On the distribution and illocution of V2 in Scandinavian that-clauses

This paper investigates the distribution of embedded verb second in Faroese, Icelandic, Norwegian, and Swedish. Two conclusions can be drawn from the study. First, none of the Scandinavian languages can be said to display generalized embedded verb second across the board. There are varieties of Faroese and Icelandic that display restrictions of the kind found in the other Scandinavian languages. In these varieties, non-subject initial verb second is dispreferred in environments that are known to resist root phenomena. Second, it is shown that the definitions of assertion proposed in the literature cannot discern V2 from non-V2 word orders.