directionality (n.)

In METRICAL PHONOLOGY, a PARAMETER which determines the direction in which foot construction scans the STRESS DOMAIN. This may happen right-to-left, starting at the right EDGE, or vice versa. The notion applies to both TREES and METRICAL GRIDS.

In SEMANTICS, directionality describes the relationship between two SENSES of a LEXICAL item, when one can be shown to be DERIVED from the other, as in the case of violin (the instrument) and violin (the player – as in She is first violin). Cases of sense extension generally proceed from the more to the less conventionalized, but often perceived directionality is unclear.