Head Movement and Incorporation
Head movement is the syntactic operation that raises a head and adjoins it to a higher head, and incorporation is the case where this builds a complex word, such as a verb that absorbs its object noun.
Definition
Head movement is the operation by which a syntactic head detaches and adjoins to a structurally higher head; incorporation is head movement that combines two lexical heads, for example a noun into the verb that governs it, forming a single complex word.
Scope
This topic covers head movement and incorporation as cases where syntax constructs complex words: the head-to-head movement operation, the Head Movement Constraint that restricts it, noun and verb incorporation, and verb-raising phenomena such as those marking the position of the verb relative to negation and adverbs. It does not cover phrasal movement, clitics, or the lexicalism debate, which are treated in neighbouring topics.
Core questions
- How does head movement build complex words within the syntax?
- What restricts head movement, and why must it proceed through intervening heads?
- How is noun incorporation derived, and what grammatical effects does it have?
- What does verb raising reveal about the position of heads in the clause?
Key concepts
- head movement
- Head Movement Constraint
- noun incorporation
- verb raising
- head adjunction
- grammatical-function changing
Key theories
- Incorporation by head movement
- Baker's theory that incorporation is the syntactic movement of one lexical head into another, governed by general principles, which derives the grammatical-function-changing effects of noun and verb incorporation.
- The Head Movement Constraint
- Travis's principle that a head may move only to the head that immediately governs it, so head movement proceeds stepwise through intervening heads and cannot skip a head.
History
Travis (1984) formulated the Head Movement Constraint, restricting head raising to adjacent governing heads. Baker (1988) developed a comprehensive theory of incorporation as syntactic head movement, unifying noun incorporation, applicatives, and causatives as grammatical-function-changing processes. Roberts (2001) reviewed the operation and the challenges it poses, including the question of whether head movement belongs to the syntax or to the phonological component.
Debates
- Is head movement syntactic?
- Whether head movement is a genuine syntactic operation or a post-syntactic, phonological one, a question raised because head movement appears not to affect interpretation in the way phrasal movement does.
Key figures
- Mark Baker
- Lisa Travis
- Ian Roberts
Related topics
Seminal works
- travis1984
- baker1988
- roberts2001
Frequently asked questions
- What is noun incorporation?
- Noun incorporation is when a noun, typically the object, is combined with the verb to form a single complex word, as in many polysynthetic languages. Instead of saying 'I berry-picked' as two words, the noun is built into the verb.
- Why does head movement matter for the interface?
- Head movement is a case where the syntax appears to build a complex word, which bears directly on whether word formation can be syntactic. It is therefore central to debates between lexicalist and syntacticist views of morphology.