X-bar theory

English

Alternative forms

• X′ theory

Etymology

X signifies an arbitrary lexical category; certain structures are represented by this letter and an overbar.

Noun

X-bar theory (uncountable)

1. (linguistics) A theory that posits a common syntactic structure for different lexical categories. Each phrase (XP) is the projection of a head (X) and may optionally include a specifier (sister of X-bar, daughter of XP), adjuncts (sister and daughter of X-bar) and complements (sister of X, daughter of X-bar).

Related terms

• X-bar

Translations

theory

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: X槓理論／X杠理论 (X-gàng lǐlùn), X階理論／X阶理论 (X-jiē lǐlùn), X標槓理論／X标杠理论 (X-biāogàng lǐlùn)

• French: théorie X-barre f
• Russian: X-штрих-теория (X-štrix-teorija)

Further reading

• X-bar theory on Wikipedia.Wikipedia