Phrase Head Word

A Phrase Head Word is a the most important Content Word in a Phrase both Grammatically and Lexically.

• AKA: Head, Head Word.
• Context:
  • Its meaning can be qualified by a Modifier.
  • It cannot be replaced by a different Lexeme without changing the meaning of the Phrase.
  • The other words in the Phrase can modify the Head Word.
  • It can be:
    • a Noun Head Word, if its the the Head Word of a noun phrase.
    • a Verb Head Word, if its the the Head Word of a Verb Phrase.
    • an Adjective Head Word, if its the the Head Word of an Adjective Phrase.
    • an Adverb Head Word, if its the the Head Word of a nAdverb Phrase.
  • It can range from being a Simple Head Word to being a Complex Head Word.
• Example(s):
  • The Phrase “the green apple” has the Word "apple” as the Head Word.
  • The Phrase “Peter walked far” has the Word "Peter” as the Head Noun and “walked” the Head Verb.
• See: Phrase, Grammar----

---

References

• WordNet.
  • headword: a content word that can be qualified by a modifier
  • head: (grammar) the word in a grammatical constituent that plays the same grammatical role as the whole constituent

---