C

An abbreviation in GOVERNMENT-BINDING THEORY for the category COMPLEMENTIZER, generally abbreviated in earlier work as COMP. This abbreviation is associated with the idea that complementizer is a HEAD of PHRASE category broadly similar to NOUN, VERB, ADJECTIVE and PREPOSITION, with associated SINGLE-BAR and DOUBLE-BAR categories, Cc and C″. C″, usually referred to as CP, is the largest unit of GRAMMATICAL analysis (the initial symbol), equivalent to S′ in earlier government-binding theory, LEXICAL FUNCTIONAL GRAMMAR and GENERALIZED PHRASE-STRUCTURE GRAMMAR.