses in (Modern) standard French display systematicity in that the initial element X is either [+anaphoric] or [+scalar] and that this is the result of micro-parametric rather than nano-parametric variation: the sentence-initial AdjPs and AdvPs in XVS are no individual lexical items but belong to a lexically defined subset of AdvPs and AdjPs. Instances of XVS introduced by a [+scalar] constituent are argued to be subsets of Romance mirative focus fronting, while those introduced by a [+anaphoric] constituent are subsets of Romance resumptive preposing. I argue that XVS in standard French is productive with fronted rare ‘rare’ and nombreux ‘numerous’, because these adjectives are both [+anaphoric] and [+scalar]. This shows that V2 is still active in standard French.

Keywords

• word order
• V2
• French
• syntax
• information structure