# The placement of the head that maximizes predictability. An information theoretic approach

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/1705.09932 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/1705.09932/

## Key facts

- Cited by 9 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 28 May 2017.

## Built on by (most cited first, 9 of 9)

- [Crosslinguistic word order variation reflects evolutionary pressures of dependency and information locality](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2206.04239/) (2022)
- [The optimal placement of the head in the noun phrase. The case of demonstrative, numeral, adjective and noun](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2402.10311/) (2024)
- [Swap distance minimization beyond entropy minimization in word order variation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2404.14192/) (2024)
- [The advent and fall of a vocabulary learning bias from communicative efficiency](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2105.11519/) (2021)
- [Predictability maximization and the origins of word order harmony](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2408.16570/) (2024)
- [Dependency distance minimization predicts compression](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2109.08900/) (2021)
- [Does Dependency Locality Predict Non-canonical Word Order in Hindi?](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2405.07730/) (2024)
- [Ease of dependency distance minimization in star-like structures](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2604.28034/) (2026)
- [Factors Influencing the Emergence of Dependency Length Minimization in Neural Agent Simulations](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2609.06025/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

The minimization of the length of syntactic dependencies is a well-established principle of word order and the basis of a mathematical theory of word order. Here we complete that theory from the perspective of information theory, adding a competing word order principle: the maximization of predictability of a target element. These two principles are in conflict: to maximize the predictability of the head, the head should appear last, which maximizes the costs with respect to dependency length minimization. The implications of such a broad theoretical framework to understand the optimality, diversity and evolution of the six possible orderings of subject, object and verb are reviewed.