Re: head-initial structure

In a message dated 05/15/02 4:14:46 PM, alkaline@ALKALINE.ORG writes:

<< 1. How good is the correlation between head-initial compounding and

head-initial syntax in natlangs (and in which ones do they correlate)? >>

    There's a theory (I forget whose) which says that compounding and
affixing mirror syntax, and in cases where it doesn't, there was a historical
change that moved it away from mirroring.  Oh, hey!  That's the Mirror
Principle, isn't it?  Still forget whose it is.

<<2. How good is the correlation between prefixing and head-initial

compounding in natlangs (and in which ones do they correlate)?>>

    I think suffixing goes with head-initial; prefixing with head-final.

<<3. Where should i put determiners, demonstratives, quantifiers, and

numerals? at the moment i have them all after the adjective, but i'm

considering putting them all before the noun. Or, i could put

determiners/demonstratives before and quantifiers/numerals after.>>

    Well, with the languages I know that have head-initial noun phrases, the
demonstratives always come before the noun...  I'm not sure if that
correlates with the Mirror Principle...  Maybe the Relevance Principle.

<<4. Has anyone else tried exclusively head-first morphology in their

language? (head-first compounds & exclusive prefixing).>>

    Well, head-first compounds and exclusive *suffixing*--like Turkish.
Postpositions also go with suffixing and head-initial, according to the
Mirror Principle.

-David

"fawiT, Gug&g, tSagZil-a-Gariz, waj min DidZejsat wazid..."
"Soft, driven, slow and mad, like some new language..."
                    -Jim Morrison

Reply