The optimal placement of the head in the noun phrase. The case of demonstrative, numeral, adjective and noun
This research addresses a fundamental linguistic problem for understanding word order principles, but it is incremental as it builds on existing theoretical frameworks.
The study investigated the conflict between syntactic dependency distance minimization and surprisal minimization in word order, specifically testing predictions on noun phrases with demonstrative, numeral, adjective, and noun. It found that across languages, nouns tend to be placed at phrase ends, confirming theoretical predictions and showing anti-locality effects with longer dependency distances than expected by chance.
The word order of a sentence is shaped by multiple principles. The principle of syntactic dependency distance minimization is in conflict with the principle of surprisal minimization (or predictability maximization) in single head syntactic dependency structures: while the former predicts that the head should be placed at the center of the linear arrangement, the latter predicts that the head should be placed at one of the ends (either first or last). A critical question is when surprisal minimization (or predictability maximization) should surpass syntactic dependency distance minimization. In the context of single head structures, it has been predicted that this is more likely to happen when two conditions are met, i.e. (a) fewer words are involved and (b) words are shorter. Here we test the prediction on the noun phrase when it is composed of a demonstrative, a numeral, an adjective and a noun. We find that, across preferred orders in languages, the noun tends to be placed at one of the ends, confirming the theoretical prediction. We also show evidence of anti locality effects: syntactic dependency distances in preferred orders are longer than expected by chance.