Basque V2 effects in diachrony

Abstract

This paper explores the extension of verb-second (V2) patterns in wh-interrogatives from Archaic to Modern Basque. While in Modern Basque a systematic “residual” V2 system in wh-interrogatives has emerged, in Archaic Basque only synthetic verbs display systematic V2 order, whereas analytic verbs allow intervening material between the wh-phrase and the verbal complex. We put forth a multifactorial analysis of Archaic Basque where independent syntactic or morphophonological properties of auxiliaries interact with the syntax of V2 in such a way that they ‘hide’ its effects on word order in interrogatives with analytic verbs. The change from Archaic to Modern Basque involves a mere change in the properties of T, independently from the syntax of V2.