In
linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...
, head directionality is a proposed
parameter
A parameter (), generally, is any characteristic that can help in defining or classifying a particular system (meaning an event, project, object, situation, etc.). That is, a parameter is an element of a system that is useful, or critical, when ...
that classifies languages according to whether they are head-initial (the
head of a
phrase
In syntax and grammar, a phrase is a group of words or singular word acting as a grammatical unit. For instance, the English expression "the very happy squirrel" is a noun phrase which contains the adjective phrase "very happy". Phrases can consi ...
precedes its
complements) or head-final (the head follows its complements). The
head is the element that determines the category of a phrase: for example, in a
verb phrase
In linguistics, a verb phrase (VP) is a syntactic unit composed of a verb and its arguments except the subject of an independent clause or coordinate clause. Thus, in the sentence ''A fat man quickly put the money into the box'', the words ''q ...
, the head is a verb. Therefore, head initial would be
"VO" languages and head final would be
"OV" languages.
Some languages are consistently head-initial or head-final at all phrasal levels.
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
is considered to be strongly head-initial (verbs precede their objects, for example), while
Japanese
Japanese may refer to:
* Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia
* Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan
* Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture
** Japanese diaspor ...
is an example of a language that is consistently head-final. In certain other languages, such as
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
** Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
and
Gbe, examples of both types of head direction occur. Various theories have been proposed to explain such variation.
Head directionality is connected with the type of
branching that predominates in a language: head-initial structures are ''right-branching'', while head-final structures are ''left-branching''. On the basis of these criteria, languages can be divided into head-final (rigid and non-rigid) and head-initial types. The identification of headedness is based on the following:
# the order of subject, object, and verb
# the relationship between the order of the object and verb
# the order of an
adposition
Prepositions and postpositions, together called adpositions (or broadly, in traditional grammar, simply prepositions), are a class of words used to express spatial or temporal relations (''in'', ''under'', ''towards'', ''before'') or mark various ...
and its
complement
A complement is something that completes something else.
Complement may refer specifically to:
The arts
* Complement (music), an interval that, when added to another, spans an octave
** Aggregate complementation, the separation of pitch-clas ...
# the order of
relative clause
A relative clause is a clause that modifies a noun or noun phraseRodney D. Huddleston, Geoffrey K. Pullum, ''A Student's Introduction to English Grammar'', CUP 2005, p. 183ff. and uses some grammatical device to indicate that one of the arguments ...
and head noun.
Types of phrase
In some cases, particularly with noun and adjective phrases, it is not always clear which dependents are to be classed as complements, and which as
adjuncts. Although in principle the head-directionality parameter concerns the order of heads and complements only, considerations of head-initiality and head-finality sometimes take account of the position of the head in the phrase as a whole, including adjuncts. The structure of the various types of phrase is analyzed below in relation to specific languages, with a focus on the ordering of head and complement. In some cases (such as English and Japanese) this ordering is found to be the same in practically all types of phrase, whereas in others (such as German and Gbe) the pattern is less consistent. Different theoretical explanations of these inconsistencies are discussed later in the article. There are various types of phrase in which the ordering of head and complement(s) may be considered when attempting to determine the head directionality of a language, including:
* Verb Phrase: the head of
verb phrase
In linguistics, a verb phrase (VP) is a syntactic unit composed of a verb and its arguments except the subject of an independent clause or coordinate clause. Thus, in the sentence ''A fat man quickly put the money into the box'', the words ''q ...
(VP) is a
verb
A verb () is a word (part of speech) that in syntax generally conveys an action (''bring'', ''read'', ''walk'', ''run'', ''learn''), an occurrence (''happen'', ''become''), or a state of being (''be'', ''exist'', ''stand''). In the usual descri ...
, and the complement(s) are most commonly
object
Object may refer to:
General meanings
* Object (philosophy), a thing, being, or concept
** Object (abstract), an object which does not exist at any particular time or place
** Physical object, an identifiable collection of matter
* Goal, an ...
s of various types. The ordering here is related to one of the chief questions in the
word order
In linguistics, word order (also known as linear order) is the order of the syntactic constituents of a language. Word order typology studies it from a cross-linguistic perspective, and examines how different languages employ different orders. C ...
typology of languages, namely the normal order of
subject, verb and object within a
clause
In language, a clause is a constituent that comprises a semantic predicand (expressed or not) and a semantic predicate. A typical clause consists of a subject and a syntactic predicate, the latter typically a verb phrase composed of a verb with ...
(languages are classed on this basis as
SVO,
SOV,
VSO, etc.).
![VPsyntactictree](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e1/VPsyntactictree.png)
* Noun Phrase: the head of a
noun phrase
In linguistics, a noun phrase, or nominal (phrase), is a phrase that has a noun or pronoun as its head or performs the same grammatical function as a noun. Noun phrases are very common cross-linguistically, and they may be the most frequently oc ...
(NP) is a
noun
A noun () is a word that generally functions as the name of a specific object or set of objects, such as living creatures, places, actions, qualities, states of existence, or ideas.Example nouns for:
* Living creatures (including people, alive, d ...
; various kinds of complementizer phrases (CPs) and adpositional phrases (PPs) can be complements.
![NPsyntactictree](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/46/NPsyntactictree.png)
* Adjective Phrase: the head of an
adjective phrase An adjective phrase (or adjectival phrase) is a phrase whose head is an adjective. Almost any grammar or syntax textbook or dictionary of linguistics terminology defines the adjective phrase in a similar way, e.g. Kesner Bland (1996:499), Crystal ( ...
(AP) is an adjective, which can take as a complement, for example, an
adverbial phrase or adpositional phrase (PP).
![APsyntactictree](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/12/APsyntactictree.png)
* Adpositional Phrase: the head of an
adpositional phrase
An adpositional phrase, in linguistics, is a syntactic category that includes ''prepositional phrases'', ''postpositional phrases'', and ''circumpositional phrases''. Adpositional phrases contain an adposition (preposition, postposition, or circ ...
(PP) is an apposition. Such phrases are called prepositional phrases if they are head-initial (i.e. headed by a preposition), or postpositional phrases if they are head-final (i.e. headed by a postposition). For more on these, see
Preposition and postposition
Prepositions and postpositions, together called adpositions (or broadly, in traditional grammar, simply prepositions), are a class of words used to express spatial or temporal relations (''in'', ''under'', ''towards'', ''before'') or mark various ...
. The complement is a determiner phrase (or noun phrase, depending on analytical scheme followed).
![PPsyntactictree](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/03/PPsyntactictree.png)
* Determiner Phrase: the head of a
determiner phrase In linguistics, a determiner phrase (DP) is a type of phrase headed by a determiner such as ''many''. Controversially, many approaches, take a phrase like ''not very many apples'' to be a DP, headed, in this case, by the determiner ''many''. This i ...
(DP) is a
determiner. DPs were proposed under generative syntax; not all theories of syntax agree that they exist.
* Complementizer Phrase: the head of a
complementizer phrase (CP) is a
complementizer
In linguistics (especially generative grammar), complementizer or complementiser (glossing abbreviation: ) is a functional category (part of speech) that includes those words that can be used to turn a clause into the subject or object of a se ...
, like ''that'' in English. In some cases the C head is
covert
Secrecy is the practice of hiding information from certain individuals or groups who do not have the "need to know", perhaps while sharing it with other individuals. That which is kept hidden is known as the secret.
Secrecy is often controvers ...
(not overtly present). The complement of C is generally agreed to be a tense phrase (TP).
![CPsyntactictree](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/ff/CPsyntactictree.png)
* Tense Phrase: the head of a
tense phrase
In linguistics, X-bar theory is a model of phrase-structure grammar and a theory of syntactic category formation that was first proposed by Noam Chomsky in 1970Chomsky, Noam (1970). Remarks on Nominalization. In: R. Jacobs and P. Rosenbaum (eds.) ...
(TP) is tense; these are phrases in which the head is an abstract
category
Category, plural categories, may refer to:
Philosophy and general uses
*Categorization, categories in cognitive science, information science and generally
* Category of being
* ''Categories'' (Aristotle)
* Category (Kant)
* Categories (Peirce) ...
representing
tense; the complement is a verb phrase.
* Aspect Phrase: the head of an
aspect phrase (AspP) is aspect; these are phrases in which the head is an abstract syntactic category representing
aspect
Aspect or Aspects may refer to:
Entertainment
* ''Aspect magazine'', a biannual DVD magazine showcasing new media art
* Aspect Co., a Japanese video game company
* Aspects (band), a hip hop group from Bristol, England
* ''Aspects'' (Benny Carter ...
. In more traditional analysis the entire phrase (including any elements denoting tense or aspect) is considered to be simply a verb phrase.
Head-initial languages
English
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
is a strongly head-initial language. In a typical verb phrase, for example, the verb precedes its complements, as in the following example:
![VP English](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6b/VP_English.png)
:''eat an apple''
:
VP_[V_eat">sub>VP_[V_eat[
DP_an_apple.html" ;"title="sub>V_eat.html" ;"title="sub>VP [
V eat">sub>VP [
V eat[
DP an apple">sub>V_eat.html" ;"title="sub>VP [
V eat">sub>VP [
V eat[
DP an apple
The head of the phrase (the verb ''eat'') precedes its complement (the determiner phrase ''an apple''). Switching the order to "[
VP [
DP an apple] [
V eat" would be ungrammatical.
Nouns also tend to precede any complements, as in the following example, where the
relative clause
A relative clause is a clause that modifies a noun or noun phraseRodney D. Huddleston, Geoffrey K. Pullum, ''A Student's Introduction to English Grammar'', CUP 2005, p. 183ff. and uses some grammatical device to indicate that one of the arguments ...
(or
complementizer phrase) that follows the noun may be considered to be a complement:
![NP English](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f8/NP_English.png)
:''He married a girl who is from Texas.''
:
NP_[N_girl">sub>NP_[N_girl[
CP_who_is_from_Texas.html" ;"title="sub>N_girl.html" ;"title="sub>NP [
N girl">sub>NP [
N girl[
CP who is from Texas">sub>N_girl.html" ;"title="sub>NP [
N girl">sub>NP [
N girl[
CP who is from Texas
Nouns do not necessarily begin their phrase; they may be preceded by attributive adjectives, but these are regarded as
adjuncts rather than complements. (For preceding
determiners, see below.) Adjectives themselves may be preceded by adjuncts, namely
adverb An adverb is a word or an expression that generally modifies a verb, adjective, another adverb, determiner, clause, preposition, or sentence. Adverbs typically express manner, place, time, frequency, degree, level of certainty, etc., answering ...
s, as in ''extremely happy''. However, when an adjective phrase contains a true complement, such as a prepositional phrase, the head adjective precedes it:
:''a person happy about her work''
:
AP_[A_happy">sub>AP_[A_happy[
PP_about_her_work.html" ;"title="sub>A_happy.html" ;"title="sub>AP [
A happy">sub>AP [
A happy[
PP about her work">sub>A_happy.html" ;"title="sub>AP [
A happy">sub>AP [
A happy[
PP about her work
English adpositional phrases are also head-initial; that is, English has
preposition
Prepositions and postpositions, together called adpositions (or broadly, in traditional grammar, simply prepositions), are a class of words used to express spatial or temporal relations (''in'', ''under'', ''towards'', ''before'') or mark various ...
s rather than postpositions:
![PP English](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6a/PP_English.png)
:''a majority of eligible voters''
:
PP_[P_of">sub>PP_[P_of[
DP_eligible_voters.html" ;"title="sub>P_of.html" ;"title="sub>PP [
P of">sub>PP [
P of[
DP eligible voters">sub>P_of.html" ;"title="sub>PP [
P of">sub>PP [
P of[
DP eligible voters
On the
determiner phrase In linguistics, a determiner phrase (DP) is a type of phrase headed by a determiner such as ''many''. Controversially, many approaches, take a phrase like ''not very many apples'' to be a DP, headed, in this case, by the determiner ''many''. This i ...
(DP) view, where a
determiner is taken to be the head of its phrase (rather than the associated noun), English can be seen to be head-initial in this type of phrase too. In the following example the head is taken to be the determiner ''any'', and the complement is the noun (phrase) ''book'':
![DP English](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/16/DP_English.png)
:''any book''
:[
DP [
D any] [
NP book
English also has head-initial
complementizer phrases, as in this example where the complementizer ''that'' precedes its complement, the tense phrase ''Mary did not swim'':
:''We saw that Mary did not swim''
:
CP_[C_that">sub>CP_[C_thatC_that.html"_;"title="sub>CP_[C_that">sub>CP_[C_that[
TP_Mary_did_not_swim">sub>C_that.html"_;"title="sub>CP_[
C_that">sub>CP_[
C_that[
TP_Mary_did_not_swim
Grammatical_words_marking_tense_and_aspect_generally_precede_the_semantic_verb._This_indicates_that,_if_finite_verb_phrases_are_analyzed_as_
tense_phrase_
In_linguistics,_X-bar_theory_is_a_model_of_phrase-structure_grammar_and_a_theory_of_syntactic_category_formation_that_was_first_proposed_by_Noam_Chomsky_in_1970Chomsky,_Noam_(1970)._Remarks_on_Nominalization._In:_R._Jacobs_and_P._Rosenbaum_(eds.)_...
s_or_aspect_phrases,_these_are_again_head-initial_in_English._In_the_example_above,_''did''_is_considered_a_(
TP_Mary_did_not_swim.html"_;"title="sub>C_that.html"_;"title="sub>CP_[C_that">sub>CP_[C_that[
TP_Mary_did_not_swim">sub>C_that.html"_;"title="sub>CP_[
C_that">sub>CP_[
C_that[
TP_Mary_did_not_swim
Grammatical_words_marking_tense_and_aspect_generally_precede_the_semantic_verb._This_indicates_that,_if_finite_verb_phrases_are_analyzed_as_
tense_phrase_
In_linguistics,_X-bar_theory_is_a_model_of_phrase-structure_grammar_and_a_theory_of_syntactic_category_formation_that_was_first_proposed_by_Noam_Chomsky_in_1970Chomsky,_Noam_(1970)._Remarks_on_Nominalization._In:_R._Jacobs_and_P._Rosenbaum_(eds.)_...
s_or_aspect_phrases,_these_are_again_head-initial_in_English._In_the_example_above,_''did''_is_considered_a_(past_tense">past