Syntax

HEAD AND MODIFIER

Head

 In linguistics, the head of a phrase is the word that determines the syntactic type
of that phrase. For example:
The head of the noun phrase boiling hot water is the noun water.
 Analogously, the head of a compound is the stem that determines the
semantic category of that compound. For example,
The head of the compound noun handbag is bag, since a handbag is a bag, not a
hand
Head

 In grammatical analysis, most phrases contain a key word that identifies the type
and linguistic features of the phrase; this is known as the head-word or the head.
The syntactic category of the head is used to name the category of the phrase, for
example:

A phrase whose head is a noun is called a noun phrase.

A phrase whose head is a verb is called a verb phrase and so on

 The remaining words in a phrase are called the dependents of the head.
In the following phrases the head-word or
head is bolded :
 too slowly — Adverb phrase (AdvP); the head is an adverb

 very happy — Adjective phrase (AP); the head is an adjective

 the massive dinosaur — Noun phrase (NP); the head is a noun

 at lunch — Preposition phrase (PP); the head is a preposition

 watch TV — Verb phrase (VP); the head is a verb

Most theories of syntax view most phrases as having a head, but some non-headed phrases are
acknowledged. A phrase lacking a head is known as exocentric, and phrases with heads are
endocentric.
 An endocentric construction consists of an obligatory head and one or more dependents, For
example:
big house - Noun phrase (NP)
sing songs - Verb phrase (VP)
very long - Adjective phrase (AP)
 The traditional binary division[5] of the sentence (S) into a subject noun phrase (NP) and a
predicate verb phrase (VP) was exocentric, for
example:
Hannibal destroyed Rome. - Sentence (S)
Modifier

 In grammar, a modifier is an optional element in phrase structure or clause

structure.

 A modifier is so called because it is said to modify (change the meaning of)

another element in the structure, on which it is dependent, for example:

This is a red ball

(The adjective red is a modifier, modifying the noun ball).

Kind of Modifier

Premodifiers and postmodifiers

 Modifiers may come either before or after the modified element (the head),
depending on the type of modifier and the rules of syntax for the language in
question;For example, in land mines, the word land is a premodifier of mines,
whereas in the phrase mines in wartime, the phrase in wartime is a postmodifier of
mines.

 A head may have a number of modifiers, and these may include both premodifiers
and postmodifiers. For example: that nice tall man from Canada whom you met
Types of Modifier

The two principal types of modifiers are

1. adjectives (and adjectival phrases and adjectival clauses), which modify nouns;

2. adverbs (and adverbial phrases and adverbial clauses), which modify other parts of
speech, particularly verbs, adjectives and other adverbs, as well as whole phrases or
clauses