Binarity of Headedness Principle in Universal Grammar: A Comparative Analysis of Urdu and English Phrases
The binarity of parameters according to which languages differ in their structure is the subject of minimalist program proposed by Noam Chomsky. This article analyses the phrase structure of Urdu in light of the binarity of the headedness principle. 10 participants with equal competency in Urdu and English were distributed a questionnaire containing 3 questions with 2 options in each, with both Urdu and English version of the phrase structure. They were required to tick (🗸) the correct options and cross (x) if they considered any of the options ungrammatical. The responses of the participants confirmed that Urdu conforms to the universal principle of binarity in terms of headedness of phrase structure. It also highlights that the change of position of the head-word in Urdu only causes variation in stress pattern while the phrase remains grammatical in both cases.
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Binarity of Headedness, Phrase Structure, Universal Grammar, Urdu.
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(1) Muhammad Uzair
Faculty of English Studies, National University of Modern Languages, Islamabad, Pakistan.
(2) Ubaidullah Khan
English Language Center, Taif University, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
(3) Shamim Ara Shams
Department of Linguistics & Literature, Karakoram International University, Gilgit Baltistan, Pakistan.
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Cite this article
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APA : Uzair, M., Khan, U., & Shams, S. A. (2019). Binarity of Headedness Principle in Universal Grammar: A Comparative Analysis of Urdu and English Phrases. Global Social Sciences Review, IV(I), 476-484. https://doi.org/10.31703/gssr.2019(IV-I).61
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CHICAGO : Uzair, Muhammad, Ubaidullah Khan, and Shamim Ara Shams. 2019. "Binarity of Headedness Principle in Universal Grammar: A Comparative Analysis of Urdu and English Phrases." Global Social Sciences Review, IV (I): 476-484 doi: 10.31703/gssr.2019(IV-I).61
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HARVARD : UZAIR, M., KHAN, U. & SHAMS, S. A. 2019. Binarity of Headedness Principle in Universal Grammar: A Comparative Analysis of Urdu and English Phrases. Global Social Sciences Review, IV, 476-484.
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MHRA : Uzair, Muhammad, Ubaidullah Khan, and Shamim Ara Shams. 2019. "Binarity of Headedness Principle in Universal Grammar: A Comparative Analysis of Urdu and English Phrases." Global Social Sciences Review, IV: 476-484
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MLA : Uzair, Muhammad, Ubaidullah Khan, and Shamim Ara Shams. "Binarity of Headedness Principle in Universal Grammar: A Comparative Analysis of Urdu and English Phrases." Global Social Sciences Review, IV.I (2019): 476-484 Print.
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OXFORD : Uzair, Muhammad, Khan, Ubaidullah, and Shams, Shamim Ara (2019), "Binarity of Headedness Principle in Universal Grammar: A Comparative Analysis of Urdu and English Phrases", Global Social Sciences Review, IV (I), 476-484
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TURABIAN : Uzair, Muhammad, Ubaidullah Khan, and Shamim Ara Shams. "Binarity of Headedness Principle in Universal Grammar: A Comparative Analysis of Urdu and English Phrases." Global Social Sciences Review IV, no. I (2019): 476-484. https://doi.org/10.31703/gssr.2019(IV-I).61