Verb clustering, which was also a recurring topic in Section 5.2 and Chapter 6, has been on the research agenda since Bech (1955) and Evers (1975) and still raises numerous questions and problems (both of a descriptive and a more theoretical nature). Evers’ account of verb clustering became the standard in early generative grammar. It assumes, in accordance with the general OV-nature of Dutch, that dependent verbal projections are base-generated to the left of the matrix verb and that the verbal head is subsequently extracted and right-adjoined to the matrix verb; this head-movement operation has become known as verb raising and is supposed to result in the formation of a monoclausal structure with a complex verbal head. This is illustrated in (191a) for a modal verb with a bare infinitival complement.

In the early 1990s, analyses emerged that assume that infinitival clauses are base-generated to the right of the matrix verb, as in (192a). The surface order can then be derived by leftward movement of the nonverbal elements in the clause, as in (192b); cf. Coppen & Klein (1992), Den Besten & Broekhuis (1992), Zwart (1997), and especially Zwart (2011: Part III), which provides a comprehensive review of such proposals, as well as the reasons to assume the underlying structure in (192a).

An alternative analysis, using the same underlying structure in (192a), is based on the assumption that the German surface order bringen will is derived by leftward movement of the entire infinitival clause, as in (193a); cf. Lattewitz (1993/1997), Broekhuis (1997), and Barbiers (2005/2008). Assuming that Dutch is the same as German in this respect, the Dutch split pattern can then be derived by assuming that the infinitive has been extracted from the infinitival clause (possibly to the head position of one of its functional projections) before the latter is moved to the left, resulting in the structure in (193b); we refer the reader to Koopman & Szabolcsi (2000), Hinterhölzl (2006), and Broekhuis (2008: §5) for this so-called remnant-movement analysis.

These movement approaches, of course, also suggest different solutions to the two (b)-examples in (194), in which the verb cluster is permeated by nonverbal material. Proponents of the verb movement approach, for example, may assume that not only verbal heads may right-adjoin to the matrix verb but also (subparts of) verbal projections, as in Den Besten & Edmondson (1983), while proponents of the leftward movement approach may assume that languages vary with respect to the amount or type of leftward movement that they require.

There are also approaches to verb clustering that do not involve syntactic movement at all; cf. Haegeman & Van Riemsdijk (1986), Haider (2003), Kempen & Harbusch (2003), and Williams (2003). Verb clustering is probably one of the most ardently debated issues in Germanic linguistics, and the sketch given above consequently covers merely the tip of the iceberg. A good and detailed review of the theoretical literature on verb clustering can be found in Wurmbrand (2006/2017).

Wurmbrand’s compendium also provides a detailed review of the cross-linguistic variation found in the linear ordering of verb clusters. For more recent information and discussion about the variation found in the various standard, regional and dialectal variaties of Dutch, the reader is referred to Barbiers et al. (2008: §2), Barbiers & Bennis (2010), Dros-Hendriks (2018), which includes Barbiers et al. (2018), Broekhuis (2019), and Van Craenenbroeck et al. (2019).

References

Barbiers, Sjef. 2005. Word-order variation in three-verb clusters and the division of labour between generative linguistics and sociolinguistics. In Syntax and variation. Reconciling the biological and the social, eds. Leonie Cornips and Karen P. Corrigan, 233-264. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins.

Barbiers, Sjef 2008. Werkwoordclusters en de grammatica van de rechterperiferie (followed by a discussion with Arnold Evers). Nederlandse Taalkunde 13: 160-197.

Barbiers, Sjef & Hans Bennis. 2010. De plaats van het werkwoord in zuid en noord. In Voor Magda. Artikelen voor Magda Devos bij haar afscheid van de Universiteit Gent, eds. Johan De Caluwe and Jacques Van Keymeulen, 25-42: University of Gent, https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/1048568.

Barbiers, Sjef et al. 2008. Syntactische atlas van de Nederlandse dialecten [Syntactic atlas of the Dutch dialects], Volume II. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press.

Barbiers, Sjef, Hans Bennis & Lotte Dros-Hendriks. 2018. Merging verb cluster variation. Linguistic Variation 18: 145-197.

Barbiers, Sjef et al. 2008. Syntactische atlas van de Nederlandse dialecten [Syntactic atlas of the Dutch dialects], volume II. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press.

Bech, Gunnar 1955. Studien über das deutsche Verbum infinitum, part 1. Copenhagen: Ejnar Munksgard.

Bennis, Hans. 1992. Long head movement: the position of particles in the verbal cluster in Dutch. In Linguistics in the Netherlands 1992, eds. Reineke Bok-Bennema and Roeland van Hout, 37-49. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins.

Bennis, Hans & Teun Hoekstra. 1989b. Why Kaatje was not heard sing a song. In Sentential complementation and the lexicon, eds. Danny Jaspers et al., 21-40. Dordrecht: Foris Publications. [Reprinted in Teun Hoekstra (2004), Arguments and structure. Studies on the architecture of the sentence. Berlin/New York: Mouton de Gruyter].

Broekhuis, Hans. 1997. Nogmaals Verb Projection Raising. Tabu 27: 1-27.

Broekhuis, Hans. 2008. Derivations and evaluations: object shift in the Germanic languages. Berlin/New York: Mouton de Gruyter.

Broekhuis, Hans. 2019. A new and challenging view on verb clustering: On 'Not another book on Verb Raising' by Lotte Dros-Hendriks. Nederlandse Taalkunde/Dutch Linguistics 24: 213-245.

Broekhuis, Hans et al. 1995. Infinitival complementation: on remnant extraposition. The Linguistic Review 12: 93-122.

Coppen, Peter-Arno & Maarten Klein. 1992. Het einde van Verb Raising. In Nieuwe eskapades in de Neerlandistiek. Opstellen van vrienden voor M.C. van den Toorn bij zijn afscheid als hoogleraar Nederlandse Taalkunde aan de Katholieke Universteit Nijmegen, ed. Maarten Klein, 32-46. Groningen: Wolters-Noordhoff.

Coussé, Evie. 2008. Motivaties voor volgordevariatie. Een diachrone studie van werkwoordsvolgorde in het Nederlands. University of Ghent: PhD thesis.

De Sutter, Gert. 2005. Rood, groen, corpus! Een taalgebruikersgebaseerde analyse van woordvolgordevariatie in tweeledige werkwoordelijke eindgroepen. University of Leuven: PhD thesis.

De Sutter, Gert. 2007. Naar een corpusgebaseerde, cognitief-functionele verklaring van de woordvolgordevariatie in tweeledige werkwoordelijke eindgroepen. Nederlandse Taalkunde 12: 302-330.

Den Besten, Hans. 1985. The ergative hypothesis and free word order in Dutch and German. In Studies in German Grammar, ed. Jindřich Toman, 23-65. Dordrecht/Cinnaminson: Foris Publications. [Reprinted in Den Besten (1989), Studies in West Germanic syntax. Amsterdam: Rodopi].

Den Besten, Hans & Hans Broekhuis. 1989. Woordvolgorde in de werkwoordelijke eindreeks. GLOT 12: 79-137.

Den Besten, Hans & Hans Broekhuis. 1992. Verb Projection Raising in het Nederlands. Spektator 21: 21-34.

Den Besten, Hans & Jerold E. Edmondson. 1983. The verbal complex in continental West Germanic. In On the formal syntax of Westgermania. Papers from the "3rd Groninger Grammar Talks", January 1981, ed. Werner Abraham, 155-216. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins.

Den Besten, Hans & Jean Rutten. 1989. On verb raising and free word order in Dutch. In Sentential complementation and the lexicon, eds. Dany Jaspers et al., 41-56. Dordrecht/Providence: Foris Publications.

Dros-Hendriks, Lotte. 2018. Not another book on Verb Raising. Leiden University: PhD thesis.

Evers, Arnold. 1975. The transformational cycle in Dutch and German. Utrecht University: PhD thesis.

Felbr, Lukáš. 2022. Corpusanalyse van niet-finiete vormen in werkwoordclusters in het Nederlands. Leiden University: Bachelor Thesis.

Gerritsen, Marinel. 1991. Atlas van de Nederlandse dialecten (AND). deel I. Amsterdam: Meertens Institute.

Haegeman, Liliane & Henk van Riemsdijk. 1986. Verb projection raising, scope, and the typology of rules affecting verbs. Linguistic Inquiry 17: 417-466.

Haeseryn, Walter. 1990. Syntactische normen in het Nederlands. Een empirisch onderzoek naar woordvolgordevariatie in de werkwoordelijke eindgroep. University of Nijmegen: PhD thesis.

Haeseryn, Walter et al. 1997. Algemene Nederlandse spraakkunst, 2nd, revised edition. Groningen: Nijhoff.

Haider, Hubert. 2003. V-clustering and clause union: causes and effects. In Verb constructions in German and Dutch, eds. Pieter A.M. Seuren and Gerard Kempen, 91-126. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins.

Hinterhölzl, Roland. 2006. Scrambling, remnant movement and restructuring in West-Germanic. Oxford/New York: Oxford University press.

Hoeksema, Jack. 1994. The history of Dutch verb projection raising. Ms. University of Groningen.

Kempen, Gerard & Karin Harbusch. 2003. Dutch and German verb constructions in Performance Grammar. In Verb constructions in German and Dutch, eds. Pieter Seuren and Gerard Kempen, 185-221. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins.

Koopman, Hilda. 1994. Licensing heads. In Verb movement, eds. David Lightfoot and Norbert Hornstein, 261-296. Cambridge (UK)/New York: Cambridge University Press.

Koopman, Hilda & Anna Szabolcsi. 2000. Verbal complexes. Cambridge, MA/London: MIT Press.

Koster, Jan. 1984b. Anaphoric and non-anaphoric control. Linguistic Inquiry 15: 417-459. [Reprinted in Jan Koster (1987), Domains and dynasties. The radical autonomy of syntax. Dordrecht/Providence: Foris Publications].

Kroch, Anthony S. & Beatrice Santorini. 1991. The derived constituent structure of the West Germanic Verb-Raising construction. In Principles and parameters in comparative grammar, ed. Robert Freiding, 269-338. Cambridge, MA/London: MIT Press.

Lattewitz, Karen. 1993. A minimalist view on Verb Raising. In Language and Cognition 3. University of Groningen, eds. Ale de Boer et al., 159-169. Groningen: University of Groningen.

Lattewitz, Karen. 1997. Adjacency in Dutch and German. University of Groningen: PhD thesis.

Neeleman, Ad. 1994b. Complex predicates. Utrecht University: PhD thesis.

Pauwels, A. 1953. De plaats van hulpwerkwoord, verleden deelwoord en infinitief in de Nederlandse bijzin. Leuven: Drukkerij M. & L.Symons.

Petter, Marga. 1998. Getting PRO under control. A syntactic analysis of the nature and distribution of unexpressed subjects in non-finite and verbless clauses. Free University Amsterdam: PhD thesis.

Reuland, Eric. 1981. On extraposition of complement clauses. NELS 11: 296-318.

Reuland, Eric. 1983. Government and the search for auxes, Vol. 1. In Linguistic categories: auxiliaries and related puzzles, eds. Frank Heny and Barry Richards, 99-168. Dordrecht: Reidel.

Rutten, Jean. 1991. Infinitival complements and auxiliaries. University of Amsterdam: PhD thesis.

Schmid, Tanja & Ralf Vogel. 2004. Dialectal variation in German 3-verb clusters: a surface-oriented optimality theoretic account. The Journal of Comparative Germanic Linguistics 7: 235-274.

Smits, Rik. 1987. Over de aan het constructie, lexicale morfologie en casustheorie. In Grammaticaliteiten, eds. Norbert Corver and Jan Koster, 281-324: Tilburg University.

Van Craenenbroeck, Jeroen, Marjo Van Koppen & Antal Van den Bosch. 2019

A quantitative-theoretical analysis of syntactic microvariation: Word order in Dutch verb clusters. Language 95: 333-370.

Van der Horst, Joop. 2008. Geschiedenis van de Nederlandse syntaxis, Vols. 1 & 2. Leuven: Universitaire Pers Leuven.

Van Riemsdijk, Henk. 1978. A case study in syntactic markedness: the binding nature of prepositional phrases. Lisse: Peter de Ridder Press.

Williams, Edwin. 2003. Representation theory. Cambridge, MA/London: MIT Press.

Wurmbrand, Susanne. 2006. Verb clusters, verb raising and restructuring. In The Blackwell companion to syntax, Volume V, eds. Martin Everaert and Henk van Riemsdijk, 229-343. Malden, Ma/Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.

Wurmbrand, Susi. 2017. Verb clusters, verb raising and restructuring. In The Wiley Blackwell companion to syntax [2nd, revised edition], eds. Martin Everaert and Henk van Riemsdijk, 4611-4719. Hoboken, New Jersey: Blackwell.

Zuckerman, Shalom. 2001. The Acquisition of “Optional” Movement. University of Groningen: PhD thesis.

Zwart, Jan-Wouter. 1997. Morphosyntax of verb movement. A minimalist approach to the syntax of Dutch. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers.

Zwart, Jan-Wouter. 2011. The syntax of Dutch. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.