Deriving verb-cluster variation in Dutch and German

Abstract

The difference in West-Germanic V(erb)-clusters, right-branching (Dutch) and left-branching (German), follows from a difference in the acquisition of V-second. That decisive factor had already been acquired before any V-cluster appeared in the child’s speech. Longitudinal Dutch child data show that modals and aspectuals develop a rightward selection that carries over into the V-cluster. The German child data do not show such a development. Automatic phrasal formation by the acquisition procedure may yield the V-cluster without assuming V-movement from an underlying structure. The minor order variations in Dutch triple V-clusters can be accounted for given the previously acquired binary V-clusters. The general perspective is that the acquisition procedure is a discovery procedure. Typological effects are the outcome of early local string-determined licensing/selection.