Wackernagel clitic

A Wackernagel clitic is a clitic that occurs in the second position in the clause.

Example

The Russian question particle li is such a clitic, e.g. Znaet li on ob ètom? [knows PTCL he about this] 'Does he know about this?'

Synonym

second-position clitic

Origin

These clitics were described in a classical article by Jacob Wackernagel (1892), and when interest in these clitics reawakened the 1970s, they became known as Wackernagel cltics.

Reference

• Wackernagel, Jacob. 1892. Über ein Gesetz der indogermanischen Wortstellung. Indogermanische Forschungen 1. 333-436.

Other languages

German Wackernagel-Klitikon