Internal vs External Syntax Demystified: Head, Complements, and Modifiers Exploration

This video talks about heads, complements and modifiers.
Two central ideas:
a) Certain relationships hold between words whereby one word, the head, controls the other words, called elements or projection of the head.
b) Words are grouped into phrases and that groupings typically bring together heads and their modifiers. Modifiers are adjuncts and complements are the essential part of the sentence.
Heads may have several modifiers.

Example: The phrase bought a present for Amal in Zara last Tuesday contains four modifiers of bought—a present, for Amal, in Zara and last Tuesday.
The modifiers narrow the meaning down.
Complements and adjuncts

Modifiers fall into two classes: obligatory modifiers, known as complements, and optional modifiers, known as adjuncts.

Example: My sister bought a present for Amal in Zara last Tuesday.

The verb bought controls all the other phrases in the clause and is the head of the clause. With verbs, such time and place expressions are always optional and are held to be adjuncts.

Видео Internal vs External Syntax Demystified: Head, Complements, and Modifiers Exploration канала Language & Linguistics Online Dr Khurram Shahzad