Head-marking language

A head-marking language is one where the grammatical marks showing relations between different constituents of a phrase tend to be placed on the heads (or nuclei) of the phrase in question, rather than the modifiers or dependents.

For example, in Basque, the verb (or its auxiliary) is marked showing the person and number of its subject, its direct object and even its indirect object if applicable.

"Zuk asko dakizu."
zuk     asko dakizu
you-ERG much it-know-you 
"You know a lot."

"Arazo hau ikuserazi digute."
arazo   hau  ikuserazi digute 
problem this see-cause it-have-us-they
"They have made us see this problem."

See also

• dependent-marking language