branching (adj./n.)

A term used in LINGUISTICS to refer to the descending linear connections which constitute the identity of a TREE diagram. PHRASE STRUCTURE RULES which generate such trees are sometimes called branching rules. The S, the first NP, and the VP in the diagram are branching nodes; the other NODES are non-branching.

It has sometimes been suggested that binary branching is the norm in a PHRASEMARKER.