Cambridge Grammar of English Hardback with cd-rom a comprehensive Guide

Types of header

96b

A header most typically consists of a noun phrase followed by one or more

pronouns which refer back to the noun phrase. In some grammar books this

feature is called left-dislocation. In this book the term ‘header’ is preferred,

because the word ‘dislocation’ suggests that a very common spoken structure is

odd or in some sense ‘in the wrong place’. Also, there is no left or right in spoken

English. These are metaphors of the space on a typically western, written page.

Spoken language exists in time, not space:

That leather coat, it looks really nice on you.

The white house on the corner, is that where she lives? 

[talking about a baby called Jamie]

Jamie, normally, you put him in his cot and he’s asleep right away.

Paul, in this job that he’s got now, when he goes into the office, he’s never quite

sure where 

he’s going to be sent.

Headers may be complex, with semantically connected noun phrases (NP1, NP2,

etc.) strung together in apposition or simply adjacently, leading to the noun

phrase which is the subject of the following clause: