Subordination (linguistics) - Heads and Dependents

Heads and Dependents

In a broader sense, subordination is a relation existing between two syntactic units, whereby the one unit is subordinate to the other and the latter is superordinate to the former. An adjective that modifies a noun is subordinate to the noun and the noun is superordinate to the adjective; a noun phrase (NP) that is the complement of a preposition is subordinate to the preposition and the preposition is superordinate to the NP; a prepositional phrase (PP) that modifies a verb phrase (VP) is subordinate to the VP and the VP is superordinate to the PP; etc. The subordinate unit is called the dependent, and the superordinate unit the head. Thus anytime two syntactic units are in a head-dependent relationship, subordination obtains. For example:

black dog

with patience

clean the bathroom

The word in bold in each case is dependent on the other word, which is its head. Subordination in this sense should be compared with coordination. Two units or more are coordinate to each other if there is no hierarchical relation between them and they have equal functional status, e.g.

and dog

with and

clean and

The words in brackets are coordinate to each other, and both coordinates are subordinate to the word that is not enclosed in brackets. Note that while the coordinated units are not organized hierarchically, they are organized linearly, the one preceding the other.