Word.ws English Dictionary

X′ theory

X′ theory is the alternative form of X-bar theory.

Meaning of X-bar theory

Noun

X-bar theory (uncountable)

  1. 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).

Questions about X′ theory

What is X′ theory the alternative form of?
X′ theory is the alternative form of X-bar theory.

Words near X′ theory in the dictionary

  1. xʷməθkʷəy̓əm
  2. x̄á'islak̓ala
  3. X̱aat Kíl
  4. X̱aayda Kil
  5. X′ theoretic
  6. X′ theory
  7. X′-theoretic
  8. y
  9. Y bone
  10. Y bones
  11. Y cable

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: X′ theory (page history and authors); X-bar theory (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “X′ theory.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/x%E2%80%B2_theory. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.