This volume brings together papers which address a range of issues regarding the syntax of function words and functional categories in the Germanic languages. The works offered in this volume derive specifically from comparative studies of Germanic; at the same time they all bear directly on long-standing problems in syntactic theory and universal grammar. The contributions include novel theoretical and empirical approaches to infinitives, the syntax and acquisition of Verb Second, the structure and interpretation of present tense, the syntax and semantics of reflexives, the relationship between expletive syntax and the EPP, the syntax of possession, and the DP-internal syntax of pronouns. Some contributions present the results of experimental research which provide an entirely fresh perspective on previously unchallenged claims.

Table of contents

Acknowledgements

Introduction: The Function of Function Words and Functional Categories Marcel den Dikken and Christina M. Tortora Verb second as a function of Merge C. Jan-Wouter Zwart

Nonnative acquisition of Verb Second: On the empirical underpinnings of universal L2 claims Ute Bohnacker

Clause Union and Clausal Position Josef Bayer, Tanja Schmid and Markus Bader

Explaining Expl Marc Richards and M. Theresa Biberauer

Reflexives in contexts of reduced valency: German vs. Dutch Marika Lekakou

Simple Tense Guido Vanden Wyngaerd

Possessor licensing, definiteness and case in Scandinavian Marit Julien

Pronouns are Determiners After All Dorian Roehrs