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Article published In: Journal of Uralic Linguistics
Vol. 4:2 (2025) ► pp.217–268

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Verb second in Estonian and the syntax-prosody relation

ORCiD logo with link | Newcastle University, United Kingdom
ORCiD logo with link | Institute of the Estonian Language, Estonia
ORCiD logo with link | Károli Gáspár University of the Reformed Church in Hungary, Hungary
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Published online: 24 October 2025
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https://doi.org/10.1075/jul.00042.hol
Abstract
Estonian declarative main clauses display a relatively strict verb-second (V2) order, resembling Germanic V2. However, two prosody-conditioned exceptions distinguish Estonian from Germanic: verb-third occurs with weak proforms in the ‘EPP-position’ and with nuclear-stressed finite verbs. We claim that the derivation of Estonian V2 differs from Germanic. The Estonian left periphery resembles Finnish, a closely related but non-V2 language. In both languages, finite verbs move to the highest T-domain head and a phrasal category moves to the specifier of this head, the EPP-position. Estonian V2 with its exceptions results from “Weak Start,” a prosodic constraint blocking spell-out of the highest copy of the chain derived by movement to the EPP-position when another phrasal constituent occupies the C-domain.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.V2 in a Germanic language: Swedish
  • 3.The left periphery in Finnish
    • 3.1The lower left periphery: Fin and spec-FinP
    • 3.2The higher left periphery: C and spec-CP
  • 4.The left periphery in Estonian
    • 4.1The structure of FinP
    • 4.2C, spec-CP, and V2
    • 4.3Exceptions to V2
      • 4.3.1Unstressed pronouns as exceptions to V2
      • 4.3.2Nuclear stressed verbs as exceptions to V2
  • 5.Syntactic accounts of Estonian V2
    • 5.1On a Fin-to-C analysis of Estonian V2
    • 5.2On pronouns as proclitics
    • 5.3On Vihman and Walkden (2021)
    • 5.4The present proposal
      • 5.4.1The exceptions to V2 are prosodic by nature
      • 5.4.2V2 is a tendency rather than an absolute rule
      • 5.4.3Prosodic intuitions have been proposed in previous literature
  • 6.The prosodic account of the Estonian V2 order
    • 6.1The prosodic constraint that causes the V2 order: Weak Start
      • 6.1.1The prosodic structure of the V2 and V3 sentences examined
        • 6.1.1.1The ι-level structure of the V2 and V3 sentences examined
        • 6.1.1.2The ϕ-level structure of the examined V2 and V3 sentences
        • 6.1.1.3Placement of the nuclear stress
        • 6.1.1.4Summary of the prosodic structure of the V2 and V3 sentences examined
      • 6.1.2The Weak Start constraint
      • 6.1.3Why does Estonian have V2 order due to the Weak Start constraint?
    • 6.2The derivation of V2 order in Estonian
    • 6.3A second prosodic constraint: The Right Edge constraint
    • 6.4Syntax, prosody and the architecture of grammar
  • 7.Summary
  • Supplementary materials
  • Acknowledgments
  • Notes
  • References
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