V2 and V3 in Modern Eastern Armenian

In the paper we will discuss word order in MEA, with special reference to the position of the auxiliary in periphrastic verbal forms. We will show that when the auxiliary occupies the second position, it is obligatorily preceded by a phrase interpreted as a focus. Moreover, on its turn, the focused phrase can be preceded by another one, which must be base-generated, and not moved, in that position. Finally, we will discuss the similarities and differences between the distribution and properties of contrastive focus and informational focus