= Syntactic head
A <syntactic head> is the element treated as central to a construction under a specified structural analysis. It can determine grammatical properties or which other elements may occur. Headedness therefore concerns relationships within a construction, beyond which word seems most informative in the conversation.<Head in the SIL Glossary of Linguistic Terms>[Definition and Discussion, agreement and occurrence of other constituents]{ref}
In a conventional noun-headed analysis of `the small boxes`, `boxes` heads the <noun phrase>. The head's plural <grammatical number> helps explain the <grammatical agreement> in `The small boxes are ready`. Changing `small` to `heavy` changes the description without changing that number requirement.
In a dependency representation, a head also provides the attachment point for <syntactic dependencies>. A reproducible analysis states its conventions: different grammatical frameworks can choose different heads for some constructions. The success of a representation depends on the patterns it explains and predicts, not solely on whether its links form a mechanically valid <rooted tree>.
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