ABSTRACT
Wackernagel’s Law /ˈvɑːkəˌnɑːghttps://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9780203393369/12bb6ff0-aad2-4bc4-b969-f0fabb143f90/content/chW_page301-01.tif"/>z ˌlɔː/ n. The statement that clitics tend universally to occupy the second position in a sentence, where ‘second position’ can mean either ‘after the first word’ or ‘after the first phrase’. This tendency is illustrated by the following examples from Serbo-Croatian, in which mi and je are clitics: Taj-mi-je pesnik napisao knjigu. that-me-Past poet wrote book ‘That poet wrote me a book.’ Taj pesnik-mi-je napisao knjigu. that poet-me-Past wrote book ‘That poet wrote me a book.’
Wackernagel (1892).
