View source for X-bar

==English==

===Etymology===
Pronunciation of its text representation: a letter ''X'' with [[overbar]].

===Noun===
{{head|en|noun}}

# {{lb|en|grammar|X-bar theory}} A [[phrase]], or, [[equivalently]], a [[node]] in a [[syntax tree]], which consists either of: (1) an [[adjunct]] and another X-bar phrase, (2) a head, X, and an optional [[complement]], or (3) a [[conjunction]] [[sandwiched]] between two other X-bars. The X is a "pro-letter" which can be substituted by letters such as N for noun, V for verb, P for preposition, I for inflectional, etc.
#* {{quote-book|en|year=1988|author=Andrew Radford|title=Transformational grammar: a first course|location=Cambridge, UK|publisher=Cambridge University Press|page=350|chapter=7
|passage=For example, the fact that ''give'' must occur as the leftmost constituent of the V-bar containing it follows from two conditions. The first is a putatively universal linearisation (i.e. word-order) principle proposed by Stowell (1981, p. 68) which we might call the <small>PERIPHERY PRINCIPLE</small>: this can be outlined informally as in (33) below:<br> (33) &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <small>PERIPHERY PRINCIPLE</small><br> <span style="color:white">(33)</span> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The head term of a Phrase appears at the periphery of '''X-bar'''<br> What (33) says is that the Head must be the leftmost or rightmost immediate constituent of '''X-bar'''.}}

====Usage notes====
* An X-bar is denoted as <math>\bar{X}</math>, or more commonly, as <math>X'</math>.

====Hyponyms====
* {{l|en|I-bar}}
* {{l|en|N-bar}}
* {{l|en|P-bar}}
* {{l|en|V-bar}}

====Meronyms====
* {{l|en|adjunct}}
* {{l|en|head}}, {{l|en|complement}}

====Holonyms====
* {{l|en|XP}}

====Derived terms====
* [[X-bar theory]]

===Further reading===
* {{pedia}}