left-branchingadj.n.
/ˌlɛftˈbrɑːn(t)ʃɪŋ/, /ˌlɛftˈbran(t)ʃɪŋ/, U.S. /ˈlɛf(t)ˌbræn(t)ʃɪŋ/ Linguistics.
A. adj.
Of a language, sentence, etc.: characterized by dependants which successively precede their heads (and which, in a parse tree representing the connection between main and subordinate units, branch successively towards the left).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > linguistics > study of grammar > syntax or word order > [adjective] > specific feature of tree diagram
left-branching1961
right-branching1961
1961 N. Chomsky in Proc. Symp. Appl. Math. 12 14 A hearer will tend to group left-branching units of a complex sentence (as, e.g., in ‘many more than half of the rather obviously much too easily solved problems’) as units quite readily.
1965 N. Chomsky Aspects Theory Syntax i. 13 A left-branching structure is of the form [[[…]…]…]—for example, in English, such indefinitely iterable structures as [[[[John]'s brother]'s father]'s uncle]... There are no clear examples of unacceptability involving only left-branching or only right-branching.
1979 Jrnl. Linguistics 15 246 It is theoretically possible to have sentences which are superficially well-formed, but which are too long or too complex to be acceptable to native speakers, as in the case of repeated self-embedded or left-branching constructions.
1994 S. Pinker Lang. Instinct vii. 204 Sentences can also branch to the left. Left-branching trees are most common in head-last languages like Japanese but are found in a few constructions in English, too.
2011 Japanese Lang. & Lit. 45 433 Constraints on the phonology-syntax interface are used to account for the difference between left-branching and right-branching compounds.
B. n.
The fact of having dependants which successively precede their heads; the technique of organizing syntactic elements in this way.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > linguistics > study of grammar > syntax or word order > [noun] > study or science of > diagram representing structure > specific feature of
left-branching1961
right-branching1961
1961 N. Chomsky in Proc. Symp. Appl. Math. 12 14 Left-branching should offer no problem... A hearer will tend to group left-branching units of a complex sentence (as, e.g., in ‘many more than half of the rather obviously much too easily solved problems’) as units quite readily.
1995 B. L. M. Bauer Emergence & Devel. SVO Patterning in Lat. & French iv. 110 The tendency toward left-branching was strongest in relative clauses.
2009 T. Berg Struct. in Lang. iii. 136 Whether left-branching is more wide-spread in syntax than in morphology cannot as yet be ascertained reliably.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2016; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.n.1961