Head Of A Phrase
Definition:
The head of a phrase is the element that determines the syntactic function of the whole phrase.
Examples:
(English)
In a noun phrase, the head is the noun that refers to the same entity that the whole phrase refers to, such as:
- 'hat' in 'the man in the brown suit’s hat'
Note: The head of an English noun phrase usually comes after the dependents (the non-head elements in the phrase).
See Also:
This page is an extract from the LinguaLinks Library. Version 5.0 published on CD-ROM by SIL International, 2003.