Directionality

This chapter surveys research into syntactic changes in the head directionality of phrase structure. It presents the hypothesis that non‐contact‐induced head‐directionality changes are unidirectional, proceeding from head‐final to head‐initial, from SOV to SVO. The claim is based on external and internal syntactic reconstruction, as demonstrated on examples from the Bantu languages. The drift from SOV to SVO is illustrated by material from the Uralic languages. The stages of the drift from head‐final to head‐initial syntax, represented by the different Uralic languages from east to west, and by subsequent stages of Hungarian, show the spreading of directionality shift from the VP to the higher clausal projections. The contentiousness of alleged SVO‐to‐SOV changes is demonstrated by the example of Chinese. Later in the chapter, hypotheses on the underlying causes of the invariant SOV initial state and the unidirectionality of the drift to SVO, among them formal and functional explanations, are discussed.