Head-directionality parameter
The identification of headedness is based on the following:[3] 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.
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.
In the example above, did is considered a (past) tense marker, and precedes its complement, the verb phrase not swim.
(The subject of the tense phrase, the girl, is a specifier, which does not need to be considered when analyzing the ordering of head and complement.)
[6] リンゴをringo-oapple-ACC食べるtabe-rueat-NPASTリンゴを 食べるringo-o tabe-ruapple-ACC eat-NPAST"eat an apple" [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:[18] ジョンのJohn-noJohn-GEN昨日のkinoo-noyesterday-GENニューヨークでのNew York-de-noNew York-in-GEN講義koogilectureジョンの 昨日の ニューヨークでの 講義John-no kinoo-no {New York-de-no} koogiJohn-GEN yesterday-GEN {New York-in-GEN} lecture"John's lecture in New York yesterday" [NP [PP New York-de-no] [N koogi]] Adjectives also follow any complements they may have.
[AP [Q ni-juu-meetoru] [A takai]] Japanese uses postpositions rather than prepositions, so its adpositional phrases are again head-final:[20] 僕がBoku-gaI-NOM高須村にTakasu-mura-niTakasu-village-in住んでいるsunde-irulive-PRES僕が 高須村に 住んでいるBoku-ga Takasu-mura-ni sunde-iruI-NOM Takasu-village-in live-PRES"I live in Takasu village."
[PP [DP Takasu-mura] [P ni]] Determiner phrases are head-final as well:[11] 誰darepersonもmoany誰 もdare moperson any"anyone" [DP [NP dare] [D mo]] A complementizer (here koto, equivalent to English "that") comes after its complement (here a tense phrase meaning "Mary did not swim"), thus Japanese complementizer phrases are head-final:[12] メリーがMary-gaMary-NOM泳がなかったことoyog-ana-katta-kotoswim-NEG-PAST-thatメリーが 泳がなかったことMary-ga oyog-ana-katta-kotoMary-NOM swim-NEG-PAST-that"that Mary did not swim" [CP [TP Mary-ga oyog-ana-katta] [C koto]] Turkish is an agglutinative, head-final, and left-branching language that uses a SOV word order.
[21] As such, Turkish complements and adjuncts typically precede their head under neutral prosody, and adpositions are postpositional.
For example, the set of accusative case marking suffixes -(y)ı-, -(y)i-, -(y)u-, -(y)ü- in Turkish indicate that it is the direct object of a verb.
Additionally, while some kinds of definite determiners and postpositions in Turkish can be marked by case, other types also exist as free morphemes.
[DP [NP kitap-lar][D -ı]] Turkish adpositions are postpositions that can affix as a case marker at the end of a word.
[25] 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 and Korean, in which any variation in word order must occur in the preverbal domain and the verb remains at the end of the clause (see § Japanese, above)).
Because of this relatively high degree of variation in word order in Turkish, its status as a head-final language is generally considered to be less strict and not absolute like Japanese or Korean, since while embedded clauses must remain verb-final, matrix clauses can show variability in word order.
Subject-Object-Verb (SOV, canonical word order) Yazarauthormakale-yiarticle-ACCbitir-difinish-PASTYazar makale-yi bitir-diauthor article-ACC finish-PAST'The author finished the article.
'However, several variations on this order can occur on matrix clauses, such that the subject, object, and verb can occupy all different positions within a sentence.
'In this variation, the object moves to the beginning of the sentence, the subject follows, and the verb remains in final position.
In the following example,[27] the non-finite verb phrase es finden is head-final, whereas in the tensed main clause ich werde es finden (headed by the auxiliary verb werde indicating future tense), the finite auxiliary precedes its complement (as an instance of a verb-second construction; in the example below, this V2-position is called "T").
[29] dertheaufofseinehisKinderchildrenstolzeproudVaterfatherder auf seine Kinder stolze Vaterthe of his children proud father"the father (who is) proud of his children"However, when essentially the same adjective phrase is used predicatively rather than attributively, it can also be head-initial:[30] weilsinceerhestolzproudaufofseinehisKinderchildrenistisweil er stolz auf seine Kinder istsince he proud of his children is"since he is proud of his children"Most adpositional phrases are head-initial (as German has mostly prepositions rather than postpositions), as in the following example, where auf comes before its complement den Tisch:[31] PeterPeterlegtputsdastheBuchbookaufondenthe.ACCTischtablePeter legt das Buch auf den TischPeter puts the book on the.ACC table"Peter puts the book on the table.
Another example is provided by the analysis of the following sentence:[32] DietheSchneckesnailkrochcreptdastheDachroofhinaufupDie Schnecke kroch das Dach hinaufthe snail crept the roof up"The snail crept up the roof"Like in English, determiner phrases and complementizer phrases in German are head-initial.
The next example is of a determiner phrase, headed by the article der:[33] dertheMannmander Mannthe man"the man"In the following example, the complementizer dass precedes the tense phrase which serves as its complement:[34] dassthatLisaLisaeineaBlumeflowergepflanztplantedhathasdass Lisa eine Blume gepflanzt hatthat Lisa a flower planted has"that Lisa planted a flower"Standard Chinese (whose syntax is typical of Chinese varieties generally) features a mixture of head-final and head-initial structures.
"Gbe noun phrases are typically head-final, as in this example:[39] Kɔ̀kúKokusínCASEɖìdèsketchlɛ̀PLKɔ̀kú sín ɖìdè lɛ̀Koku CASE sketch PL"sketches of Koku"In the following example of an adjective phrase, Gbe follows a head-initial pattern, as the head yù precedes the intensifier tàùú.
"Determiner phrases, however, are head-final:[42] AsíbáAsibaxɔ̀buy-PERFàvɔ̀clothàmàmúgreenmàtàn-màtànoddɖéDEFAsíbá xɔ̀ àvɔ̀ àmàmú màtàn-màtàn ɖéAsiba buy-PERF cloth green odd DEF"Asiba bought a specific ugly green cloth"Complementizer phrases are head-initial:[43] ɖéthatDòsàDosagbábuild-PERFxwéhouseɔ̀DEFɔ̀DETɖé Dòsà gbá xwé ɔ̀ ɔ̀that Dosa build-PERF house DEF DET"that Dosa built the house"The idea that syntactic structures reduce to binary relations was introduced by Lucien Tesnière in 1959 within the framework of dependency theory, which was further developed in the 1960s.
Joseph Greenberg, who worked in the field of language typology, put forward an implicational theory of word order, whereby:[45] The first set of properties make heads come at the start of their phrases, while the second set make heads come at the end.
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.
According to the Antisymmetry theory proposed by Richard S. Kayne, there is no head-directionality parameter as such: it is claimed that at an underlying level, all languages are head-initial.
Kayne argues using the concept of a probe-goal search (based on the ideas of the Minimalist program), whereby a head acts as a probe and looks for a goal, namely its complement.
This implies (according to the theory) an ordering whereby probe comes before goal, i.e. head precedes complement.
[51] Some linguists have provided evidence which may be taken to support Kayne's scheme, such as Lin,[52] who considered Standard Chinese sentences with the sentence-final particle le.
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.
