HEADS & MODIFIERS

By: Siti Nurani, S.Pd., M.Hum.

 Heads and Modifiers

 Two central ideas:

1. Certain relationships hold between words
a. Head: one word that controls the other words.
b. Modifiers: the other words that modify the head.
2. Words are grouped into phrases and that groupings
typically bring together heads and their modifiers.
 A given head may have more than one modifier, and
may have no modifier.
 In Phrases: every phrase contains a head and possibly, but not
necessarily, one or more modifiers.
Example:
(1) a. barked loudly. (with 1 modifier)
head modifier
- Head : barked (verb)
- Modifier: loudly (adverb)
b. the large dog . (with 2 modifiers)
modifier 1 modifier 2 head
- Head : dog (noun)
- Modifiers: the (determiner; definite article), large (adjective)

 In Clauses: Each clause has a head, the verb.

Example:
(2) Mr. Elton delivered a charade to Emma for a friend.
modifier 1 head modifier 2 modifier 3 modifier 4
- Head : delivered (verb)
- Modifiers: Mr. Elton (noun), a charade (direct object), to Emma
(indirect object), for a friend (preposition phrase)
(3) a. Ethel was sitting at her desk.
b. * The Ethel was sitting at her desk.
Description:
- Example (3a) is a grammatical sentence, but in
(3b) is not grammatical.
- Ethel is a type of noun that typically excludes
word such as the and a.

(4) a. *Accountant was sitting at her desk.

b. The accountant was sitting at her desk.
c. Accountants audit our financies every year.
Description:
- Accountant is different type of noun; if it is singular, as in
(4a), it requires a word such as the or a.
- In (4c), accountants consists of accountant plus the plural
suffix –s and denotes more than one accountant. It does not
require the. Plural nouns, of course, exclude a or an but allow
words such as some or more.
 Heads, Modifiers & Meaning
 Head: convey a central piece of information.
Modifiers: convey extra information.
Example:
(5) a. expensive books.
modifier head
b. the expensive books.
modifier 1 modifier 2 head

Meaning:
- the head word books indicates the very large set of things that count
as books.
- the modifier expensive indicates that the speaker is drawing attention
not to the whole set but to the subset of books that are expensive.
- the word the in (5b) signals that the speaker is referring to a set of
books which have already been mentioned or are otherwise obvious in
a particular context.
Classes of Modifiers (Complements and Adjuncts)
 Modifiers fall into two (2) classes:
1. Obligatory modifiers (complements)
- complement = “to fill”
- the idea conveyed by ‘complement’ is that a
complement expression fills out the verb (or noun
and so on); filling it out or completing it with
respect to syntax but also with respect to meaning.
- head and complements are typically adjacent.
(commonly: subject, objects (direct & indirect),
directional phrase)
2. Optional modifiers (adjuncts)
- adjunct = “to join” or “to add”
- something adjoined; tacked on and not part of the
essential structure of clauses.
- where a head has two or more complements,
adjuncts typically come before and after the
sequence of head and complements.
- adjunct does not come between the head and any of
the complements.
(commonly: time and place expression)
Examples:

(6) My mother bought a present for Jeanie in Jenners last Tuesday.

head
Description:
- Head: bought (verb)
- The verb bought controls all other phrases in the
clause. It requires a human noun to its left (i.e., mother) and
requires a noun to its right that denotes something concrete (i.e., a
present).
- Modifiers:
=> obligatory (complements): my mother, a present
=> optional (adjuncts): for Jeanie, in Jenners, last Tuesday
- The phrase my mother refers to the buyer; bought refers to the action and
a present refers to what was bought.
- The phrase for Jeanie can be added which refers to the person benefiting
the from the action.
- The sentence allows, but does not require, time expressions (last
Tuesday) and place expression (in Jenners). With verbs, such time
and place expressions are always optional and are held to be adjuncts.
(7) a. Maisie drove her car from Morningside to Leith on Wednesday.
b. On Wednesday Maisie drove her car from Morningside to Leith.
c. Maisie drove her car on Wednesday from Morningside to Leith.

Description:
- Head: drove (verb)
- Modifiers:
=> obligatory (complements): Maisie, her car, from Morningside to Leith
=> optional (adjunct): on Wednesday
- In (7a), the object her car is next to the verb, followed by the directional
phrase from Morningside to Leith. Objects and directional phrases are
complements.
- The time-when phrase on Wednesday is at the end of the clause in (7a)
and at the beginning of the clause in (7b). In (7b), it is closer to the verb
drove, but this is not important. What is important is the fact that the
adjunct does not come between the head and any complements. This does
happen in (7c), where on Wednesday separates the complement her car
from the other complement from Morningside to Leith.
 Exercise

Please do number 1 & 2

(page 9-10)
THANK YOU