Head (linguistics)

About: Head (linguistics) is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 2540 publications have been published within this topic receiving 29023 citations. The topic is also known as: nucleus.

Clitic Doubling, Reflexives, and Word Order Alternations in Yagua

Abstract: Complementary distribution between SVO and clitic-VSO word orders in Yagua receives a natural explanation from independent principles of Case and X'-theories of the Principles-and-Parameters theory of grammar. Word-order variation in Yagua results from the fact that both clitics and arguments compete for a single Case. This conflict is resolved by moving the head of the phrase to the phrase-internal AGR[eement] position and allowing the clitic to acquire morphological visibility via incorporation into the head. Independent justification for this analysis is adduced from reflexives: all and only those arguments whose heads raise to AGR (subject, genitive, and oblique, but not direct objects) may serve as antecedents for reflexive clitics. This is explained if we require that the indices of the head, AGR, and the argument be connected. This analysis sheds new light on phrase structure, Case theory, and clitics in Universal Grammar.*

Perception of angular head position during attempted alignment with eccentric visual objects.

Abstract: The perception of angular head position with respect to a visual object was investigated using three different methods: Pointer indication (P); in the dark, subjects' (Ss') heads were horizontally turned to various positions (range ±54°); Ss then rotated a pointer carrying a light emitting diode (LED) so as to align it with head position. Active head pointing (A); again in darkness, the pointer was rotated to various positions; Ss then turned their heads so as to align them with the pointer. Reading from visible scale (V); Ss viewed a degrees scale on a circular screen; Ss' heads were turned as in P, and Ss reported head position in terms of this scale. The results obtained with all three methods indicate that head position is overestimated with respect to the visual object (LED, scale mark): object position exceeded head position by 6, 18, and 7% when measured with the P-, A-, and V-methods, respectively (median values). The observed misalignment between head and object suggests that subjective primary eye position is shifted in the direction of head rotation by a cross-talk of head position. Whether a functional advantage or merely a tolerated side-effect of other constraints, this behavior confers the impression of looking "straight ahead" in the literal sense when gaze is shifted by coordinated eye-head movements with a 10% eye and a 90% head share in total lateral displacement. In an attempt to probe a hypothesized internal representation of head position implied in head-to-object alignment, Ss were also to estimate head position in space using only neck proprioceptive information. In complete darkness, responses were often non-linear functions of head position with overestimation of large eccentricities. When a head-centered LED was added (which conveyed no position information), responses became more linear, suggesting that the mere presence of visual afferents may improve the perceptual interpretation of proprioceptive information.