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 ofHead-initial languages
English
Indonesian
Indonesian is an example of an SVO head-initial language. The characteristic of it being a head-initial language can be examined through a dependency perspective or through a word order perspective. Both approaches lead to the conclusion that Indonesian is a head-initial language.Dependency perspective
When examining Indonesian through a dependency perspective, it is considered head initial as theWord order perspective
The subject of the sentence followed by the verb, representing SVO order. The following examples demonstrate head-initial directionality in Indonesian CP_[DP_Perdana_menteri">sub>CP_[DP_Perdana_menteri DP_Perdana_menteri.html"_;"title="sub>CP_[DP_Perdana_menteri">sub>CP_[DP_Perdana_menteri[VP_sudah_pulang">sub>DP_Perdana_menteri.html"_;"title="sub>CP_[DP_Perdana_menteri">sub>CP_[DP_Perdana_menteri[VP_sudah_pulang VP_sudah_pulang.html"_;"title="sub>DP_Perdana_menteri.html"_;"title="sub>CP_[DP_Perdana_menteri">sub>CP_[DP_Perdana_menteri[VP_sudah_pulang">sub>DP_Perdana_menteri.html"_;"title="sub>CP_[DP_Perdana_menteri">sub>CP_[DP_Perdana_menteri[VP_sudah_pulang Grammatical_number">Classifiers_and_Partitive.html" ;"title="Grammatical_number.html" ;"title="sub>VP_sudah_pulang.html" ;"title="sub>DP_Perdana_menteri.html" ;"title="sub>CP [DP Perdana menteri">sub>CP [DP Perdana menteri[VP sudah pulang">sub>DP_Perdana_menteri.html" ;"title="sub>CP [DP Perdana menteri">sub>CP [DP Perdana menteri[VP sudah pulang Grammatical number">Classifiers and Partitive">partitives can function as the head nouns of noun phrases. Below is an example of the internal structure of a noun phrase and its head-initial word order. [CP[DP botol ini][VP retak Head-initial word order is seen in the internal structure of the verb phrase in the following example where the V is in the head position of the verb phrase and thus appears before its complement: CP[DPDokter">sub>CP[DPDokterVP[V_memeriksa.html" ;"title="sub>DPDokter.html" ;"title="sub>CP[DPDokter">sub>CP[DPDokterVP[V memeriksa">sub>DPDokter.html" ;"title="sub>CP[DPDokter">sub>CP[DPDokterVP[V memeriksaDPmata says] In Indonesian a noun can be followed by another modifiers, modifying noun whose primary function is to provide more specific information about the preceding head noun, such as indicating what the head noun is made of, gender, locative sense, and what the head noun does, etc. However, no other word is able to intervene between a head noun and its following modifying noun. If a word follows the modifying noun, then it provides reference to the head noun and not the modifying noun. * Head noun: N ''guru''">sub>N ''guru''+ Modifying noun: N ''bahasa''">sub>N ''bahasa'' * Head noun: N ''guru''">sub>N ''guru''+ Modifying noun: N ''sekolah''">sub>N ''sekolah''+ Determiner D ''itu''">sub>D ''itu'' * Head noun: N''toko''">sub>N''toko''+ Modifying noun: N ''buku''">sub>N ''buku'' * Head noun: N''toko''">sub>N''toko''+ Modifying noun: N ''buku''">sub>N ''buku''+ Determiner phrase DP''yang besar''">sub>DP''yang besar'' * Head noun: N ''sate''">sub>N ''sate''+ Modifying noun: N ''ayam''">sub>N ''ayam''Head-final languages
Japonic: Japanese
Japanese is an example of a strongly head-final language. This can be seen in verb phrases and tense phrases: the verb (''tabe'' in the example) comes after its complement, while the tense marker (''ru'') comes after the whole verb phrase which is its complement. TP_[VP_[DP_ringo-o">sub>TP_[VP_[DP_ringo-o[V_tabe.html" ;"title="sub>VP_[DP_ringo-o.html" ;"title="sub>TP [VP [DP ringo-o">sub>TP [VP [DP ringo-o[V tabe">sub>VP_[DP_ringo-o.html" ;"title="sub>TP [VP [DP ringo-o">sub>TP [VP [DP ringo-o[V tabe [T ru Nouns also typically come after any complements, as in the following example where the PP ''New York-de-no'' may be regarded as a complement: NP_[PP_New_York-de-no">sub>NP_[PP_New_York-de-no[N_koogi.html" ;"title="sub>PP_New_York-de-no.html" ;"title="sub>NP [PP New York-de-no">sub>NP [PP New York-de-no[N koogi">sub>PP_New_York-de-no.html" ;"title="sub>NP [PP New York-de-no">sub>NP [PP New York-de-no[N koogi Adjectives also follow any complements they may have. In this example the complement of quantity, ''ni-juu-meetoru'' ("twenty meters"), precedes the head adjective ''takai'' ("tall"): [AP [Q ni-juu-meetoru] [A takai Japanese uses postpositions rather than prepositions, so its adpositional phrases are again head-final: PP_[DP_Takasu-mura">sub>PP_[DP_Takasu-mura[P_ni.html" ;"title="sub>DP_Takasu-mura.html" ;"title="sub>PP [DP Takasu-mura">sub>PP [DP Takasu-mura[P ni">sub>DP_Takasu-mura.html" ;"title="sub>PP [DP Takasu-mura">sub>PP [DP Takasu-mura[P ni Determiner phrases are head-final as well: [DP [NP dare] [D mo A complementizer (here ''to'', equivalent to English "that") comes after its complement (here a tense phrase meaning "Mary did not swim"), thus Japanese complementizer phrases are head-final: CP_[TP_Mary-ga_oyog-ana-katta">sub>CP_[TP_Mary-ga_oyog-ana-katta TP_Mary-ga_oyog-ana-katta.html"_;"title="sub>CP_[TP_Mary-ga_oyog-ana-katta">sub>CP_[TP_Mary-ga_oyog-ana-katta[C_to">sub>TP_Mary-ga_oyog-ana-katta.html"_;"title="sub>CP_[TP_Mary-ga_oyog-ana-katta">sub>CP_[TP_Mary-ga_oyog-ana-katta[C_to_Turkic:_Turkish
C_to.html"_;"title="sub>TP_Mary-ga_oyog-ana-katta.html"_;"title="sub>CP_[TP_Mary-ga_oyog-ana-katta">sub>CP_[TP_Mary-ga_oyog-ana-katta[C_to">sub>TP_Mary-ga_oyog-ana-katta.html"_;"title="sub>CP_[TP_Mary-ga_oyog-ana-katta">sub>CP_[TP_Mary-ga_oyog-ana-katta[C_to_Turkic:_Turkish
Turkish_language">Turkish_is_an_agglutinative,_head-final,_and_left-branching_language_that_uses_a__Turkic:_Turkish
Turkish_language">Turkish_is_an_agglutinative,_head-final,_and_left-branching_language_that_uses_a_Subject–object–verb">SOV_word_order._Turkic:_Turkish
Turkish_language">Turkish_is_an_agglutinative,_head-final,_and_left-branching_language_that_uses_a_Subject–object–verb">SOV_word_order._Turkic:_Turkish
Turkish_language">Turkish_is_an_agglutinative,_head-final,_and_left-branching_language_that_uses_a_Subject–object–verb">SOV_word_order._Turkic:_Turkish
Turkish_language">Turkish_is_an_agglutinative,_head-final,_and_left-branching_language_that_uses_a_Subject–object–verb">SOV_word_order.Turkic: Turkish
Turkish language">Turkish is an agglutinative, head-final, and left-branching language that uses a Subject–object–verb">SOV word order. As such, Turkish complements and adjuncts typically precede their head under neutral prosody, and Preposition and postposition">adpositions Prepositions and postpositions, together called adpositions (or broadly, in traditional grammar, simply prepositions), are a part of speech, class of words used to express spatial or temporal relations (''in'', ''under'', ''towards'', ''before'') ...Head-final Tense Phrase
In Turkish, tense is denoted by a case marking suffix on the verb. [TP [VP et][T -tiHead-final Verb Phrase
In neutral prosody, Turkish verb phrases are primarily head-final, as the verb comes after its complement. Variation in object-verb ordering is not strictly rigid. However, constructions where the verb precedes the object are less common. VP_[DP_çikolata">sub>VP_[DP_çikolataV_sever.html" ;"title="sub>DP_çikolata.html" ;"title="sub>VP [DP çikolata">sub>VP [DP çikolataV sever">sub>DP_çikolata.html" ;"title="sub>VP [DP çikolata">sub>VP [DP çikolataV severHead-final Determiner Phrase
In Turkish, definite determiners may be marked with a case marker suffix on the noun, such as when the noun is the direct object of a verb. They may also exist as free morphemes that attach to a head-initial determiner phrase, such as when the determiner is a demonstrative. Like other case markers in Turkish, when the morpheme carrying the demonstrative meaning is a case marker, they attach at the end of the word. As such, the head of the phrase, in this case the determiner, follows its complement like in the example below: [DP [NP kitap-lar][D -ıHead-final Postpositional Phrase
Turkish adpositions are postpositions that can affix as a case marker at the end of a word. They can also be a separate word that attaches to the head-final postpositional phrase, as is the case in the example below: PP_[DP_Ahmet">sub>PP_[DP_AhmetP_için.html" ;"title="sub>DP_Ahmet.html" ;"title="sub>PP sub>PP_[DP_AhmetP_için">sub>DP_Ahmet.html"_;"title="sub>PP_[DP_Ahmet">sub>PP_[DP_AhmetP_için_Word_order_variation_in_matrix_clauses
Turkish_employs_a_Grammatical_case.html" ;"title="sub>DP Ahmet">sub>PP [DP AhmetP için">sub>DP_Ahmet.html" ;"title="sub>PP [DP Ahmet">sub>PP [DP AhmetP içinWord order variation in matrix clauses
Turkish employs a Grammatical case">case marking system that allows some constituents in Turkish clauses to participate in permutations of its canonical SOV word order, thereby in some ways exhibiting a 'free' word order. Specifically, constituents of an independent clause can be moved around and constituents of phrasal categories can occur outside of the Projection principle, projections they are elements of. As a result, it is possible for the major case-marked constituents of a clause in Turkish to appear in all possible orders in a sentence, such that SOV, SVO, OSV, OVS, VSO, and VOS word orders are acceptable. This free word order allows for the verbal phrase to occur in any position in an independent clause, unlike other head-final languages (such as Japanese andMixed word-order languages
Indo-European: German
Sino-Tibetan: Chinese
Niger-Congo: Gbe
In Gbe, a mixture of head-initial and head-final structures is found. For example, a verb may appear after or before its complement, which means that both head-initial and head-final verb phrases occur. In the first example the verb for "use" appears after its complement: : VP_[DP_àmí_lɔ́">sub>VP_[DP_àmí_lɔ́[V_zân.html" ;"title="sub>DP_àmí_lɔ́.html" ;"title="sub>VP [DP àmí lɔ́">sub>VP [DP àmí lɔ́[V zân">sub>DP_àmí_lɔ́.html" ;"title="sub>VP [DP àmí lɔ́">sub>VP [DP àmí lɔ́[V zân In the second example the verb precedes the complement: :[VP [V zán] [DP àmí lɔ́ It has been debated whether the first example is due to object movement to the left side of the verb or whether the lexical entry of the verb simply allows head-initial and head-final structures. Tense phrases and aspect phrases are head-initial since aspect markers (such as ''tó'' and ''nɔ̀ '' above) and tense markers (such as the future marker ''ná'' in the following example, but that does not apply to tense markers shown by verbTheoretical views
Tesnière: dependency grammar
The idea that syntactic structures reduce to binary relations was introduced byGreenberg: typology
Lehmann: Fundamental Principle of Placement
Winfred P. Lehmann, expanding upon Greenberg's theory, proposed a Fundamental Principle of Placement (FPP) in 1973. The FPP states that the order of object and verb relative to each other in a language determines other features of that language's typology, beyond the features that Greenberg identified. Lehmann also believed that the subject is not a primary element of a sentence, and that the traditional six-order typology of languages should be reduced to just two, VO and OV, based on head-directionality alone. Thus, for example, SVO and VSO would be considered the same type in Lehmann’s classification system.Chomsky: principles and parameters
Kayne: antisymmetry
According to theGradient classification
Some scholars, such as Tesnière, argue that there are no absolute head-initial or head-final languages. According to this approach, it is true that some languages have more head-initial or head-final elements than other languages do, but almost any language contains both head-initial and head-final elements. Therefore, rather than being classifiable into fixed categories, languages can be arranged on a continuum with head-initial and head-final as the extremes, based on the frequency distribution of their dependency directions. This view was supported in a study by Haitao Liu (2010), who investigated 20 languages using a dependencySee also
*Notes
Bibliography
* * * * * * Chomsky, Noam. (1981). ''