Inversion As A Remnant of V2 Word Order
In some cases of subject–auxiliary inversion, such as negative inversion, the effect is to put the finite auxiliary verb into second position in the sentence. In these cases, inversion in English results in word order that is like the V2 word order of other Germanic languages (Danish, Dutch, Frisian, Icelandic, German, Norwegian, Swedish, Yiddish, etc.). These instances of inversion are remnants of the V2 pattern that formerly existed in English as it still does in its related languages. Old English followed a consistent V2 word order.
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