nesting (n.)

A term used in LINGUISTICS to refer to the INSERTION of one or more linguistic UNITS (usually PHRASES or CLAUSES) within the STRUCTURE of an ENDOCENTRIC phrase. A phrase such as the table in the corner with the candlesticks near the window shows several MODIFYING phrases RECURSIVELY nested. Nested dependencies result in GRAMMATICALITY, whereas crossing ones do not; for example, Which violin_i is this sonata_j easy to play t_j on t_i ? is grammatical, whereas Which sonata_i is this violin_j easy to play_i on t_j ? is not.