Mesovariation: A Review of Krzysztof Migdalski’s Second Position Effects in the Syntax of Germanic and Slavic Languages, Wrocław: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Wrocławskiego, 2016

Abstract

This review presents a concise overview of the main issues treated in Migdalski’s book. Wackernagel’s conjecture that there is a close relationship between the verb second phenomena in Germanic and the clitic second phenomena in Slavic must be closely related and must be the result of the same type of grammatical process is found to be only partly true, but also partly on the wrong track. This conclusion is reached on the basis of minute study of the relevant phenomena in a variety of Germanic and Slavic languages, both synchronically and diachronially. The result is an immensely rich exploration of second position phenomena in two major Indo-European language families.