Bracketing Guidelines for Treebank II Style

Penn Treebank Pro ject

Principal authors

Ann Bies Mark Ferguson Karen Katz and Rob ert MacIntyre

Ma jor contributors

2

Victoria Tredinnick Grace Kim Mary Ann Marcinkiewicz Britta Schasberger

January

1

This phase of the pro ject was funded by the Linguistic Data Consortium Previous work was funded by DARPA

and AFOSR jointly under grant No AFOSR with additional supp ort by DARPA grant No NK

and by ARO grant No DAAL C PRI Seed money was provided by the General Electric Corp oration under

grant No J We gratefully acknowledge this supp ort

2

We would like to thank Mitch Marcus for his supp ort and encouragement in the pro duction of this do cument and

the p olicy it describ es Leslie Dossey and Elizab eth Hamilton put a lot of eort into early analysis and organization

of the issues Beatrice Santorini wrote the previous manual up on which much of our p olicy is still based Finally

we would like to thank a set of p eople to o numerous to mention sp ecically for their helpful criticisms suggestions and advice

CONTENTS

Contents

An Overview of Basic Clause Structure

Basic elements of S : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Predicate : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Arguments of the predicate : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Level of attachment : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Complementation within syntactic categories : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Mo dication : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Clause types : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

S : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

SINV : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

SBAR : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

RRC reduced relative clause : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

SBARQ : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

SQ : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

SCLF : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

it extrap osition : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

FRAG : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Clause combinations : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Co ordination : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Sub ordination the use of SBAR : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Fronted elements : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Quotations : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Gapping : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Notation

Bracket lab els : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Clause level : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Phrase level : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Function tags : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Formfunction discrepancies : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Grammatical role : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Adverbials : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Miscellaneous : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Null elements : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

CONTENTS

Coindexing : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

The identity index : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

The reference index : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Pseudoattach : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Parentheticals : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Punctuation

Basic guidelines : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Midsentence punctuation : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Final punctuation : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Miscellaneous : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Symbols functioning as words : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Mathematical symbols : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Ellipses : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Null Elements

The building blo cks : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Inventory : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Indexing : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Other tags : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

0

T trace of A movement : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Wh questions : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Relative clauses : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Fronted elements : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Tough movement : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Parasitic gaps : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

trace of NP movement controlled PRO arbitrary PRO : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Indexing : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Passives : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Sub jects of participial clauses and gerunds : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Sub jects of innitival clauses : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Sub jects of as and than clauses : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

null complementizer : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Sub ordinator for tensed complement clauses : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Zero relative clauses : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Innitival relative clauses : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

CONTENTS

U unit : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Uses : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Placement : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

placeholder for ellipsed material : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Comparative deletion : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Deletion in noncomparatives : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Undened gaps : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

NOT antiplaceholder in template gapping : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

In the copy : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

In the template : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Alternatives to NOT : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Miscellaneous : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Sub jectaux inversion with sub ject extractions : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Reduced relatives : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Attachment to null elements : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Attachment of null elements : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Interpreting the WH lab el : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Comparative relatives : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Illegal null elements : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Limits of coindexation : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

PseudoAttach

Types of pseudoattach : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

PPA Permanent Predictable Ambiguity : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Benign ambiguity : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Complex structural ambiguity : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Further examples of PPA : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

RNR Right No de Raising : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

ICH Interpret Constituent Here : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Word order : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Further examples : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Conjunctive Prep ositional Phrases : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

EXP EXPletive : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Punctuation : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

CONTENTS

Copular Verbs

Simple copular complements : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Adjectival : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Nominal : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Adverbial : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Clausal : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Related constructions : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

The like versions : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

The to b e versions : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Co ordination

Basic information on the level of co ordination : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Wordlevel : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Phraselevel : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Co ordination of unlike syntactic categories UCP : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Outside of NPs : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

In NPs : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

General guidelines for the bracketing of co ordinated structures : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Lab eling at the level of co ordination : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Function tags at the level of co ordination : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Internal structure : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Gapping : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

VP gapping : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Gapping in a small clause : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Gapping at Slevel : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Gapping in PP : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Gapping in NP : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Some dicult cases : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Bracketing of co ordinating conjunctions : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Co ordinating conjunctions : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Quasico ordinating conjunctions : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

times : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

CONTENTS

Shared Complements and Mo diers in Co ordinate Structures

Premo diers : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Verbs : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Nouns : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Complements : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Verbs : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Nouns : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Prep ositions : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Adjectives : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Adjuncts and p ostmo diers : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Verbs : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Nouns : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Comparative adjectives and adverbs : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Co ordination of adjectival and nominal NP mo diers : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Adjectives : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Nominal : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Co ordinated adjectival and nominal mo diers : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Shared NP heads : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

WH phrases

Bracketing wh phrases in direct and indirect questions : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Bracket lab els : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Co ordination of wh phrases : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

ICHattaching to wh phrases : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Problematic cases : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Bracketing wh phrases in relative clauses : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Bracket lab els : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Null wh elementszero relatives : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Free headless relatives : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Longdistance movement : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Sub ordinate Clauses

Scop e of this chapter : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Denition of sub ordinating conjunction : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Distribution of sub ordinating conjunctions : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Sententialverbal adjunct : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

CONTENTS

Adjunct or complement of noun : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Predicate : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Complement of VP : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Ob ject of PP : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

so that : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

SBARs in comparative constructions : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Absolute with constructions : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Bracketing of sub ordinating conjunctions : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Singleword : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Multiword : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Mo died sub ordinating conjunctions : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Correlative the clauses thethe constructions : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Mo dication of NP

Premo diers : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Adjectives : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Nominal mo diers : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Possessives : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Dates places expressions of amount : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Substantive adjectives : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Participial and gerund mo diers : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Complements and Postmodiers : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Adjuncts : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Clausal complements : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Reduced relative vs oating participle : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

MeasureAmount Phrases : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

QP quantier phrase : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Ranges and endp oints fromto : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Symbols in the text : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Measure phrases in other syntactic environments : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Multipliers times half as much etc : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

An alphab etized Bestiary of treatments of measure and quantier phrases : : : : : : :

Dates and places : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Dates : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Places : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Prop er nouns : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

CONTENTS

Titles

Whole constituent as title : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Premo died titles : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Titles as premo diers : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Gerunds and Participles

General remarks : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Distributional distinction : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Function tags : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Coindexation of null sub jects : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Present progressive : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Present participles : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Sub jects : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

SNOM vs S : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

S vs SADV : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

NP vs S or SNOM : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

ADJP vs S : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Pseudoprep ositions : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Past Participles : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Prep ositions : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Function tags : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Coindexation and tracing : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Co ordination : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Reduced relatives and oating participles : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Reduced Relative Clause : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Floating participles : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Innitives

Bare innitives : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Complements of verbs : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Imp eratives : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

To innitives : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Innitival relative clauses IRCs : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Complements of nouns : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Complements of adjectivesadverbs : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Purp osereason clauses : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Complements of verbs : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

CONTENTS

Small Clauses and their near relatives

Bracketing : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Small clause criteria : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Overt sub ject clausal complements : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Verbal predicates : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Adjectival predicates : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Nominal predicates : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Adverbial predicates : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Particle predicates : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Null sub ject clausal complements : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Active : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Passive : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Sp ecial problems : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Heavy shift : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Co ordination : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Clefts

It clefts or true clefts : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Declarative it clefts : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Interrogative it clefts : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Inversion in it clefts : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Gapping across cleft sentences : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Wh clefts or pseudo clefts : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

ItExtrap osition

Itextrap osition from sub ject p osition : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Declaratives with it extrap osition : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Interrogatives with it extrap osition : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Inversion with it extrap osition : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Exclamatives with it extrap osition : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Ambiguity with itextrap osition : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Gapping with it extrap osition : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

It extrap osition in small clauses : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Itextrap osition from ob ject p osition : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

CONTENTS

Sub jectRaising Predicates

Active verbs : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Passive verbs : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Adjectives : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Sub jectraising predicates in small clauses : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Inversion with sub jectraising predicates : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Weather it and Referential it

Existential there

ATIS bracketing : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

WSJ bracketing : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Though Clefts

Comparatives

Basic to ols for bracketing the thanthatas phrase : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Adjunction : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Items intervening b etween the comparative phrase and the thanthatas phrase : : : : : : : :

Simple adjunction : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

ICHattachment : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Thanas phrase containing only one constituent : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

More complicated thanas phrases use of : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Sup erlative relative clause : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Financialsp eak conventions

Salient features of Financialsp eak text : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Bracketing conventions : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Bracketing of updownphrases in VP : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

CLR on PPs asso ciated with sold bought estimate priced : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

PPDIR and double complements : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Financialsp eak bracketing conventions covered elsewhere in this manual : : : : : : : : : : : :

Numbered Lists

Correlative the Clauses

CONTENTS

Orphans

List of miscellaneous phrases : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Flat multiword ADVPs and PPs : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Foreign words : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Negation : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

A note ab out the examples in this manual

Many of the examples in this manual are taken directly from the bracketed corpus with full structure intact

excluding PartofSpeech tags Occasionally however we simplify the example by removing irrelevant

internal structure we hop e that these o ccasions will b e clear

In addition we usually omit nal punctuation as well as the outermost unlab eled parentheses that surround toplevel constituents in the actual data les

AN OVERVIEW OF BASIC CLAUSE STRUCTURE

An Overview of Basic Clause Structure

This section presents of an overview of basic structure but it do es not attempt to summarize or justify

the entire p olicy For an overview of the new bracketing style with some notes ab out its usefulness see

Marcus et al included on the cdrom release as arpa For an overview of the Treebank Pro ject

in general see Marcus et al cl Note also that for the most part this manual fo cuses on

problematic constructions rather than common ones for mostly historical reasons

The basic structure of an S in the Treebank grammar was formerly Preliminary Release Version

S NP Casey

VP throws

NP the ball

More complicated structures were annotated with an AUX no de

S NP Casey

AUX will

VP throw

NP the ball

S NP Casey

AUX should

VP have

VP thrown

NP the ball

The basic approach to simple sentences has not changed However we no longer have a sp ecially bracketed

and lab eled AUX the no de that was formerly AUX now corresp onds to the highest level of the VP

S NPSBJ Casey

VP will

VP throw

NP the ball

S NPSBJ Casey

VP should

VP have

VP thrown

NP the ball

Basic elements of S

Predicate

The predicate is either the lowest rightmost branching VP or after copular verbs and in small clauses a constituent tagged PRD Moved predicates leave a coindexed trace T in VP

AN OVERVIEW OF BASIC CLAUSE STRUCTURE

Arguments of the predicate

External

The surface sub ject is tagged SBJ sub ject

Internal

Direct ob ject NP o ccurs after the verb has no function tag and is not followed by another

NP

Indirect ob ject NPs are of the following types

i NPs that o ccur b etween the verb and its direct ob ject and have no function tags as in dative

shift constructions eg gave Mary the book

ii dative PPs eg to Mary tagged DTV Only verbs that can undergo dative shift are

considered to have dative ob jects

Level of attachment

Slevel

The following are attached at Slevel sub ject NP highest VP fronted constituents initial and nal

punctuation and most mo diers that precede the verb phrase When there is no VP as in small

clauses the predicate is lab eled PRD and it and any following adjuncts are attached at Slevel

VPlevel

Almost all mo diers that follow the verb are attached under the lowest appropriate VP When

there is conjunction and the mo dier applies to b oth VPs the mo dier is attached at conjunction

level

An exception is made for mo diers that are interpreted as app ositives to the event or the predicate

itself Such mo diers are adjoined to VP Some of them may also have a ADV tag

S NPSBJ Investors

VP might

VP VP appear

ADJPPRD unenthusiastic

PP about

NP the new issue

SBAR WHNP which

S NPSBJ T

VP might

VP force

S NPSBJ the government

VP to

VP raise

NP the coupon

PPCLR to

NP QP more than

S NPSBJ they

VP would

VP VP negotiate

NP rates

AN OVERVIEW OF BASIC CLAUSE STRUCTURE

ADVPMNR individually

PPCLR with

NP advertisers

NPADV NP a practice

ADJP common

PPLOC in

NP broadcasting

S NPSBJ factory inventories

VP VP fell

NPEXT

PPTMP in

NP September

NP NP the first decline

PPTMP since

NP February

Complementation within syntactic categories

The complement is attached inside the VP NP ADJP or PP

Verbs

The term complement as it is used here refers to

internal arguments such as NP ob jects S and SBAR with no adverbial dash tags including some

if clauses as in I wonder if the Cubs are winning and quoted constituents including SINV and

FRAG

the passive logicalsub ject by phrase

VP

constituents tagged BNF CLR DTV PRD and PUT

S NPSBJ the guide

VP was

VP given

NP

PPDTV to

NP Arthur

PP by

NPLGS Ford

S NPSBJ Casey

VP ought

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP have

VP thrown

NP the ball

AN OVERVIEW OF BASIC CLAUSE STRUCTURE

Nouns

Since it is dicult to consistently annotate an argumentadjunct distinction all PP mo diers of nouns

are Chomskyadjoined to the NP

NP NP a teacher

PP of

NP chemistry

However clausal complements are recognized

NP the belief

SBAR that

S the world is flat

Adjectives

Except in comparatives any mo dier following an adjective is bracketed as a complement

ADJP eagerlikelyready

S to believe anything

ADJP full

PP of

NP life

Prep ositions

The NP or S complement of a prep osition is placed inside the PP

Mo dication

Premo diers

Premo diers generally are placed inside the phrase they are asso ciated with

NP the red ball

ADJP extremely delicious

ADVP NP one year ago

VP premo diers however are more often attached at Slevel

S NPSBJ Sandy

ADVPTMP often

VP throws

NP curves

but they may also b e attached inside the VP see section Shared Complements and Mo diers for more details

AN OVERVIEW OF BASIC CLAUSE STRUCTURE

S NPSBJ Sandy

VP ADVPMNR sneakily

threw

NP a curve

Postmodiers

Postmodiers of NPs and comparative ADJPs are adjoined to the NP or ADJP

NP NP a book

PP about

NP toads

ADJP ADJP as tall

PP as

NP him

Postmodiers of VP are attached under VP with adverbial function tags where appropriate

VP reading

PPCLR about

NP toads

PPLOC on

NP the Internet

When it is not clear whether a mo dier within the VP should b e attached at VPlevel or to an ob ject

NP the default is to attach at VPlevel see section PseudoAttach

Clause types

We distinguish among a number of basic clause types S SINV SBAR RRC SBARQ SQ SCLF it

extrap osition and FRAG

S

Simple declarative sentences

S NPSBJ Casey

VP threw

NP the ball

Passives

The surface sub ject is tagged SBJ the passive trace is indicated with NP and coindexed to the

surface sub ject the by phrase is a child of VP and the logical sub ject is tagged LGS Note that the

LGS tag go es on the NP and not on the PP of the by phrase

S NPSBJ The ball

VP was

VP thrown

NP

AN OVERVIEW OF BASIC CLAUSE STRUCTURE

PP by

NPLGS Casey

Imp eratives

Imp eratives are lab eled S and given a null sub ject NPSBJ

S NPSBJ

VP Throw

NP the ball

If the name of the addressee app ears with the imp erative at either the b eginning or end it is tagged

VOC vocative The vocative is NOT coindexed to the null surface sub ject

S NPVOC American imperialists

NPSBJ

VP go

ADVPDIR home

S NPSBJ

VP Close

NP the door

NPVOC John

Questions with declarative word order

Sentences that end with a question mark but have noninverted word order are lab eled S

S NPSBJ This

VP is

NPPRD Japan

S NPSBJ You

VP did

NP what

However questions that are missing b oth sub ject and auxiliary are lab eled SQ

SQ NPSBJ

VP See

NP that cute dog

AN OVERVIEW OF BASIC CLAUSE STRUCTURE

Innitives

Innitives are lab eled S and take NPSBJ as the null sub ject where to represents the highest level

of the VP See section Innitives for more on the annotation of innitivals

Complement clauses

When the innitive is a VP complement the null sub ject of the innitive is coindexed as usual

to its logical sub ject usually the sub ject of the matrix clause but sometimes the ob ject of the

verb or not coindexed at all

S NPSBJ Casey

VP wants

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP throw

NP the ball

Purp ose clauses

Purp ose clauses are attached at S and lab eled PRP purp osereason The sub ject is coindexed

to the surface sub ject of the matrix clause when there is a coindexed interpretation

S NPSBJ Sue

VP arrived

ADVPTMP early

SPRP NPSBJ

VP to

VP get

NP a good seat

Innitival relatives

In the case of innitival relatives the relative is adjoined to NP and dominated by SBAR with a

zero wh complementizer lab eled according to the role played by the gapp ed constituent A T in

the p osition of the gap is coindexed to the wh complementizer The NPSBJ is not indexed

NP NP a movie

SBAR WHNP

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP see

NP T

Participial and gerund clauses

Participial clauses have full clause structure with either a lexical or null NPSBJ sub ject See

section Gerunds and Participles for more on the annotation of participial and gerund clauses

Floating participles are tagged ADV

S SADV NPSBJ The crowd

VP cheering

ADVPMNR madly

NPSBJ Willie

VP caught

NP the ball

AN OVERVIEW OF BASIC CLAUSE STRUCTURE

When appropriate the null sub ject is coindexed to an NP in the matrix clause generally the logi

calstructural sub ject

S SADV NPSBJ

VP Running

PPDIR toward

NP Casey

NPSBJ Willie

VP caught

NP the ball

Gerunds that act as the surface sub ject or as the ob ject of a prep osition are tagged NOM

S SNOMSBJ NPSBJ

VP Baking

NP pies

VP is

ADJPPRD fun

S PP With

SNOM NPSBJ interest rates

VP rising

NPSBJ the market

VP is

VP moving

ADVPMNR slowly

Verb complement gerunds including those in serial verb constructions are all bracketed as a simple

S with coindexed sub ject when appropriate

S NPSBJ I

VP do not

VP mind

S NPSBJ your

VP leaving

ADVPTMP early

S NPSBJ The audience

VP keeps

S NPSBJ

VP leaving

ADVPTMP early

SBAR complement gerunds are also bracketed as a simple S

S NPSBJ He

VP ate

AN OVERVIEW OF BASIC CLAUSE STRUCTURE

NP television

SBARTMP while

S NPSBJ

VP watching

NP dinner

SINV

The SINV lab el is used for sub jectauxiliary inversion in the case of negative inversion conditional inversion

lo cative inversion and some topicalizations SINV is not used with questions See section and section

for the treatment of sub jectauxiliary inversion in the case of yesno questions and wh questions

resp ectively Inverted auxiliaries are unlab eled

SINV ADVPTMP Never

had

NPSBJ I

VP seen

NP such a place

When the inversion results in a conditional clause ie when it is equivalent to SBARADV if the

SINV is enclosed in SBARADV

S SBARADV SINV had

NPSBJ Casey

VP thrown

NP the ball

ADVPMNR harder

NPSBJ it

VP would

VP have

VP reached

NP home plate

PPTMP in

NP time

When sub jectaux inversion is triggered by the predicate or a piece thereof moving out of the VP to

a p osition preceding the sub ject the moved predicate phrase is tagged TPC topicalized and leaves a

coindexed trace in the VP Note that in this case the auxiliaries that precede the sub ject are lab eled VP

whereas in other cases of inversion they are left unlab eled so that theres a place to prop erly attach the

VP trace

SINV VPTPC Marching

PPDIR past

NP the reviewing stand

VP were

VP T

NPSBJ musicians

SINV ADJPPRDTPC ADVP Even more

AN OVERVIEW OF BASIC CLAUSE STRUCTURE

unusual

VP is

ADJPPRD T

NPSBJ NP the mating behavior

PP of

NP the praying mantis

SINV ADVP Also

ADJPPRDTPC present

VP will

VP be

ADJPPRD T

NPSBJ NP NP the bride s

children

NP Joan and Kirkland

SINV ADVPDIRTPC Out

VP might

VP have

VP popped

ADVPDIR T

NPSBJ a jackinthebox

SINV STPC NPSBJ We

VP will

VP win

VP said

SBAR

S T

NPSBJ Casey

SBAR

SBAR is used for relative clauses and sub ordinate clauses including indirect questions

S NPSBJ NP The person

SBAR WHNP who

S NPSBJ T

VP threw

NP the ball

VP is

ADJPPRD very athletic

S NPSBJ Willie

VP knew

SBAR that

S NPSBJ Casey

VP threw

AN OVERVIEW OF BASIC CLAUSE STRUCTURE

NP the ball

S NPSBJ Willie

VP asked

SBAR WHNP who

S NPSBJ T

VP threw

NP the ball

The wh prexed lab els WHNP WHADVP WHADJP WHPP are used only when there is wh movement

and they always leave a trace T See section WH Phrases for more information

S NPSBJ The committee

VP continued

NP its meeting

SBARTMP while

S NPSBJ

VP eating

NP lunch

RRC reduced relative clause

Reduced relative clauses are adjoined to the NP they mo dify

NP NP An orangutan

VP foaming

PPCLR at

NP the mouth

All sentential mo diers in reduced relatives are attached at VP level even when they precede the verb itself

NP NP a car

VP not built

NP

PP by

NPLGS Mazda

PPTMP for

NP the last five years

The RRC lab el is used only in cases where there is no VP and an extra level is needed for prop er attachment

of sentential mo diers see section Gerunds and Participles

NP NP titles

RRC not

ADVPTMP presently

PPLOC in

NP the collection

In the case of passives a passive trace NP is inserted under the VP but it is not indexed since the null

sub ject to which the passive trace would b e coindexed is not present in the annotation The logical sub ject is tagged LGS

AN OVERVIEW OF BASIC CLAUSE STRUCTURE

S NPSBJ I

VP bought

NP NP a car

VP built

NP

PP by

NPLGS Mazda

Compare with the unreduced

S NPSBJ I

VP bought

NP NP a car

SBAR WHNP which

S NPSBJ T

VP was

VP built

NP

PP by

NPLGS Mazda

SBARQ

The SBARQ lab el marks wh questions ie those that contain a gap and therefore require a trace A

further level of structure SQ contains the inverted auxiliary if there is one and the rest of the sentence

The inverted auxiliary in wh questions is not lab eled

SBARQ WHNP Who

SQ NPSBJ T

VP threw

NP the ball

SBARQ WHNP What

SQ did

NPSBJ Casey

VP throw

NP T

SBARQ WHNP Who

SQ NPSBJ T

VP will

VP throw

NP the ball

If the main verb is inverted most arguments and adjuncts go at SQ level

SBARQ WHADVP Why

SQ PPLOC in

AN OVERVIEW OF BASIC CLAUSE STRUCTURE

NP these movies

is

NPSBJ the unwed pregnant woman

ADVPTMP always

PPPRD from

NP Ohio

ADVPPRP T

SQ

See also section

inside SBARQ

As describ ed ab ove inside wh questions SQ holds the sub ject inverted auxiliary if any main verb

phrase and some adjuncts

yesno questions

SQ is used for yesno questions ie those with inversion but no wh movement

SQ Did

NPSBJ Casey

VP throw

NP the ball

sub jectless yesno questions

In questions where the auxiliary and sub ject do not app ear the auxiliary is unlab eled and a null

sub ject NPSBJ is used

SQ NPSBJ

VP See

NP that cute dog

Note that questions with overt sub jects and auxiliaries that show declarative word order are simply

lab eled S

Tag questions

Tag questions are treated as an adjunction of SQ to S The resulting structure is lab eled SQ since the

whole thing is interrogative in nature The lower SQ is annotated to show predicate deletion that is

an appropriate null is inserted

SQ S But

NPSBJ you

VP knew

NP that

SQ did nt

AN OVERVIEW OF BASIC CLAUSE STRUCTURE

NPSBJ you

VP

SQ S NPSBJ That

VP s

NPPRD the problem

SQ is

nt

NPSBJ it

NPPRD

SCLF

it cleft or true cleft

Declarative it clefts are lab eled SCLF expletive it is tagged as the surface sub ject SBJ the SBAR

is attached at VPlevel and a trace is coindexed to the wh complementizer of the clefted p ortion See

section Clefts for more information

SCLF NPSBJ It

VP was

NP Casey

SBAR WHNP who

S NPSBJ T

VP threw

NP the ball

Traces for all adverbials including purp ose clauses are lab eled ADVP T and coindexed to the WHADVP

complementizer If a prep osition is piedpip ed WHPP and PP T are used

SCLF NPSBJ It

VP is

ADVPTMPPRD then

SBAR WHADVP that

S NPSBJ young queens

VP begin

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP appear

ADVPTMP T

Interrogative it clefts are lab eled SQCLF

SQCLF Was

NPSBJ it

NPPRD John

SBAR WHNP who

S NPSBJ T

VP came

AN OVERVIEW OF BASIC CLAUSE STRUCTURE

PPDIR to

NP the party

PPCLR in

NP a dress

Note wh clefts do not receive sp ecial treatment in the corpus They contain a freeheadless relative followed

by a form of the verb be followed by a predicate eg What sustained the worst injuries was the car

See section Notation for a bit more on free relatives

it extrap osition

Clauses that are extrap osed from sub ject p osition are lab eled S or SBAR The extrap osed clause is attached

at VP level and adjoined to the it with EXPattach The NP containing it and EXP is tagged SBJ

See section It Extrap osition for more information

S NPSBJ NP It

S EXP

VP is

NPPRD a pleasure

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP teach

NP her

FRAG

fragment

FRAG marks those p ortions of text that app ear to b e clauses but lack to o many essential elements for the

exact structure to b e easily determined eg answers to questions Predicate argument structure therefore

cannot b e extracted from FRAGs Some examples of what we have called FRAG

SBARQ WHNP Who

S NPSBJ T

VP threw

NP the ball

FRAG NP Casey

NPTMP yesterday

S SBARADV if

FRAG not

NPTMP today

Casey will throw the ball tomorrow

SBARADV Though

FRAG ADJP limited

AN OVERVIEW OF BASIC CLAUSE STRUCTURE

SBARADV if

FRAG ADJP possible

SBARADV WHNP Whatever

FRAG NP the longterm economic effect

FRAG PPLOC Among

NP NP the Guinness disk s

wonders

NP NP the world s

loudest recorded belch

FRAG NP NP Two guys

PP from

NP NP Gary

NP Ind

FRAG Not

ADJP so

FRAG VP Guaranteed

NP

PP by

NPLGS India

Clause combinations

Co ordination

See section Shared Complements and Mo diers and section Co ordination for details concerning co or

dination structures

Phrase co ordination

Co ordination of phrases is represented in the annotation at the lowest level p ossible Single words are

assumed to co ordinate at word level rather than pro jecting their own phrases and only the highest

level is represented

S NPSBJ Girls and boys

VP throw and catch

NP balls

AN OVERVIEW OF BASIC CLAUSE STRUCTURE

However the addition of mo diers generally forces a higher level of co ordination which is shown with

Chomskyadjunction structure

S NPSBJ NP These girls

and

NP those boys

VP VP throw

ADVPMNR well

and

VP catch

ADVPMNR badly

Clause co ordination

When like clauses are co ordinated the level of co ordination has the same lab el as the co ordinated

clauses

S S NPSBJ Casey

VP threw

NP the ball

and

S NPSBJ Willie

VP caught

NP it

S NPSBJ Jackie

VP knew

SBAR SBAR WHNP who

S NPSBJ T

VP threw

NP the ball

and

SBAR WHNP who

S NPSBJ T

VP caught

NP it

Co ordinated unlike clauses are dominated by S

S S NPSBJ He

VP was

VP performing

PP for

NP pay

and

SBARQ WHADVP why

SQ should

NPSBJ anyone

VP expect

NP NP anything

ADJP more

AN OVERVIEW OF BASIC CLAUSE STRUCTURE

ADVPPRP T

Note that co ordination of unlike phrases ie nonclauses is dominated by UCP Unlike Co ordinated

Phrase

Co ordinating conjunctions

Besides the usual and or but etc certain prep ositions and sub ordinating conjunctions can b e used

as co ordinating conjunctions Multiword co ordinating conjunctions are lab eled CONJP see section

Co ordination

S NPSBJ Willie

CONJP as well as

Casey

VP saw

NP the ball

S NPSBJ Casey

VP will

VP throw

NP the ball

NPTMP tomorrow

CONJP if not

today

Otherwise these are annotated as PPs or SBARs as appropriate See section Co ordination

S SBARADV if

FRAG not

NP today

NPSBJ Casey

VP will

VP throw

NP the ball

NPTMP tomorrow

Sub ordination the use of SBAR

See section WH Phrases and section Sub ordinate Clauses for more detail

Relative clauses are adjoined to the NP that they mo dify

S NPSBJ NP The person

SBAR WHNP who

S NPSBJ T

VP caught

NP the ball

VP is

ADJPPRD very athletic

AN OVERVIEW OF BASIC CLAUSE STRUCTURE

SBARs can b e verbal complements

S NPSBJ Willie

VP knew

SBAR that

S NPSBJ Casey

VP hid

NP the ball

Conditional temp oral and other such adverbial SBARs are attached under either S or VP dep ending

on whether they precede or follow the main clause and given the appropriate adverbial function tag

S SBARADV if

S NPSBJ Casey

VP throws

NP the ball

NPSBJ Willie

VP catches

NP it

S NPSBJ Willie

VP catches

NP the ball

SBARADV if

S NPSBJ Casey

VP throws

NP it

Fronted elements

Fronted elements are those that app ear b efore the sub ject in a declarative sentence They are placed inside

the top clause level eg S SINV SQ SBAR See the section on TPC in section Notation for more

details on the use of the TPC tag and the section on T with fronted elements in section Null Elements

for more details on the distribution of T

Fronted arguments

Fronted arguments are attached under the main clause level They always leave a T and are tagged

TPC This holds whether the argument is fronted within a single clause or crosses more than one

clause b oundary

S NPTPC This

NPSBJ every man

VP contains

NP T

PPLOC within

NP him

AN OVERVIEW OF BASIC CLAUSE STRUCTURE

Fronted adjuncts

Fronted adjuncts receive function tags eg ADV TMP as appropriate However note that they

receive the TPC lab el only in cases where they are asso ciated with a T in a lower clause In

particular a T app ears in the annotation only if the adjunct is fronted over more than one clause

b oundary

S PPTPC Excluding

NP NP NP an increase

PPLOC in

NP the tax rate

and

NP NP the effects

PP of

NP foreign currency translations

NPSBJ Mr Millis

VP said

SBAR

S NPSBJ NP the company s

results

VP were

ADVP still

ADJPPRD NPADV a little

disappointing

PP T

S SBARADVTPC If

S NPSBJ profits

VP do nt

VP improve

NPSBJ Mr Whitten

VP says

SBAR

S NPSBJ he

VP may

VP quit

NP the exchange

SBARADV T

There is no T in the annotation if the adjunct is fronted within a single clause

S NPTMP Yesterday

NPSBJ I

VP went

PPDIR to

NP the store

AN OVERVIEW OF BASIC CLAUSE STRUCTURE

S SADV NPSBJ

VP Running

PPDIR toward

NP Casey

NPSBJ Willie

VP caught

NP the ball

S SBARTMP WHADVP When

S NPSBJ I

VP do nt

VP get

NP enough sleep

ADVPTMP T

NPSBJ I

VP have

NP NP trouble

SNOM NPSBJ

VP staying

ADJPPRD awake

Elements that are fronted within questions either wh or yesno are put inside the highest level of

structure SBARQ or SQ resp ectively

SBARQ SBARADV If

S NPSBJ Casey

VP throws

NP the ball

WHNP who

SQ will

NPSBJ T

VP catch

NP it

SQ SBARADV If

S NPSBJ Casey

VP throws

NP the ball

will

NPSBJ Willie

VP catch

NP it

Quotations

Direct quotations A direct quotation is considered to b e the argument of the verb of saying

AN OVERVIEW OF BASIC CLAUSE STRUCTURE

S NPSBJ Casey

VP said

S NPSBJ Willie

VP caught

NP the ball

When the quotation app ears b efore the quoting verb it treated as a fronted argument the quote is

attached at S level and given a TPC tag and a trace is shown under the VP

S

STPC NPSBJ Willie

VP caught

NP the ball

NPSBJ Casey

VP said

S T

SINV

STPC NPSBJ Willie

VP caught

NP the ball

VP said

S T

NPSBJ Casey

If the quotation is discontinuous the interruptive material is annotated as a parenthetical PRN

Note that a trace app ears under the VP in the parenthetical but that the fronted p ortion is not

lab eled TPC

S

NPSBJ Willie

PRN

S NPSBJ Casey

VP said

S T

VP caught

NP the ball

AN OVERVIEW OF BASIC CLAUSE STRUCTURE

Indirect quotations

The SBAR level marks indirect quotations and cases where only a p ortion of the quote is direct

S NPSBJ Stokely

VP says

SBAR

S NPSBJ stores

VP revive

NP NP specials

PP like

NP NP three cans

PP of

NP peas

PP for

NP cents

S NPSBJ Mr Millis

VP said

SBAR

S NPSBJ NP the company s

results

VP were

ADVP still

ADJPPRD NPADV a little

disappointing

Gapping

See section Co ordination for more details on gapping

Intrasentential gapping

When the gapp ed construction exists alongside a complete ungapp ed clause of parallel structure the

complete clause is used as a template to which elements in the gapp ed clause are mapp ed via the

notation referred to as gap coindexing

S S NPSBJ Mary

VP likes

NP Bach

and

S NPSBJ Susan

NP Beethoven

In the ab ove the equal sign notation maps constituent NP over NP so that the following predicate

argument structure can b e extracted like Mary Bach and like Susan Beethoven Similarly

AN OVERVIEW OF BASIC CLAUSE STRUCTURE

S NPSBJ John

VP VP gave GIVE John Mary book

NP Mary

NP a book

and

VP NP Bill GIVE John Bill pencil

NP a pencil

All constituents in gapp ed constructions receive function tags as appropriate

S NPSBJ I

VP VP eat

NP breakfast

PPTMP in

NP the morning

and

VP NP lunch

PPTMP in

NP the afternoon

Intersentential gapping

The template approach to gapping is not used across sentences If a template is not available within

the same sentence the gapp ed constituent is lab eled FRAG instead

What is Tim eating Mary Ann thinks chocolate

S NPSBJ Mary Ann

VP thinks

SBAR

FRAG NP chocolate

NOTATION

Notation

In the present corpus each bracket is lab eled for at least syntactic category but may have as many as

function tags In previous Treebank releases only standard syntactic lab els eg NP ADVP PP etc were

used to lab el constituents every bracket had just one lab el The limitations of this system b ecome apparent

when a word or phrase that b elongs to one syntactic category is used for some other function or when it

plays a role that is not easily identied without sp ecial annotation

In addition to the function tags we have also augmented our annotation with the coindexation of null

elements and several varieties of pseudoattach

Bracket lab els

Clause level

See section Overview of Basic Clause Structure for a fuller explanation of the uses of each of these

lab els

S Simple declarative clause ie one that is not introduced by a p ossibly empty sub ordinating conjunc

tion or wh word and that do es not exhibit sub jectverb inversion

SBAR Clause introduced by a p ossibly empty sub ordinating conjunction

SBARQ Direct question introduced by a wh word or wh phrase See section Overview of Basic Clause

Structure Indirect questions and relative clauses should b e bracketed as SBAR not SBARQ

SINV Inverted declarative sentence ie one in which the sub ject follows the tensed verb or mo dal

SQ Inverted yesno question or main clause of a wh question following the wh phrase in SBARQ

Phrase level

ADJP Adjective Phrase Phrasal category headed by an adjective including comparative and sup erlative

adjectives Example outrageously expensive

ADVP Adverb Phrase Phrasal category headed by an adverb including comparative and sup erlative

adverbs Examples rather timid ly very wel l indeed rapidly

CONJP Conjunction Phrase Used to mark certain multiword conjunctions such as as wel l as

instead of

FRAG Fragment see section Overview of Basic Clause Structure

INTJ Interjection Corresp onds approximately to the partofsp eech tag UH see the POS guidelines

Santorini

LST List marker Includes surrounding punctuation see section Numbered Lists

NAC Not A Constituent used to show the scop e of certain prenominal mo diers within a noun phrase

NP Noun Phrase Phrasal category that includes all constituents that dep end on a head noun

NX Used within certain complex noun phrases to mark the head of the noun phrase Corresp onds very

roughly to Nbar level but used quite dierently

PP Prep ositional Phrase Phrasal category headed by a prep osition

PRN Parenthetical See section b elow for a complete description

NOTATION

PRT Particle Category for words that should b e tagged RP as describ ed in the POS guidelines

Santorini with some guidance from Quirk et al sections in tricky ADVP vs

PRT decisions but note that the Treebank notion of particle is somewhat dierent from that of Quirk

et al

QP Quantier Phrase ie complex measureamount phrase used within NP see section Mo di

cation of NP

RRC Reduced Relative Clause see section Gerunds and Participles

UCP Unlike Co ordinated Phrase

VP Verb Phrase Phrasal category headed a verb

WHADJP Wh adjective Phrase Adjectival phrase containing a wh adverb as in how hot

WHADVP Wh adverb Phrase Introduces a clause with an ADVP gap May b e null containing the

complementizer or lexical containing a wh adverb such as how or why

WHNP Wh noun Phrase Introduces a clause with an NP gap May b e null containing the comple

mentizer or lexical containing some wh word eg who which book whose daughter none of which

or how many leopards

WHPP Wh prep ositional Phrase Prep ositional phrase containing a wh noun phrase such as of which

or by whose authority that either introduces a PP gap or is contained by a WHNP

X Unknown uncertain or unbracketable X is often used for bracketing typos and in bracketing thethe

constructions see section Sub ordinate Clauses and section Correlative the Clauses

Function tags

Formfunction discrepancies

ADV adverbial marks a constituent other than ADVP or PP when it is used adverbially eg NPs or

free headless relatives However constituents that themselves are mo difying an ADVP generally

do not get ADV

ADJP NPADV a little bit

angry

S NPSBJ You

VP can

VP leave

SBARADV if

S NPSBJ you

ADVP really

VP want

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP go

If there is a more sp ecic adverbial tag available ie one of the tags listed in section b elow

the more sp ecic tag is assumed to imply ADV and is used alone Thus in the following example the

TMP tag on yesterday implies ADV

NOTATION

S NPSBJ He

VP left

NPTMP yesterday

NOT

NPADVTMP yesterday

Nouns such as today which often b ehave adverbially are lab eled NP when they app ear in argument

p osition

S NPSBJ Today

VP is

NPPRD NP the first day

PP of

NP NP the rest

PP of

NP your life

NOM nominal marks free headless relatives and gerunds when they act nominally See section

WH Phrases for more information ab out free relatives and section Gerunds and Participles for

more information ab out gerunds

S SBARNOMSBJ WHNP What

S NPSBJ I

ADVP really

VP like

NP T

VP is

NPPRD chocolate

S SNOMSBJ NPSBJ

VP Baking

NP pies

VP is

ADJPPRD fun

S NPSBJ I

VP do

not

VP mind

PP about

SNOM NPSBJ your

VP leaving

ADVPTMP early

Note that other nonNP constituents are not tagged NOM when they app ear in argument p ositions eg innitivals PPs though they do get SBJ when they o ccur in sub ject p osition

NOTATION

S SSBJ NPSBJ

VP To

VP have

VP refused

VP would

VP have

VP been

NPPRD political suicide

S PPSBJ PP From

NP proud poolowners

PP to

NP perpetual hosts and handymen

VP was

NPPRD a short step

Grammatical role

DTV dative marks the dative ob ject in the unshifted form of the double ob ject construction

If the prep osition introducing the dative ob ject is for it is considered b enefactive see BNF on

page

S NPSBJ I

VP asked

NP a question

PPDTV of

NP the president

S NPSBJ Aristotle

VP gave

NP the book

PPDTV to

NP Plato

Compare with the shifted

S NPSBJ Aristotle

VP gave

NP Plato

NP the book

Other verbs have semantically similar complements that could b e considered dative ob jects However

DTV or BNF is only used after verbs that can undergo dative shift Other putative datives are

annotated with CLR

S NPSBJ He

VP donated

NP money

NOTATION

PPCLR to

NP the museum

LGS logical sub ject is used to mark the logical sub ject in passives It attaches to the NP ob ject of

by and not to the PP no de itself

S NPSBJ That

VP was

VP painted

NP

PP by

NPLGS Mark

PRD predicate marks any predicate that is not VP

S NPSBJ I

VP consider

S NPSBJ Kris

NPPRD a fool

SQ Was

NPSBJ he

ADVPTMP ever

ADJPPRD successful

In do so constructions the so is annotated as a predicate

S NPSBJ They

ADVP also

VP did

ADVPPRD so

SINV and

ADVPPRDTPC so

VP did

ADVPPRD T

NPSBJ the hippopotamuses

PUT marks the lo cative complement of put

S NPSBJ John

VP put

NP the book

PPPUT on

NP the table

NOTATION

S NPSBJ John

VP put

NP the book

ADVPPUT there

It do es not go on just any complement or child of put

S NPSBJ They

VP put

NP the baby

PRT down

S NPSBJ She

VP put

NP it

ADVPMNR bluntly

SBJ surface sub ject marks the structural surface sub ject of b oth matrix and embedded clauses

including those with null sub jects

TPC topicalized marks elements that app ear b efore the sub ject in a declarative sentence but in

two cases only

i if the fronted element is asso ciated with a T in the p osition of the gap

ii if the fronted element is leftdislo cated ie it is asso ciated with a resumptive pronoun in the

p osition of the gap See the section on fronted elements in section Overview of Basic Clause

Structure for more details on the treatment of fronted elements and the section on T with fronted

elements in section Null Elements for more details on the distribution of T

S PPTPC Of

NP NP the barbers

PPLOC in

NP Philadelphia

NPSBJ NP QP only

PP T

VP know

SBAR WHNP what

S NPSBJ they

VP are

VP doing

NP T

VOC vocative marks nouns of address regardless of their p osition in the sentence It is not coindexed

to the sub ject and do es not get TPC when it is sentenceinitial

SQ NPVOC Mike

would

NPSBJ you

NOTATION

INTJ please

VP close

NP the door

Adverbials

Adverbials are generally VP adjuncts

BNF b enefactive marks the b eneciary of an action attaches to NP or PP

This tag is used only when the verb can undergo dative shift and the prep ositional variant with

the same meaning uses for The prep ositional ob jects of dativeshifting verbs with other prep ositions

than for such as to or of are annotated DTV

S NPSBJ I

VP baked

NPBNF Doug

NP a cake

S NPSBJ I

VP baked

NP a cake

PPBNF for

NP Doug

DIR direction marks adverbials that answer the questions from where and to where It implies

motion which can b e metaphorical as in rose pts to or increased to bil lion yen

see section Financialsp eak Conventions DIR is most often used with verbs of motiontransit

and nancial verbs

S NPSBJ I

VP flew

PPDIR from

NP Tokyo

PPDIR to

NP New York

EXT extent marks adverbial phrases that describ e the spatial extent of an activity EXT was

incorp orated primarily for cases of movement in nancial space but is also used in analogous situations

elsewhere

S NPSBJ the Dow Jones Industrial Average

VP plunged

NPEXT points

S NPSBJ She

VP walked

NPEXT miles

NOTATION

Obligatory complements do not receive EXT

S NPSBJ The sumo wrestler

VP gained

NP pounds

Words such as ful ly and completely are absolutes and do not receive EXT

LOC lo cative marks adverbials that indicate placesetting of the event

PPLOC on

NP the moon

LOC may also indicate metaphorical lo cation For example the following receive the LOC tag

PPLOC amongst

NP yourselves

NP NP a drop

PPLOC in domestic truck sales

whereas these do not

NP NP interest

PP in anthropology

NP NP dollars

PP in

NP stocks

PP on

NP NP grounds

PP of

PP in

NP other respects

PP under

NP pressure

PP under

NP the gun

There is likely to b e some variation in the use of LOC due to diering annotator interpretations In

cases where the annotator is faced with choosing b etween LOC or TMP the default is LOC

NOTATION

PPLOC in

NP an interview

PPLOC in

NP active trading

In cases of app osition involving SBAR the SBAR should not b e lab eled LOC

NP NP Minneapolis

SBAR WHADVP where

S NPSBJ it

VP is

ADJPPRD cold

ADVPLOC T

LOC has some uses that are not adverbial such as with place names that are adjoined to other NPs

and NACLOC premo diers of NPs see section Mo dication of NP The sp ecial tag PUT listed

on page is used for the lo cative argument of put

MNR manner marks adverbials that indicate manner including instrument phrases

S NP She

VP waited

ADVPMNR impatiently

S NPSBJ She

VP hit

NP the nail

PPMNR with

NP a hammer

S NPSBJ She

VP surprised

NP him

PPMNR by

SNOM NPSBJ

VP eating

NP a horse

ADVPMNR alone

PRP purp ose or reason marks purp ose or reason clauses and PPs

S NPSBJ Chevron

VP had

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP shut

NOTATION

PRT down

NP NP a crudeoil pipeline

PPLOC in

NP the Bay area

SPRP NPSBJ

VP to

VP check

PPCLR for

NP leaks

S NPSBJ the Dow Jones Transportation Average

VP went

ADVPDIR down

PPPRP due

ADVP largely

PP to

NP NP further selling

PPLOC in

NP UAL

S NPSBJ NP activity

PPLOC at

NP NP a number

PP of

NP ADJP San Franciscobased

brokerage houses

VP was

VP curtailed

NP

PPPRP as

NP NP a result

PP of

NP the earthquake

TMP temp oral marks temp oral or asp ectual adverbials that answer the questions when how often

or how long It has some uses that are not strictly adverbial such as with dates that mo dify other

NPs see section Mo dication of NP

at S or VPlevel

S NPSBJ Egg bread

VP loses

NP some zip

SBARTMP WHADVP when

S NPSBJ the eggs

VP come

PPLOCCLR in

NP pound cans

ADVPTMP T

NOTATION

S ADVPTMP Meanwhile

NPSBJ NP the bottom end

PP of

NP the market

VP is

VP becoming

ADJPPRD less loyal

S NPSBJ Brand loyalty

VP has

VP eroded

PPTMP during

NP the s

S NPSBJ it

VP will

VP remove

NP the objectionable tropical oil

PPTMP by

NP year end

mo difying NPs

S NPSBJ the man Politburo

VP had

VP asked

PPCLR for

NP his resignation

PPLOC at

NP NP a separate meeting

NPTMP late Tuesday

NP NP his ADJP first and only state visit

PP to

NP Bonn

ADVPTMP NP two years

ago

In cases of app osition involving SBAR the SBAR should not b e lab eled TMP

PPTMP in

NP NP

SBAR WHADVP when

S NPSBJ I

ADVPTMP first

VP learned

SBAR

NOTATION

S NPSBJ I

VP was

NPPRD a Martian

ADVPTMP T

in ADJP

NP NP NP Penn Treebank Corp s

ADJP

bonds

ADJP due

NPTMP

Only in nancialsp eak and only when the dominating PP is a PPDIR may temp oral mo diers b e

put at PP ob ject level as in this example

S NPSBJ unconsolidated pretax profit

VP increased

PPDIR to

NP QP billion yen

PPDIR from

NP QP billion yen

ADVPTMP NP a year

ago

Note that TMP is not used in p ossessive phrases

NP NP s

conservative tendencies

Miscellaneous

CLR closely related marks constituents that o ccupy some middle ground b etween argument and

adjunct of the verb phrase These roughly corresp ond to predication adjuncts prep ositional ditran

sitives and some phrasal verbs as dened in Quirk et al

Although constituents marked with CLR are not strictly sp eaking complements they are treated

as complements whenever it makes a bracketing dierence see the section on fronting in section

Overview of Basic Clause Structure and RNRattach in section Shared Complements and Mo d

iers

The precise meaning of CLR dep ends somewhat on the category of its phrase

on S or SBAR These categories are usually arguments so the CLR tag indicates that the clause

is more adverbial than normal clausal arguments The most common case is the innitival semi

complement of use but there are a variety of other cases see section Innitives

on PP ADVP SBARPRP etc On categories that are ordinarily interpreted as adjunct

adverbials CLR indicates a somewhat closer relationship to the verb For example

NOTATION

Prep ositional Ditransitives

In order to ensure consistency the Treebank recognizes only a limited class of verbs that take

more than one complement as describ ed in this section DTV on page and PUT on

page and in section Small Clauses Verbs that fall outside these classes including

most of the prep ositional ditransitive verbs in class D in Quirk et al are often

annotated with CLR

VP associate

NP snow

PPCLR with

NP winter

VP donate

NP your time

PPCLR to

NP a good cause

Phrasal verbs

Phrasal verbs are also annotated with CLR or a combination of PRT and PPCLR

VP pay

PPCLR for

NP shares

VP adjust

PPCLR for

NP inflation

VP put

PRT up

PPCLR with

NP the nuisance

Words that are considered b orderline b etween particle and adverb are often bracketed with

ADVPCLR

VP looking

ADVPCLR forward

PPCLR to

NP their winter meeting

Predication Adjuncts

Many of Quirks predication adjuncts see Quirk et al esp ecially sections

are annotated with CLR

VP place

NP the flour

PPLOCCLR in

NP the sifter

S NPSBJ She

VP sat

PPLOCCLR in

NP the chair

NOTATION

S NPSBJ He

VP kissed

NP his mother

PPCLR on

NP the cheek

on NP To the extent that CLR is used on noun phrases it indicates that the NP is part of some

kind of xed phrase or expression such as take care of

VP taking

NPCLR care

PPCLR of

NP the problem

S NPSBJ their meeting

ADVPTMP never

VP took

NPCLR place

Variation is more likely for NPs than for other uses of CLR

CLF cleft marks itclefts true clefts and may b e added to the lab els S SINV or SQ See section

Clefts

SQCLF Was

NPSBJ it

NPPRD NP Johns

car

SBAR WHNP

S NPSBJ you

VP borrowed

NP T

HLN headline marks headlines and datelines Note that headlines and datelines always constitute

a unit of text that is structurally indep endent from the following sentence

NPHLN NP The end

PP of

NP Trujillo

S NPSBJ NP Assassination

PRN

PP ADVP even

of

NP a tyrant

VP is

ADJPPRD repulsive

PP to

NP NP men

PP of

NP good conscience

NOTATION

NPHLN NPLOC Chicago IL

NPTMP May

S A fire broke out in an abandoned building

TTL title is attached to the top no de of a title when this title app ears inside running text

TTL implies NOM The internal structure of the title is bracketed as usual See section Ti

tles for more information ab out the bracketing of titles

SQ Have

NPSBJ you

VP read

STTL NPSBJ

VP To

VP Kill

NP A Mockingbird

S

NPTTLSBJ Omphalos

VP was

VP painted

NP

PP by

NPLGS Mark

Null elements

See section Null Elements for more on the annotation of null elements

0

T trace of A movement

NP arbitrary PRO controlled PRO and trace of Amovement

the null complementizer

U unit

placeholder for ellipsed material

NOT antiplaceholder in template gapping

The pseudoattach elements listed in section are also essentially null elements

Coindexing See section Null Elements for more detailed information

NOTATION

The identity index

The number that follows a bracket tag serves as an identity index ID number for that constituent

WHNP What Identity indices only app ear when necessary eg when there is a corresp onding null

element

The reference index

The number that follows the null element is called its reference index NP T It should corresp ond

to the identity index of the constituent with which the null is asso ciated If the null is not asso ciated with

a constituent in the same sentence it do es not receive an index

S NPSBJ Willie

VP knew

SBAR WHNP who

S NPSBJ T

VP threw

NP the ball

SBARQ WHNP Who

SQ was

NPSBJ T

VP believed

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP have

VP been

VP shot

NP

Pseudoattach

Pseudoattach is a metho d of showing that nonadjacent constituents are related There are four dierent

types of pseudoattach each of which is describ ed in detail in section PseudoAttach The pseudo attach

copy b ears a reference index corresp onding to the identity index of the displaced constituent The dierent

types of pseudoattach are

EXP Expletive extrap osition

ICH Interpret Constituent Here discontinuous dep endency

PPA Permanent Predictable Ambiguity ambiguity

RNR Right No de Raising shared complements

Parentheticals

Parenthetical elements are dominated by a no de lab eled PRN Punctuation marks that set o a parenthetical

ie commas dashes parentheses LRB and RRB are contained within the PRN no de Use of PRN

is determined ultimately by individual annotator intuition though the presence of dashes or parentheses strongly suggests a parenthetical

NOTATION

S NPSBJ NP Assassination

PRN

PP ADVP even

of

NP a tyrant

VP is

ADJPPRD repulsive

PP to

NP NP men

PP of

NP good conscience

S NPTMP NP Every day

SBAR WHNP

S NPSBJ you

VP delay

NPTMP T

NPSBJ NP NP a savings institution s health

PRN

and

NP the federal budget deficit

VP grows

ADJPPRD worse

S NPSBJ Casey

VP threw

NP the

ADJP red

PRN S ADVP at least

NPSBJ I

VP think

SBAR

S NPSBJ it

VP was

ADJPPRD red

and

green

PRN or

S ADVP maybe

NPSBJ it

VP was

ADJPPRD blue ball

PUNCTUATION

Punctuation

Basic guidelines

In this corpus each unit of text is enclosed in a top level of unlab eled brackets which generally come

out as TOP in the output of the tgrep program Formerly toplevel punctuation ie initial and nal

punctuation could b e attached to these toplevel brackets However in this release such punctuation

should all b e attached one level down to the highest level of labeled brackets so that there is only one

toplevel no de within the unlab eled brackets

For the sake of simplicity these unlab eled outer brackets are usually omitted in examples in this manual

and initial and nal punctuation are frequently removed as well However in this section they are generally

included for greater clarity and precision

Midsentence punctuation

bracesparentheses commas colons dashes quotation marks semicolons

Paired punctuation

Paired punctuation marks are siblings of the constituent they surround This is true even when the

op ening or closing member of the pair can b e viewed as deleted For instance the commas that set o

a sub ordinate clause or a relative clause from a main clause are siblings of the SBAR dominating the

sub ordinate clause Similarly the commas that set o app ositives are siblings of the app ositive phrase

and children of the NP dominating the entire app osition structure

Commas setting o app ositive phrase

S NPSBJ NP John

NP my brother

VP left

Commas setting o a parenthetical S

S PPTMP For

NP NP the rest

PP of

NP

PRN

S NPSBJ Mr Hagen

VP said

SBAR

S T

NPSBJ NP Conrail s

traffic and revenue

VP will

VP reflect

NP the sluggish economy

PUNCTUATION

Commas setting o a sub ordinate clause

S SBARADV If

S NPSBJ the judge

VP is

VP impeached

NP

SBARADV as

S NPSBJ

VP is

VP thought

S NPSBJ

ADJPPRD likely

NPSBJ he

VP will

VP be

VP removed

NP

PPDIR from

NP office

ADVPTMP immediately

Braces parentheses dashes

Dashes may app ear as standard double hyphens or as single hyphens

In order to distinguish annotation brackets from brackets that were part of the original text original

brackets are shown with co des

parentheses are indicated with LRB for Left Round Bracket and RRB for Right

Round Bracket

braces fg are indicated with LCB and RCB for LeftRight Curly Bracket

brackets are indicated with LSB and RSB for LeftRight Square Bracket but note

that the only square brackets in all published versions of the WSJ corpus are right

brackets that app ear to act as exclamation p oints

Most things set o by parentheses or dashes are lab eled PRN Annotator intuition of the interruptive

ness of the p otential PRN is also a deciding factor in whether or not a word or phrase is lab eled PRN

one of the characteristics annotators lo ok for is a compressed pitch range when the sentence is read

aloud

Arguments should never b e lab eled PRN though on o ccasion they have b een due to overzealous

annotating In particular braces frequently indicate rewording of the quote so they should almost

never get PRN though o ccasionally a PRN is appropriate

Thus John my brother left should b e bracketed

S NPSBJ NP John

PRN LRB

PUNCTUATION

NP my brother

RRB

VP left

and I think fthe presidentg is foolish should b e bracketed

S

NPSBJ I

VP think

SBAR

S LCB

NPSBJ the president

RCB

VP is

ADJPPRD foolish

Quotation marks These should go outside whatever they surround whenever p ossible and when

it isnt p ossible they just get yanked around by whatever is inside them They are at the very b ottom

of the p ecking order

In this example the second of the pair of quotes gets yanked to Slevel by the comma

SINV S NPSBJ Japanese agencies

VP VP do

NP business

PP with

NP NP rival clients

PPLOC in

NP the same industry

NPADV NP a practice

SBAR WHNP that

S NP T

VP would

VP be

ADJPPRD unacceptable

PP by

NP traditional Western

conflict rules

VP says

SBAR

S T

NPSBJ Roy Warman

PUNCTUATION

Similarly when close quotes follow a p erio d the p erio d takes precedence ie b oth are attached high

S NPSBJ Mr Lorin

VP responded

INTJ No

S

NPSBJ It

VP s

not

NPPRD NP the end

PP of

NP the world

SBARADV if

S NPSBJ you

VP shake

NP them

PRT up

NPADV a little bit

Note in the ab ove example how the quotation marks are attached inside the highest S

Exception to the siblings rule for paired punctuation when an S inside an SBAR is headed

by a phrase set o by paired commas the rst comma is placed inside the SBAR not the S

S NPSBJ I

VP think

SBAR that

S PPTMP at

NP all times

NPSBJ Mark

VP is

ADJPPRD wrong

However if the annotator had a strong intuition that the phrase which interjects b etween the SBAR

and the S is a parenthetical remark heshe may have done the following

SBAR that

PRN

PP in

NP NP Mr Letterman s

words

S

PUNCTUATION

Unpaired punctuation

Unpaired punctuation intervenes b etween constituents at the highest p ossible dividing level

S PPTMP In

NP

NPSBJ Dallasbased Sterling

VP protested

NP NP a similar decision

PP by

NP NASA

VP involving

NP the same contract

SADV NPSBJ

VP claiming

SBAR

S NPSBJ it

VP had

VP submitted

NP the lowest bid

Colons

In the sentence He founded his own company Crumbly Crackers Crumbly Crackers is in app osition

to his own company The entire sequence his own company Crumbly Crackers should hence b e

represented as an adjunction structure and the colon should b e a child of the NP dominating the

entire sequence

NP NP his own company

NP Crumbly Crackers

Colons in more colorful environments have received various treatments some of which are shown b elow

as sentenceending punctuation

S NPSBJ NP Variation

PP of

NP temperature

VP gives

NP the following results

S NPSBJ NP an increase

PP in

NP temperature

VP leads

PPDIR to

NP NP an increase

PP of

NP the critical passivation current density

PUNCTUATION

with pseudoattach

S NPSBJ NP books

NP ICH

VP are

VP recommended

PPMNR with

NP gusto

NP NPTTL Harriet the Spy

and

NPTTL Charlottes Web

Final punctuation

Final punctuation

Final punctuation as a rule is a child of the highest level of structure Thus This is John my brother

should b e bracketed

S NPSBJ This

VP is

NPPRD NP John

NP my brother

Abbreviation sharing p erio d at end of sentence

When an abbreviation is the last word in a sentence and its p erio d also serves as the sentenceending

p erio d the p erio d is attached high rather than to the abbreviated word If the programs that tokenize

the text leave the p erio d attached to the abbreviation the p erio d is manually split from the abbreviation

so that the sentence has nal punctuation

S NPSBJ UAL

VP remains

ADJPPRD obligated

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP pay

NP NP QP million U

PP in

NP fees

PPDTV to

NP Salomon Brothers Inc

PUNCTUATION

Miscellaneous

Symbols functioning as words

Hyphens and other symbols functioning as words are annotated according to their lexical function Hyphens

for example are lab eled PP when they act prep ositionally

PP PP from

NP

PP

NP

Mathematical symbols

Mathematical symbols such as x etc are annotated according to their lexical function For example

is lab eled a VP

S NPSBJ x

VP

NP

Ellipses

Three dots ::: usually indicating ellipsis are treated as a single unit of medial punctuation Four dots

usually indicating ellipsis at the end of a sentence are treated as a threedot ellipsis followed by a p erio d

S NPSBJ NP the leadership

PP of

NP the Socialist Unity Party

SADV NPSBJ

VP being

ADJPPRD sensitive

PP to

NP the demands of the time

VP will

VP find

NP NP solutions

PP to

NP NP complicated problems

SBAR WHNP

S NPSBJ the German Democratic Republic

VP encountered

NP T

NULL ELEMENTS

Null Elements

The building blo cks

Inventory

The inventory of null elements is

0

T trace of A movement including parasitic gaps

NP arbitrary PRO controlled PRO and trace of Amovement

null complementizer including null wh op erator

U unit

placeholder for ellipsed material

NOT antiplaceholder in template gapping

RNR pseudoattach right no de raising

ICH pseudoattach interpret constituent here

EXP pseudoattach expletive

PPA pseudoattach p ermanent predictable ambiguity

But see also section for list of illegal null elements that may also app ear

Note that while most null elements contain s they are not the only asterisks in the texts there are also a

few naturallyo ccurring fo otnote markers In the combined les null elements are tagged NONE while

fo otnote markers are generally tagged SYM and preceded by a backslash

Indexing

Indices are used only when they can b e used to indicate a relationship that would otherwise not b e unam

biguously retrievable from the bracketing Indices are used to express such relationships as coreference as

in the case of controlled PRO or pragmatic coreference for arbitrary PRO binding as in the case of wh

movement or close asso ciation as in the case of it extrap osition These relationships are shown only when

some type of null element is involved and only when the relationship is intrasentential One null element

may b e asso ciated with another as in the case of the null wh op erator Coreference relations b etween overt

pronouns and their antecedents are not annotated

The identity index In principle each bracket within the topmost S is understo o d to have a unique index

an identity index which in practice is used only when that constituent is coreferent with or otherwise

closely asso ciated with some null element in the sentence or when its acting in a gapping template

The brackets surrounding null elements are also understo o d to b e asso ciated with a unique identity index

Identity indices app ear only on the bracket lab el as in NP Kris WHNP which dog SBAR who

oered to take me for a swim etc

The actual numbering of the identity indices is arbitrary ie the constituents are not necessarily numbered

sequentially within the sentence and a given sentence may contain brackets with the identity indices

and Note also that in rare cases a bracket may have an identity index shown when there is no corresp onding null element or templategapping constituent

NULL ELEMENTS

The reference index In most cases a null element will b e suxed with an integer the reference index

that matches the identity index on the bracket lab el of some other constituent Note that the reference index

on the null element takes the form of a dashnumber on the null element itself and not on the bracket lab el

as in NP NP T and SBAR ICH If the null element in turn refers to or is asso ciated

with a third element it will b ear its own identity index along the lines of NP T

S NPSBJ he

VP was

VP accused

NP

PPCLR of

SNOM NPSBJ

VP VP conducting

NP illegal business

and

VP possessing

NP illegal materials

S NPSBJ NP It

S EXP

VP s

ADJPPRD ADJP easier

SBAR ICH

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP get

ADJPPRD worse

SBAR than

FRAG ADJPPRD better

PPLOC in

NP this game

Note that while this indexing system app ears complex the annotation pro cedure is actually quite simple

as it is accomplished with simple mouse drags that make attention to the gritty details of coindexation

unnecessary

Indices are also used for the various kinds of pseudoattach describ ed in section PseudoAttach and for

template gapping describ ed in section Co ordination

Other tags

Null elements may b ear additional function tags as describ ed in section Notation For instance the

grammatical function of extracted wh phrases is noted on the wh trace and not on the wh element itself

SBARQ WHADVP Where

SQ did

NPSBJ you

VP put

NP the book

ADVPPUT T

NULL ELEMENTS

0

T trace of A movement

0

Although the use of T corresp onds lo osely to A movement the match is not precise eg it includes

parasitic gaps T can also b e seen as marking the interpretation lo cation of certain constituents that

are not in their usual argument p osition

The trace T always b ears a referential index that corresp onds to the identity index of some other constituent

in the sentence moved wh word topicalized NP or ADVP etc

Wh questions

Wh moved noun phrases are lab eled WHNP and put inside SBARQ They b ear an identity index that

matches the reference index on the T in the p osition of the gap Constituents other than NP are lab eled

WHxx WHADVP WHPP or WHADJP as appropriate placed under SBARQ and coindexed with the

T in the p osition of the gap The same pro cedure holds for b oth arguments and adjuncts

NP arguments

SBARQ WHNP what

SQ are

NPSBJ you

VP thinking

PPCLR about

NP T

SBARQ WHNP WHNP Which story

PP about

NP tribbles

SQ did

NPSBJ you

VP read

NP T

SBARQ WHNP what time

SQ is

NPSBJ it

NPPRD T

NP adjunct

SBARQ WHNP Which day

SQ did

NPSBJ you

VP get

ADVPDIR there

NPTMP T

NULL ELEMENTS

NonNP arguments

SBARQ WHADVP Where

SQ did

NPSBJ you

VP put

NP the book

ADVPPUT T

SBARQ WHPP On

WHNP what

SQ did

NPSBJ you

VP sit

PPLOCCLR T

SBARQ WHADJP How cold

SQ is

NPSBJ it

ADJPPRD T

ADVPLOC outside

NonNP adjuncts

SBARQ WHADVP How

SQ did

NPSBJ you

VP fix

NP the car

ADVPMNR T

SBARQ WHADVP Where

SQ did

NPSBJ you

VP meet

NP them

ADVPLOC T

SBARQ WHADVP Why

SQ did

NPSBJ you

VP jump

PPDIR off

NP the cliff

NULL ELEMENTS

ADVPPRP T

Relative clauses

Relative clauses are adjoined to the head noun phrase The relative pronoun is given the appropriate WH

lab el put inside the SBAR level and coindexed with a T in the p osition of the gap Note that relative

clauses dier from direct wh questions in that they contain an SBAR rather than an SBARQ

wh and that relative clauses Relative clauses introduced by that are annotated just as relative

clauses introduced by a wh word that is given the appropriate WHlab el put inside an SBAR level and

coindexed with the T in the p osition of the gap

NP trace

NP NP answers

SBAR WHNP thatwhich

S NPSBJ we

VP d

VP like

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP have

NP T

ADVP trace

NP NP the place

SBAR WHADVP thatwhere

S NPSBJ I

VP put

NP the book

ADVPPUT T

Zero relatives Relative clauses introduced by a null complementizer are annotated in a similar fashion

this time with a null complementizer inside SBAR lab eled with the appropriate wh category and coindexed

with a T in the p osition of the gap

NP trace

NP NP answers

SBAR WHNP

S NPSBJ we

VP d

VP like

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP have

NP T

NULL ELEMENTS

ADVP trace

NP NP the place

SBAR WHADVP

S NPSBJ I

VP put

NP the book

ADVPPUT T

Innitival relatives See section Innitives for more information

trace as ob ject

NP NP a movie

SBAR WHNP

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP see

NP T

trace as sub ject

NP NP bloodhounds

SBAR WHNP

S NPSBJ T

VP to

VP trail

NP the assassins

trace as adjunct

NP NP time

SBAR WHADVP

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP go

ADVPTMP T

Fronted elements

Fronted elements are placed inside the top clause level eg S SINV SQ SBAR Only certain fronted

elements are tagged TPC i constituents asso ciated with a T in the p osition of the gap and ii left

dislo cated constituents those asso ciated with a resumptive pronoun in the p osition of the gap See section Overview of Basic Clause Structure for more details on the treatment of fronted elements

NULL ELEMENTS

Arguments

Fronted argument noun phrases are coindexed with a T in the p osition of the gap

S NPTPC This

NPSBJ every man

VP contains

NP T

PPLOCCLR within

NP him

S NPTPC Our dull unsystematic youth

NPSBJ we

VP let

S NPSBJ T

VP stray

PPDIR into

NP philanthropy

If the fronted argument is an instance of leftdislo cation ie asso ciated with a resumptive pronoun there

is no coindexation b etween the fronted argument and the pronoun

S NPTPC John

NPSBJ I

VP like

NP him

NPADV a lot

Other fronted arguments such as the main VP a predicate the lo cative complement of put etc are also

tagged TPC and their identity index matches the reference index on the T inserted in the p osition of the

gap

S ADVPPUTTPC There

NPSBJ I

VP put

NP the book

ADVPPUT T

S SBARADV VPTPC Shout

PPCLR at

NP Eichmann

though

S NPSBJ he

VP might

VP T

the prosecutor could not establish

S SBARADV ADJPPRDTPC Wrong

though

S NPSBJ the policy

VP may

NULL ELEMENTS

VP be

ADJPPRD T

it at least works pretty often

S S NPSBJ we

VP hope

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP have

NP a million dollars

NPTMP someday

and

S VPTPC have

NP it

SBARADV ICH

NPSBJ we

VP may

VP T

SBARADV if

S NPSBJ we

VP get

ADJPPRD lucky

Quotations that precede a verb of saying are treated as fronted arguments they leave a T and receive

the TPC tag See section Overview of Basic Clause Structure for more details on the treatment of

quotations

S

STPC NPSBJ We

VP will

VP win

NPSBJ Mary

VP said

S T

Note that any constituent tagged CLR is considered an argument for these purp oses it leaves a T and

receives the TPC tag if fronted

S PPCLRTPC With

NP final exams

NPSBJ I

VP associate

NP blood sweat and tears

PPCLR T Adjuncts

NULL ELEMENTS

Fronted adjuncts are not asso ciated with a T when they have not left the clause in which they originate

since in this case their relation to the clause is still clear

S ADVPMNR Carefully

NPSBJ I

VP dropped

NP the feathers

S NPTMP Yesterday

NPSBJ a child

VP came

ADVPDIR out

SPRP NPSBJ

VP to

VP wonder

SBARQ NPTMP Yesterday

WHNP what

SQ did

NPSBJ we

VP decide

NP T

PP for

NP this one

However adjuncts that originate in a lower clause are asso ciated with a T in the p osition of the gap

S SBARPRPTPC Because

S NPSBJ I

VP m

NPPRD such a bad boy

NPSBJ I

VP think

SBAR

S NPSBJ I

VP wo nt

VP get

NP a lollipop

SBARPRP T

In cases where it is ambiguous whether the adjunct originates in a lower clause or in the matrix clause the

adjunct is analyzed as originating from the matrix clause and NOT bracketed TPC

Tough movement

The null element is coindexed to a null wh phrase See section Innitives for more information

S NPSBJ Cars

VP are

NULL ELEMENTS

ADJPPRD tough

SBAR WHNP

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP pay

PPCLR for

NP T

Parasitic gaps

A coindexed T is put in the parasitic gap as well as in the p osition of the original gap

SBARQ WHNP Which papers

SQ did

NPSBJ you

VP file

NP T

PP without

SNOM NPSBJ

VP reading NP T

* trace of NP movement controlled PRO arbitrary PRO

Because it corresp onds to the trace of NP movement controlled PRO or arbitrary PRO always app ears

within NP NP

Indexing

NP b ears a reference index whenever it is fairly clear what nominal it is controlled by corresp onding

roughly to controlled PRO and the passive trace However indexing also reects pragmatic coreference in

addition to syntactic relations within limits describ ed b elow and in section

Unlike T may app ear without a reference index Unindexed NP corresp onds roughly to arbitrary

PRO and passive traces app earing in Reduced Relative Clausessee section

In cases of strings of coindexed null elements the null is coindexed to the most lo cal NP as with with

passives under raising predicates or in the following example

S NPSBJ he

VP was

VP accused

NP

PPCLR of

SNOM NPSBJ

VP VP conducting

NP illegal business

and

VP possessing

NP illegal materials

NULL ELEMENTS

When several NPs are adjoined the indexing should b e from the highest NP

S NPSBJ NP Arthur A Hatch

NP

VP was

VP named

S NPSBJ

NPPRD NP executive vice president

PP of

NP the company

Passives

Ob ject of verb The trace NP is put after the passive verb and coindexed with the constituent in

sub ject p osition

S NPSBJ John

VP was

VP hit

NP

PP by

NPLGS a ball

Note that the may come b efore or after a PRT particle There is no p olicy governing this and either

order is p ossible though it is somewhat more likely for the PRT to come second

S NPSBJ Arthur

VP was

VP picked

NP

PRT up

PP by

NPLGS aliens

S NPSBJ Arthur

VP was

VP picked

PRT up

NP

PP by

NPLGS aliens

Ob ject of prep osition The null may b e put after prep ositions as required by the construction

S NPSBJ NP kid s cars

VP are

ADVPTMP often

VP paid

PPCLR for

NULL ELEMENTS

NP

PP by

NPLGS their parents

In reduced relative clause See section for more details on the treatment of reduced relative

clauses The passive verb or prep osition as the case may b e in a reduced relative clause is also followed

by a NP The passive trace in a reduced relative is not coindexed to the NP preceding it This reects

an understanding of the relationship b etween the NP and reduced relative as p ostmo dication rather than

predication

NP NP an agreement

VP signed

NP

PP by

NPLGS everyone

NP NP a government service

VP paid

PPCLR for

NP

PP by

NPLGS everyone

In some cases NP may function as the sub ject of a small clause within the reduced relative

NP NP an elephant

VP called

S NPSBJ

NPPRD Dumbo

Sub jects of participial clauses and gerunds

The null sub ject NP of a participial clause or gerund is coindexed with another constituent in the sentence

if it is clear to the annotator that the two are coreferent No attempt is made to conform to the standard

Binding Theory of GB or any other such formal approach to coreference See section Gerunds and

Participles for more details on the annotation of participial clauses and gerunds

VP complements

S NPSBJ I

VP stopped

S NPSBJ

VP eating

NP chocolate

PPPRP for

NP Lent

S But

NPSBJ I

NULL ELEMENTS

VP liked

S NPSBJ

VP eating

NP chocolate

ADVPTMP before

S NPSBJ he

VP was

VP accused

NP

PPCLR of

SNOM NPSBJ

VP VP conducting

NP illegal business

and

VP possessing

NP illegal materials

Adverbials

S NPSBJ She

VP left

SADV NPSBJ

VP offended

NP

PP by NPLGS their remarks

S NPSBJ Time

VP eluded

NP Paramount

PPMNR by

SNOM NPSBJ

VP acquiring

NP Warner Communications Inc

S NPSBJ I

VP fell

SCLR NPSBJ

ADJPPRD asleep

PPLOC on

NP the lobby floor

S NPSBJ Borough Presidents

SBARADV while

S NPSBJ

VP retaining

NP NP membership

NULL ELEMENTS

PPLOC in

NP NP the Board

PP of

NP Estimate

VP lose

NP their housekeeping functions

Sub jects

S SNOMSBJ NPSBJ

VP Eating

NP chocolate

VP is

ADJPPRD good

PP for

NP you

Without coindexation

In the case where there is no go o d candidate for coreference within the sentence NP remains

without an index

S NPSBJ A Texas legislator

VP proposes

S NPSBJ

VP colorcoding

NP NP NP drivers

licenses

PP of

NP some drug offenders

S SNOMSBJ NPSBJ

VP Taking

NP Iwo Jima

VP was

NPPRD no easy feat

Note also that the null sub ject of a gerund that is co ordinated with one or more NPs is usually not

coindexed

S NPSBJ I

VP like

NP NP medals

NP cheering crowds

and

SNOM NPSBJ

VP swimming

NP the backstroke

NULL ELEMENTS

Sub jects of innitival clauses

With coindexation

VP complement clauses

Note that from the p ersp ective of the annotator it is not necessary to distinguish b etween Raising

and Control structures etc In each case the annotator simply coindexes the empty sub ject of the

innitival with whatever lexical NP it is asso ciated with

a Raising constructions

S NPSBJ Everyone

VP seems

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP dislike

NP Drew Barrymore

b Ob ject control constructions

S NPSBJ Ford

VP persuaded

NP Zaphod

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP run

PPCLR for

NP president

c Sub ject control constructions

S NPSBJ Zaphod

VP promised

NP Ford

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP run

PPCLR for

NP president

d Semiauxiliaries

Semiauxiliaries o ccur in constructions with innitival to eg supposed to ought to have to

They are annotated with full innitival structure and have a NPSBJ sub ject coindexed as

appropriate

S PP Of NP course

NPSBJ regulators

VP would

VP have

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP approve

NP NP Columbia s

NULL ELEMENTS

reorganization

about to is also treated as a semiauxiliary in ocial p olicy though some variation exists

The following bracketings are likely

Ocial Policy

S NPSBJ interest rates

VP are

VP about

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP nosedive

Common alternate

S NPSBJ the pollen

VP is

ADJPPRD about

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP develop

ADJP complement clauses

Null element is coindexed with the matrix sub ject where appropriate

a Raising constructions

S NPSBJ This climb

VP is

ADJPPRD likely

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP be

ADJPPRD difficult

b Control constructions

S NPSBJ Zaphod

VP is

ADJPPRD ready

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP eat

NP the steak

Adverbials

Here are a few common adverbials innitives This is not an exhaustive list

a purp ose clause

S NPSBJ The public

VP did nt

VP come

PPDIR to

NP the market

NULL ELEMENTS

SPRP NPSBJ

VP to

VP play

NP a game

b semicomplement clause

S NPSBJ Skilled ringers

VP use

NP their wrists

SCLR NPSBJ

VP to

VP advance or retard

NP the next swing

c resultative clause

S NPSBJ NP London s

Financial Times share index

VP shed

NP points

SADV NPSBJ

VP to

VP finish

PPCLR at

NP

Without coindexation The following types of NP sub ject are not coindexed sub ject of innitive

inside NP imp erative sub ject sub ject in toughmovement construction Aside from these rules there are

some cases in which coindexation is much less likely than normal describ ed in section

Innitives inside NPs

These include complement clauses within NP and the sub jects of innitival relative clauses

NP NP John s

decision

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP leave

S NPSBJ I

VP made

NP a decision

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP leave

NP NP a manual

SBAR WHNP

NULL ELEMENTS

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP write

NP T

Note however that the T sub ject of an innitival relative is coindexed as appropriate

NP NP bloodhounds

SBAR WHNP

S NPSBJ T

VP to

VP trail

NP the assassins

Imp erative sub jects

S NPVOC Kris

NPSBJ

VP go

ADVPDIR home

Sub jects in toughmovement constructions

S PP for NP Zaphod

NPSBJ that steak

VP is

ADJPPRD ready

SBAR WHNP

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP eat

NP T

Sub jects of as and than clauses

A NP is used as a placeholder sub ject in clauses introduced by than or as that lack an overt sub ject

This type of structure may also b e annotated using or FRAG though b oth are rare See then end of

section page for more on these p ossibilities

S But

NPSBJ there

VP may

VP be

NPPRD NP less

ADVPLOC there

SBAR than

NULL ELEMENTS

S NPSBJ

VP meets

NP the eye

NP NP as little

SBAR as

S NPSBJ

VP is

ADJPPRD consistent

S NPSBJ Primerica

SBARADV as

S NPSBJ

VP expected

ADVP also

VP acquired

NP NP Items

VP listed

NP

PPCLR as

SNOM NPSBJ

VP being

PPPRD in

NP short supply

S NPSBJ She

VP was

VP quoted

NP

PPCLR as

SNOM NPSBJ

VP saying

null complementizer

is used inside SBAR only if there is no overt wh element or that SBAR or SBAR WHxx

Sub ordinator for tensed complement clauses

The null complementizer introduces most tensed complement clauses

With complement of ADJP

S NPSBJ I

VP m

ADJPPRD sure

NULL ELEMENTS

SBAR

S NPSBJ he

VP ll

VP be

ADVPLOCPRD here

NPTMP any minute

With complement of VP

S NPSBJ I

VP believe

SBAR

S NPSBJ you

VP are

ADJPPRD

With complement of NP

S NPSBJ he

VP wrote

SBAR that

S NPSBJ he

VP had

VP given PRT up

NP hope

SBAR

S NPSBJ they

VP would

ADVPTMP ever

VP agree

PPCLR on

NP anything

S PP in

NP the event

SBAR

S NPSBJ Congress

VP does

VP provide

NP NP this increase

PP in NP federal funds

NPSBJ the State Board

VP should

Zero relative clauses

The null complementizer is lab eled WHNP if it corresp onds to who which that etc

NULL ELEMENTS

NP NP the bird

SBAR WHNP

S NPSBJ I

VP saw

NP T

The null complementizer is lab eled WHADVP if it corresp onds to where why when how etc

NP NP the place

SBAR WHADVP

S NPSBJ I

VP put

NP the book

ADVPPUT T

NP NP the reason

SBAR WHADVP

S NPSBJ he

VP came

ADVPPRP T

Innitival relative clauses

See section Innitives for more details on Innitives

WHNP is used for NP ob jects and sub jects

NP NP a movie

SBAR WHNP

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP see

NP T

WHADVP is used in the case where the missing element can b e paraphrased as in which at which

for which etc

S NPSBJ That

VP s

NPPRD NP a good way

SBAR WHADVP

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP keep

ADJPPRD warm

ADVPMNR T

NULL ELEMENTS

S NPSBJ There

VP s

NPPRD NP no reason

SBAR WHADVP

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP do

NP it

NPMNR that way

ADVPPRP T

When the innitival is introduced by for the appropriate form of WHxx is inserted b efore the for

in SBAR

NP NP a movie

SBAR WHNP

for

S NPSBJ us

VP to

VP see

NP T

NP NP a good way

SBAR WHADVP

for

S NPSBJ them

VP to

VP do

NP it

ADVPMNR T

U unit

This element marks the interpreted p osition of a unit symbol such as British p ounds FFr French

francs C US HK A M S and NZ It may also app ear after or even cents when convenient

See section Mo dication of NP for more details on the use of U

Uses

NP C U

NP QP between and U

After U is used only as necessary

NP QP between to U

NULL ELEMENTS

After cents U has b een used o ccasionally for certain complex constructions though such use is not ocially

sanctioned

NP NP earnings

PP of

NP NP QP between cents and cents

U

NPADV a share

Placement

In general U is placed where the word corresp onding to the symbol would app ear in the string if the text

were read aloud One notable exception is in certain hyphenated comp ound adjectives such as a ashare

increase sp oken A ve dollar a share increase Here the bracketing will usually not reect the sp oken

order with U placed as the last element in the ADJP

NP a ADJP ashare U

increase

Sometimes this type may lack the U entirely

placeholder for ellipsed material

is now available in the following greattasting avors VP ADJPPRD PPPRD NP

S SBAR These act as placeholders for a missing predicate or piece thereof esp ecially in

comparative constructions and other environments where predicate deletion o ccurs Although the missing

material represented by is often identical to another constituent in the same sentence the two are never

coindexed Postmodiers of the verb including traces may b e attached under VP but not to any

other null element including the other null elements and VP T

Note that p olicy for was never nalized so its use varies to some extent In general is used by

the annotators as a last resort short of the FRAG analysis for the annotation of clauses with missing

material Nonetheless there are certain constructions that are particularly likely to contain

Comparative deletion

See section Comparatives for more information

Complement of be Missing complements of be are lab eled as appropriate and receive the PRD tag

S NPSBJ John

VP is

ADJPPRD ADJP sillier

SBAR than

S NPSBJ I

VP am

ADJPPRD

NULL ELEMENTS

S NPSBJ Laos

VP is

PPPRD of

NP NP ADVP no more

ADJP purely military

value

SBAR ICH

PP to

NP NP Moscow

NP itself

SBAR than

S NPSBJ it

VP is

PPPRD

PP to

NP Washington

Direct ob ject

S NPSBJ the Controller

VP will

VP have

NP NP the opportunity

PP for

NP NP greater usefulness

PP to

NP good government

SBAR than

S NPSBJ he

VP has

NP

ADVPTMP now

S NPSBJ the Fed

VP was

VP prepared

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP provide

NP NP ADJP as much credit

SBAR as

S NPSBJ the markets

VP needed

NP

Verb phrase

S NPSBJ NP The submission

PP of NP detailed plans

VP would

NULL ELEMENTS

VP place

NP the issues

PPLOCCLR before NP the court

ADVPMNR ADVP more readily

SBAR than

SINV would

NPSBJ NP discussion

PP of

NP divestiture

or

disenfranchisement

PP in NP the abstract

VP

Clausal complement

S PP As

NP Mayor

NPSBJ Mr Levitt

VP might

VP turn

PRT out

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP be

ADJPPRD ADJP more independent

SBAR than

S NPSBJ NP some

PP of

NP his leading

supporters

VP would

VP like

S

S NPSBJ the steel strike

VP lasted

ADVPTMP ADVP much longer

SBAR than

S NPSBJ he

VP anticipated

SBAR

S

VP proform do In constructions with a VP proform a missing VP may b e p ostulated and shown as

the complement of do

S NPSBJ Bill

VP eats

NULL ELEMENTS

NP NP more hotdogs

SBAR than

S NPSBJ Mary

VP does

VP

Deletion in noncomparatives

VP after missing auxiliary in second conjunct

S S NPSBJ She

ADVPTMP rarely

VP sings

so

S NPSBJ I

VP do nt

VP think

SBAR

S NPSBJ she

VP will

VP

NPTMP tonight

S S NPSBJ Robin

VP likes

NP ice cream

and

S NPSBJ Kim

VP does

VP

ADVP too

VP after missing auxiliary in sub ordinate clauses

S NPSBJ

VP Call

S NPSBJ it

ADJPPRD anecdotal

SBARADV if

S NPSBJ you

VP will

VP

S SBARADV As

S NPSBJ they

VP did

VP

SBARTMP WHADVP when

NULL ELEMENTS

S NPSBJ the Philippines

VP was

NPPRD a colony

ADVPTMP T

NPSBJ teachers

PP for

NP the most part

VP teach

PPMNR in

NP English

S NPSBJ they

VP must

VP buy

NP shares

PPCLR from

NP sellers

SBARTMP WHADVP when

S NPSBJ NP no one

ADJP else

VP is

ADJPPRD willing

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP

VP missing in as do type constructions

S NPSBJ NP Warner

and

NP Mr Azoff

VP declined

NP comment

SBARADV as

SINV did

NPSBJ MCA

VP

Noninverted version as MCA did might also have VP

SBARADV as

S NPSBJ MCA

VP did

VP

But note that when the so predicate proform is present is not used and the so is treated as an adverbial

predicate standing in for the understo o d verbal predicate

S NPSBJ They

ADVP also

NULL ELEMENTS

VP did

ADVPPRD so

S S NP The winners

VP had

NP fun

and

SINV ADVPPRDTPC so

VP did

ADVPPRD T

NPSBJ the losers

Note however that this p olicy was late in app earance and not always well understo o d so the PRD lab el

may b e missing or replaced by CLR or MNR Also in inverted sentences the ADVP so may lack the

TPC and accompanying T

With relation to previous sentence The following two sentences app ear in succession in wsj

The second conjunct of the rst sentence contains indicating ellipsis with resp ect to material contained

in the rst conjunct The second sentence also contains again indicating ellipsis with resp ect to the

same material As a rule we do not indicate intersentential relationships but here the second instance of

is present by virtue of this intersentential relationship though such relationship is not explicitly recoverable

from the annotation

S Either

S NPSBJ one

VP likes

NP it

or

S NPSBJ one

VP does nt

VP

S NPSBJ The typical Glass audience

ADVP certainly

VP does

VP

In sub ject p osition In very rare ab out cases may also app ear in sub ject p osition although is

much more likely to b e found there

S NPSBJ We

VP are

VP working

ADVP ADVP significantly longer and harder

SBAR than

S NPSBJ

VP has

VP been

NPPRD the case

NULL ELEMENTS

PPTMP in

NP the past

Other p ossibilities include FRAG

S NPSBJ we

VP will

VP take

NP ongoing costreduction actions

SBARADV as

FRAG ADJP necessary

and most common by far simply calling the as or than PP

NPPRD NP another day

PP of

NP NP ectoplasmic business

PP as

ADJP usual

S NPSBJ The decline

VP was

ADJPPRD ADJP even steeper

PP than

PPTMP in

NP September

Undened gaps

is o ccasionally used to ll a nounphrase gap for which there is no wellestablished p olicy

S NPSBJ The plant

VP will

VP cost

NP QP about million Canadian dollars

SCLR NPSBJ

VP to

VP build

NP

NP NP a return

ADJP worth

S NPSBJ

VP getting

ADJPPRD excited

PP about

NP

NULL ELEMENTS

NOT antiplaceholder in template gapping

NOT is used in the template gapping pro cedure along with and a system of coindexation See

section Co ordination for more details on the template gapping approach

Unlike other null elements corresp ondence to a NOT is shown by an index on the bracket lab el

rather than by a index on the null element itself

NOT is used very rarely ab out times in the entire WSJ corpus when the template and copy are

not entirely parallel In principle it can serve in two roles

In the copy

In the copy NOT can b e used to indicate that the corresp onding constituent in the template is not

interpreted in the copy

S NPSBJ the auditor

VP VP ADVPTMP first

described

NP the old plan

PPCLR as

ADJP ill conceived

PRN LRB

SBARADV as

S NPSBJ everyone

ADVPTMP already

VP agreed

RRB

but

VP ADVPTMP then

NP NP the new plan

SBAR WHNP that

S NPSBJ we

VP d

VP worked

ADVPMNR so hard

PPCLR on

NP T

PPCLR as

UCP PP out PP to NP lunch

and

ADJP totally halfbaked

ADVP NOT

Note that it is very dicult to construct a grammatical example so unsurprisingly there are no actual

examples of this construction in the WSJ corpus

In the template

In the template NOT app ears in the p osition where the corresp onding constituent in the copy is inter preted when there is no matching constituent already in the template

NULL ELEMENTS

S NPSBJ NP The Democrats

SBAR WHNP who

S NPSBJ T

VP supported

NP the override

NPTMP yesterday

VP compare

PPCLR with

NP NP NP

SBAR WHNP who

S NPSBJ T

ADVP initially

VP backed

NP the rapeandincest exemption

ADVPTMP NP two weeks

ago

PP NOT

and

NP NP

NPTMP last year

PP on

NP a similar vote

More often than not however it is assumed that an unindexed constituent at top level of the copy is

interpreted at highest p ossible level usually VPlevel of the template Note that this rule do esnt work in

the ab ove example so it actually needs the NOT

So the following examples

S NP The teacher

VP VP gave

NP Ignatius

NP only a B

SBAR NOT

but

VP NP Bertha

NP an A

SBARPRP because

S NPSBJ she

VP wrote

ADVPMNR so well

VP VP increasing

PPDIR to

NP

PPTMP in

NP February

ADVPTMP NOT

and

VP PPDIR to

NP

NULL ELEMENTS

PPTMP at

NP sixmonth intervals

ADVPTMP thereafter

might more likely b e bracketed

S NP The teacher

VP VP gave

NP Ignatius

NP only a B

but

VP NP Bertha

NP an A

SBARPRP because

S NPSBJ she

VP wrote

ADVPMNR so well

VP VP increasing

PPDIR to

NP

PPTMP in

NP February

and

VP PPDIR to

NP

PPTMP at

NP sixmonth intervals

ADVPTMP thereafter

Alternatives to NOT

Certain constructions that are sometimes analyzed using NOT are more likely to b e analyzed more simply

usually using PRN or FRAG or just PP

complicated NOT analysis

S S NPSBJ This gap

ADVPTMP eventually

VP closes

ADVPMNR NOT

but

S ADVPTMP NOT

ADVPMNR slowly

PP analysis

NULL ELEMENTS

S NPSBJ This gap

ADVPTMP eventually

VP closes

PP but

ADVPMNR slowly

PRN analysis

S NPSBJ This gap

ADVPTMP eventually

VP closes

PRN

but

ADVPMNR slowly

FRAG analysis

S S NPSBJ This gap

ADVPTMP eventually

VP closes

but

FRAG ADVPMNR slowly

conjunction what conjunction

S NPSBJ This gap

ADVPTMP eventually

VP closes

but

ADVPMNR slowly

Miscellaneous

Sub jectaux inversion with sub ject extractions

When a question is of the sub ject the placement of the null T sub ject determines whether the resulting

clause app ears to exhibit sub jectaux inversion

In most cases the NPSBJ T is inserted at the b eginning of the SQ b efore the inected verb or auxiliary

SBARQ WHNP Who

SQ NPSBJ T

VP came

PPDIR to

NP the party

NULL ELEMENTS

SBARQ WHNP Who

SQ NPSBJ T

VP will

VP come

PPDIR to

NP the party

SBARQ WHNP Who

SQ NPSBJ T

ADVPTMP always

VP comes

PPDIR to

NP parties

SBARQ WHNP Who

SQ NPSBJ T

VP will

ADVPTMP never

VP come

PPDIR to

NP the party

Note however that there is some variation since annotators are accustomed to seeing sub jectaux inversion

in many questions and the sub ject trace is o ccasionally inserted directly after an initial auxiliary

SBARQ WHNP Who

SQ will

NPSBJ T

VP come

PPDIR to

NP the party

SBARQ WHNP Who

SQ will

NPSBJ T

ADVPTMP never

VP come

PPDIR to

NP the party

Reduced relatives

Reduced relative clauses are bracketed as follows with no structure ab ove the VP level

NP NP an elephant

VP called

S NPSBJ

NPPRD Dumbo

NULL ELEMENTS

It may b e that the underlying structure of the reduced relative is as follows

NP NP an elephant

SBAR WHNP

S NPSBJ T

VP BE

VP called

S NPSBJ

NPPRD Dumbo

But we do not attempt to reect this particular understanding of the reduced relative in the annotation

Nonetheless the bracketing as it is can automatically b e transformed into such a structure Note also that

choosing the former style of annotation over the latter necessarily aects coindexation The passive NP

do es not b ear an index in the former as the null sub ject with which it is asso ciated is not present in the

annotation

Attachment to null elements

Barring certain exceptions a null element never has another constituent attached to it Thus the SBAR in

the rst example b elow and the PP in the second example are not attached to the trace but rather to its

overt asso ciate NP elsewhere in the sentence

SBARQ WHNP WHNP Who

SBAR ICH

SQ did

NPSBJ you

VP meet

NP T

SBAR WHNP that

S NPSBJ T

VP wore

NP overalls

SINV ADVPLOCPRDTPC Here

VP are

ADVPLOCPRD T

NPSBJ NP the pictures

SBAR WHNP

S NPSBJ you

VP wanted

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP see

NP T

PP of

NP NP that cute dog

SBAR WHNP

S NPSBJ we

VP met

NP T

NPTMP the other day

NULL ELEMENTS

Note that VP but not VP T is an exception to this rule

S S NPSBJ She

ADVPTMP rarely

VP sings

so

S NPSBJ I

VP do nt

VP think

SBAR

S NPSBJ she

VP will

VP

NPTMP tonight

Attachment of null elements

PPA p ermanent predictable ambiguity PPAattach is used to indicate ambiguity of attach

ment of a trace if the sentence is truly ambiguous here why was the decision made vs why do you think

it was made

SBARQ WHADVP Why

SQ do

NPSBJ you

VP think

SBAR

S NPSBJ we

VP made

NP that decision

ADVPPRP PPA

ADVPPRP T

Note that such ambiguity is unlikely context so such examples are rare or nonexistent in the actual corpus

Shared traces On the other hand shared traces are handled quite dierently When a trace is interpreted

as part of two separate conjuncts there will b e one trace at conjuction level if the element in question is a

VP adjunct

NP NP a business system

SBAR WHADVP where

S NPSBJ shareholders

VP VP have

NP few rights

and

VP expect

NP only modest dividends

ADVPLOC T but two separate traces otherwise pseudoattach is not used

NULL ELEMENTS

S NPSBJ NP QP No fewer than

country funds

VP have

VP been

VP VP launched

NP

or

VP registered

NP

PPCLR with

NP regulators

NPTMP this year

S PPTPC Of NP the entrants

S NPSBJ NP

PP T

VP finished

and

S NPSBJ NP

PP T

VP crashed

Interpreting the WH lab el

WHNP WHADJP etc are lab els that mark a wh phrase in SBAR that has an asso ciated trace T in the

p osition where the wh phrase is interpreted

Wh phrases usually contain a wh word such as who whose which when where how why whom whenever

whatever etc in questions and relative clauses The WHx lab el is also used for that and zero in relative

clauses

The lab el applies only to wh words that app ear in SBAR It is not used for in situ wh phrases

S NPSBJ You

VP said

NP what

S NPSBJ The butcher

VP gave

NP the bone

PPDTV to

NP which dog

However note that in sentence fragments where the relative p osition of the wh word may not b e clear the

wh word in question may b e lab eled as such if the annotator has the sense that the wh word is not in situ

FRAG WHADVP Why

not

NULL ELEMENTS

S NPSBJ You

VP said

SBAR

S NPSBJ John

VP gave

NP you

NP something

FRAG WHNP what

In complex wh phrases wh ness p ercolates up but not down Thus in the following from is lab eled WH

but of and syntax are not

SBARQ WHPP From

WHNP WHNP whose theory

PP of

NP syntax

SQ do

NPSBJ you

VP draw

NP this conclusion

PPCLR T

Comparative relatives

Certain comparatives may have b een analyzed as relative clauses as in b although the analysis is

more common as in a

a S NPSBJ the Fed

VP was

ADJPPRD prepared

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP provide

NP NP ADJP as much credit

SBAR as

S NPSBJ the markets

VP needed

NP

b S NPSBJ the Fed

VP was

ADJPPRD prepared

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP provide

NP NP ADJP as much credit

SBAR WHNP as

NULL ELEMENTS

S NPSBJ the markets

VP needed

NP T

Illegal null elements

Following is a list of old andor improp erly formed null elements They should b e removed or up dated as

describ ed but they may o ccasionally slip into published les despite checks which are designed to prevent

this

T should always have a reference index Any T that lacks a reference index should b e indexed as

appropriate or removed

pseudoattach used to b e an allpurp ose pseudoattach marker This should b e converted to ICH

RNR EXP or PPA as appropriate or removed if now unnecessary Note that the reference

index for this null element app eared on the bracket lab el making it app ear to b e an identity index

T formerly sto o d for noun phrase wh traces It should b e changed to T and indexed as appropriate

Note however that it is p ossible for T to app ear as part of real text for example as a symbol for

Temperature in scientic writing

is inserted by the Fidditch parser as a passive trace These are xed in prepro cessing but those that

slip through should b e removed or replaced with

OF is inserted by the Fidditch parser after predeterminers such as al l It should b e removed along with

its accompanying PP and the noun phrases should b e attened into a single NP

NP NP all

PP OF

NP the dogs

should b e changed to

NP all the dogs

Note also that it is p ossible for a null element to still have a reference index after the brackets with the

corresp onding identity index have b een removed However such errors are relatively rare ab out of all

indexed null elements

Limits of coindexation

The null element generally receives a reference index whenever there is an appropriate referent elsewhere

in the same sentence However there are cases in which annotators tend to not coindex even when they

can nd a plausible referent Some of these criteria overlap with each other and with rules describ ed ab ove

Nonarguments Annotators usually avoid indexing from nonarguments

S PP for

NP us

SNOMSBJ NPSBJ

NULL ELEMENTS

VP eating

NP chocolate

VP is

NPPRD NP a way

PP of

NP life

S PP For

NP Willie

NPSBJ NP it

S EXP

VP is

ADJPPRD difficult

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP resist

NP chocolate

S PP for NP Zaphod

NPSBJ that steak

VP is

ADJPPRD ready

SBAR WHNP

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP eat

NP T

Gerund PP ob jects Null sub jects of gerund complements of PP mo diers of NPs are coindexed only if

there is a particularly strong coindexed interpretation or the PP app ears to b e part of some xed phrase

S NPSBJ the company

VP has

NP NP no intention

PP of

SNOM NPSBJ

VP tapping

NP its shortterm bank lines

PPTMP for

NP NP a good part

PP of

NP

S PP In

NP NP addition

PP to

SNOM NPSBJ

VP having

NP high priceearnings ratios

NULL ELEMENTS

NPSBJ most

VP pay

NP puny dividends

Possessive NPs NP brackets that only mark a p ossessive phrase within an NP should NOT serve as a

referent for a null element

S NPSBJ NP the Fed s

goal

VP is

SPRD NPSBJ

VP to

VP reduce

NP inflation

NP NP NP Mr Bush s

claim

SBAR that

and

NP NP his insistence

PP on

SNOM NPSBJ

VP combining

However a p ossessive NP that is acting as a sub ject may serve such a role

S NPSBJ Pinkerton s

VP had

VP locked

NP itself

PPCLR into

NP lowprice contracts

SPRP NPSBJ

VP to

VP win

NP new business

Indexing in mo died NPs When an NP is adjoined with mo diers the head NP should not serve as

a referent for a null element although it may b e used for template gapping The adjunction level should

also not serve as a reference for s found within the NPs mo diers

In the following example the sub ject of spotting should not b e indexed either to New York money manager

Mario Gabelli or an expert nor should it b e indexed to the whole NPSBJ

NPSBJ NP New York money manager Mario Gabelli

NP NP an expert

PP at

SNOM NPSBJ

VP spotting

NULL ELEMENTS

NP takeover candidates

In the following example the sub ject of buy should not b e indexed although it is clear that the Soviet

companies are doing the buying

NPSBJ NP Soviet companies

VP needing

NP Western currencies

SPRPCLR NPSBJ

VP to

VP buy

NP equipment and supplies

ADVPLOC abroad

The following is an error since the coindexation should have b een from the whole sub ject noun phrase

S NPSBJ NP Ford

SBAR WHNP which

S NPSBJ T

ADVPTMP already

VP has

NP an unwelcome ADJP holding

VP is

ADJPPRD prepared

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP bid

PPPRP for

NP the entire company

PSEUDOATTACH

PseudoAttach

Types of pseudoattach

The pseudoattach function is used for structural ambiguity attachment in more than one place

simultaneously as with shared constituents indicating that something should b e attached elsewhere as

with discontinuous dep endencies and extrap osed clauses Each type of pseudoattach is asso ciated with

a dierent type of null element these are discussed in more detail in following sections see also section

Null Elements for more information on indexing conventions

Structural ambiguity PPA Permanent Predictable Ambiguity

Example I saw the man with the telescope where PPAattach indicates an eitheror interpretation

at the attachment sites

S NPSBJ I

VP saw

NP NP the man

PP PPA

PPMNR with

NP the telescope

Shared constituents RNR Right No de Raising

Example His dreams had revolved around her so much and for so long that where RNRattach

indicates a simultaneous interpretation at the attachment sites

S NPSBJ His dreams

VP had

VP revolved

PPCLR around

NP her

UCPADV ADVP ADVP so much

SBAR RNR

and

PPTMP for

NP NP so long

SBAR RNR

SBAR that

Discontinuous dep endency ICH Interpret Constituent Here

Example I saw a bear yesterday who was wearing really cool shoes where ICHattach indicates that

the relative clause is interpreted at the pseudoattach site only

S NPSBJ I

VP saw

NP NP a bear

SBAR ICH

NPTMP yesterday

SBAR WHNP who

S NPSBJ T

VP was

PSEUDOATTACH

VP wearing

NP ADJP really cool shoes

it extrap osition EXP EXPletive

Example My teacher said it was OK for me to use the notes on the test where EXPattach indicates

that the innitive clause is the logical sub ject of the sentence

S NPSBJ My teacher

VP said

SBAR

S NPSBJ NP it

SBAR EXP

VP was

ADJPPRD OK

SBAR for

S NPSBJ me

VP to

VP use

NP the notes

PPLOC on

NP the test

PPA Permanent Predictable Ambiguity

This form of pseudoattach is reserved for those cases in which one cannot tell even from context where a

constituent should b e attached The default is to attach the constituent at the more likely site or if that

is imp ossible to determine at the higher site and then to pseudoattach it at all other plausible sites

Here on the printer could mo dify either the forms the class or the forms or it could go directly under VP

as a PP adverbial The PP in question is adjoined to the NP the forms and PPAattached to the other

interpretation sites

S NPSBJ

VP Use

NP this option

SBARTMP WHADVP when

S NPSBJ the operator

VP changes

NP NP NP the class

or

NP NP the forms

PPLOC on

NP the printer

PPLOC PPA

PPLOC PPA

ADVPTMP T

Here for the maintenance of COBOL may mo dify procedures or it may function as a purp ose clause attached under VP

PSEUDOATTACH

S NPSBJ NP Procedures

PP PPA

VP have

VP been

VP established

NP

PPPRP for

NP NP the maintenance

PP of

NP COBOL

But since nding p otential ambiguities is dicult and timeconsuming esp ecially when reading in context

annotators are much more likely to attach at the most likely interpretation site than to use PPAattach

Thus use of PPA is very rare ab out o ccurrences in the WSJ corpus The alert reader will have

noticed that PPA is as closely related to Permanent Predictable Ambiguity as it is to Philadelphia

Parking Authority

Benign ambiguity

This use of PPA do es not include cases of b enign ambiguity and we do not in general show all plausible

attachment p oints In the case where a dierence in attachment site makes no dierence to the interpretation

the default is to attach the constituent at the highest of the levels where it can b e interpreted Here in

each record format could mo dify the NP dierent positions as an adjoined p ostmo dier or it could mo dify

the verb begin as an adverbial The second of these interpretations is chosen since it represents the higher

attachment site

S NPSBJ The key fields

VP can

VP begin

PPLOCCLR at

NP different positions

PPLOC in

NP each record format

Complex structural ambiguity

The PPA function can b e used to indicate only simple attachment dierences The following are examples

of ambiguity that involve more complex structural and categorical ambiguities which cannot b e captured by

PPAattach In this case annotation pro ceeds according to the most likely interpretation

Il l come by Tuesday

S NPSBJ I

VP ll

VP come

PRT by

NPTMP Tuesday vs

PSEUDOATTACH

S NPSBJ I

VP ll

VP come

PPTMP by

NP Tuesday

I cant be happy long without drinking water

S NPSBJ I

VP ca nt

VP be

ADJPPRD happy

ADVPTMP long

PP without

SNOM NPSBJ

VP drinking

NP water

vs

S NPSBJ I

VP ca nt

VP be

ADJPPRD happy

ADVPTMP long

PP without

NP drinking water

Further examples of PPA

S PPLOC In

NP Southern Illinois

NPSBJ NP the new federal program

PP of

NP NP help

PP to

NP ADJP economically depressed

areas

VP ought

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP provide

NP NP some stimulus

PP PPA

PPCLR to

NP growth

S NPSBJ

PSEUDOATTACH

VP Imagine

NP NP NP the searching

and

NP the prayer

SBAR WHNP that

S NPSBJ T

VP lay

PPLOCCLR behind

NP NP the letter

SBAR WHNP

S NPSBJ the rector

VP wrote

NP T

PPTMP PPA

PPTMP after

NP NP QP almost a decade

PP of

NP NP service

PP to

NP this majestic

church

S NPSBJ There

VP ought

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP be

NPPRD NP a point

SBAR WHPP beyond

WHNP which

S NPSBJ we

VP will not

VP allow

S NPSBJ ourselves

VP to

VP go

PPDIR T

ADVP PPA

ADVP regardless

PP of

SBARNOM WHNP what

S NPSBJ Russia

VP does

NP T

S NPSBJ You

VP must

VP specify

NP the link type

PPTMP before

SNOM NPSBJ

VP using

PSEUDOATTACH

NP the START command

SCLR PPA

SPRP NPSBJ

VP to

VP activate

NP the link

RNR Right No de Raising

This type of pseudoattach is used for those cases in which a constituent should b e interpreted simultaneously

in more than one place See section Shared Complements and Mo diers for more on shared constituents

S But

NPSBJ our outlook

VP VP has

VP been

ADJPPRD RNR

and

VP continues

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP be

ADJPPRD RNR

ADJPPRD defensive

S NPSBJ One

VP knows

ADVPCLR better

ADVPTMP now

SBAR SBAR WHNP who

S NPSBJ T

VP has

NP NP bone

PPLOC RNR

and

SBAR WHNP who

S NPSBJ T

VP has

NP NP jelly

PPLOC RNR

PPLOC in

NP his spine

NP NP ADJP so many enchained demons

VP straining

PPMNR in

NP anger

PSEUDOATTACH

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP VP tear

NP RNR

and

VP gnaw

PPCLR on

NP RNR

NP his bones

ICH Interpret Constituent Here

The most common type of pseudoattach is ICHattach which is used to indicate a relationship of con

stituency b etween elements separated by intervening material For instance ICHattach is used in heavy

shift constructions when the movement results in a conguration in which it is imp ossible to attach the

constituent to the phrase it b elongs with

S NPSBJ NP a young woman

SBAR ICH

VP entered

SBAR WHNP whom

S NPSBJ she

PPTMP at

ADVP once

VP recognized

NP T

PPCLR as

NP Jemima Broadwood

Word order

ICHattach is never used solely to indicate word order there must also b e a dierence in attachment

height For example the following example do es not require ICHattach of the NP containing a very nice

mermaid here b ecause the sentence adverbial is attached in VP

S NPSBJ I

VP met

PPLOC at

NP the dock

NP NP a

ADJP very nice

mermaid

SBAR WHNP who

S NPSBJ T

VP offered

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP take

NP me

PPCLR for

NP a swim

PSEUDOATTACH

However if the wording were somewhat dierent ICHattach would b e appropriate Here the adverbial

intervenes b etween a head and its relative clause making ICHattach necessary

S NPSBJ I

VP met

NP NP a

ADJP very nice

mermaid

SBAR ICH

PPLOC at

NP the dock

SBAR WHNP who

S NPSBJ T

VP offered

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP take

NP me

PPCLR for

NP a swim

Likewise ICHattach is not used to show deviations from canonical word order in constructions in which

the constituency is not aected and where the appropriate attachment levels are available

S NPSBJ I

VP put

PPPUT on

NP the shelf

NP NP that book

SBAR WHNP that

S NPSBJ you

VP loaned

NP me

NP T

NPTMP the other day

Further examples

S NPSBJ NP Nothing

PP ICH

VP was

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP be

VP seen

NP

PP but

NP water

S NPSBJ Another attempt

PSEUDOATTACH

S ICH

VP will

VP be

VP made

NP

NPTMP this year

PPLOC in

NP New Orleans

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP resume

NP the program

S NPSBJ NP A stranger

NP ICH

VP was

PPLOCPRD before

NP him

NP NP a boy

ADJP ADJP NP a shade

larger

PP than

NP himself

S I could not help calling to mind my little brothers face

SBARTMP WHADVP when

S NPSBJ NP he

NP ICH

VP was

VP sleeping

ADVPTMP T

NP NP an infant

PPLOC in

NP the cradle

S NPSBJ he

VP wondered

SBAR WHADVP where

S NPSBJ the superstition

SBAR ICH

VP had

VP originated

ADVPLOC T

SBAR that

S it was bad luck for

S ADVP However

NPSBJ it

VP does

PSEUDOATTACH

VP require

NP NP more personal computer memory

PP ICH

SCLR NPSBJ

VP to

VP run

NP

PP than

NP type

Conjunctive Prep ositional Phrases

In cases such as the following the PP should not b e pseudoattached Unfortunately this p olicy is a bit

counterintuitive to the annotators so they are o ccasionally bracketed with ICHattach anyway For

example more than a third of such including constructions in the WSJ corpus were bracketed with

ICH

with

S NPSBJ NP the letters

SBAR WHNP

S NPSBJ you

VP specify

NP T

VP follow

PP with

NP their definitions

including

S NPSBJ Several ridiculous projects

VP continue

PP including

NP the New International Economic Order

S NPSBJ NP Several ridiculous projects

PP ICH

VP continue

PP including

NP the New International Economic Order

EXP EXPletive

In cases where a clausal sub ject has b een extrap osed and replaced by an expletive it we use a type of pseudo

attach called EXP In the small ATIS sample included with this release it is also used for existential

there Use of EXPattach is discussed in more detail in section It Extrap osition

PSEUDOATTACH

S NPSBJ NP It

SBAR EXP

VP is

ADJPPRD clear

PP to

NP me

SBAR that

S NPSBJ this message

VP is

ADJPPRD unclear

S PP To

NP Flavia

NPSBJ NP it

S EXP

VP is

ADJP ADJP more necessary

SBAR ICH

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP be

VP called

S NPSBJ

ADJPPRD clever

SBAR than

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP breathe

S NPSBJ NP It

S EXP

VP is

ADJPPRD easy

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP see

SBAR WHADVP why

S NPSBJ the ancient art

VP is

PPLOCPRD on

NP the ropes

ADVPPRP T

Punctuation

Punctuation should never b e pseudoattached

Two techniques are available to accomplish the platform heading the use of external or surveying equipment

to establish the prop er heading the use of the character of the platform comp onents for an indication of true heading

PSEUDOATTACH

S NPSBJ NP two techniques

NP ICH

VP are

ADJPPRD available

NP NP the use of

NP the use of

COPULAR VERBS

Copular Verbs

Simple copular complements

Complements of the following verbs app ear with the PRD tag This list should b e considered exhaustive

see Quirk et al sections

b e friendlymy friendat home adjnadv

app ear happythe only solution adjn

feel annoyeda fo ol adjn

lo ok prettya ne day adjn

seem restlessa genius adjn

smell sweet adj

sound surpriseda reasonable idea adjn

taste bitter adj

remain uncertaingo o d friends adjn

keep silent adj

stay motionlessgo o d friends adjn

b ecome olderan exp ert adjn

come true adj

end up happyher slave adjn

get ready adj

go sour adj

grow tired adj

prove rather usefulhis equal adjn

turn coldtraitor adjn

turn out fortunatea success adjn

wind up drunka millionaire adjn

Adjectival

S NPSBJ The dog

VP isappearsseems

ADJPPRD happy

S NPSBJ That food

VP lookssmellstastes

ADJPPRD awful

S INTJ Please

NPSBJ

VP keepremainstay

ADJPPRD silent

This includes pseudoadjectives see section Small Clauses

S NPSBJ Things

VP seem

PPPRD under

NP control

COPULAR VERBS

Nominal

S NPSBJ Your safety belt

VP isPRD your friend

S NPSBJ The former chief executive

VP will

VP remain

NPPRD chairman

S NPSBJ The new student

VP proved

NPPRD an idiot

but note

S NPSBJ The new student

VP proved

NP a theorem

Adverbial

Adverbial predicates should only b e tagged PRD when they follow be or in a do so construction

after be

S NPSBJ NP much

PP of

NP the action

VP was

PPLOCPRD in

NP heating oil

S NPSBJ The party

VP will

VP be

PPTMPPRD at

NP eleven

S NPSBJ business

VP is

ADVPPRD up

NP

PPTMP in

NP the past year

do so constructions

COPULAR VERBS

S SBARADV while the SEC regulates who files

NPSBJ the law

VP tells

NP them

SBAR WHADVP when

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP do

ADVPPRD so

ADVPTMP T

S S NPSBJ I

VP attend

and

SINV ADVPPRDTPC so

VP does

ADVPPRD T

NPSBJ NP a television crew

PP from

NP New York City

However adverbial mo diers are sometimes erroneously tagged PRD in sentences such as Mandela remains

in prison

Clausal

Forms of be can also take clausal complements

S NPSBJ its purpose

VP is

SPRD NPSBJ

VP to

VP gauge

NP learning progress

S NPSBJ The theory

VP was

SBARPRD that

S NPSBJ the Voice

VP is

NPPRD a propaganda agency

including some fairly unusual ones

S ADVPTMP Now

NPSBJ the question

VP is

SQPRD Is

NPSBJ Poland

COPULAR VERBS

ADJPPRD ready

PP for

NP it

However when be acts as a semimo dal the following S should not get PRD

S NPSBJ You

VP are

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP resign

ADVPTMP immediately

Related constructions

It is noted in Quirk et al that for many of the ab ove verbs with nominal complements English

sp eakers esp ecially Americans tend to strongly prefer a variant containing to be or like instead of just a

simple NP The Treebank treats such constructions as follows

The like versions

Verbs that take a complement mediated by like should b e bracketed with a CLR tag rather than PRD

S NPSBJ That

VP sounds

PPCLR like

NP a reasonable idea

S NPSBJ It

VP looks

PPCLR like

NP a fine day

The to b e versions

Versions with to be are bracketed as complement clauses as describ ed in section Small Clauses under

Null sub ject clausal complements

S NPSBJ That

VP appears

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP be

NPPRD the only solution

COORDINATION

Co ordination

Basic information on the level of co ordination

Co ordination in all cases is done at the lowest p ossible level

Wordlevel

Singleword elements of the same syntactic category are co ordinated at wordlevel and are annotated with

at structure

NP John and Mary

NP Susan John and Mary

S NPSBJ Baking and eating

VP are

ADJPPRD fun

S SNOMSBJ NPSBJ

VP Baking

and

eating

NP cookies

VP is

ADJPPRD fun

Phraselevel

When one or more of the co ordinated elements are multiword and of the same syntactic type

each element is bracketed with the appropriate lab el as is the immediately dominating no de All

co ordinating conjunctions are children of the top phrase no de conjunction level or co ordination

level See section Shared Complements and Mo diers for more information

NP NP three cookies

and

NP a book

NP NP cookies

and

NP a book

VP VP fishing

and

VP tying

NP flies

COORDINATION

Exception to the ab ove co ordination of premo diers in within NP

The annotation of noun phrases is quite complex however and follows somewhat dierent guidelines

than for the other categories See section Shared Complements and Mo diers for information on

co ordination in noun phrases

Co ordination of unlike syntactic categories UCP

In general co ordinated phrases b elong to the same syntactic category However it is also p ossible for co or

dinated phrases to b elong to dierent categories When they do the phrase no de at the level of co ordination

is lab eled UCP Unlike Co ordinated Phrase

Outside of NPs

Unlike the co ordination of single words of the same syntactic category the co ordination of single words of

dierent syntactic categories is often shown with phraselevel co ordination When the co ordination is not

of mo diers in a noun phrase see section b elow for UCP in NPs each conjunct is given its own

appropriate bracket lab el and the outer co ordination is lab eled UCP

S NPSBJ US interest

VP may

VP be

UCPPRD ADJPPRD big

and

VP growing

SNOM NPSBJ

VP serving

NP NP the wishes

PP of NP the client

UCPMNR ADVP fairly

and

PP in

NP an efficient manner

UCP may supp ort function tags as well but only in the case where the function tag applies to all conjuncts

SNOM NPSBJ

VP serving

NP NP the wishes

PP of NP the client

UCPMNR ADVP fairly

and

PP in

NP an efficient manner

S And

ADVPTMP now

NPSBJ the woman

COORDINATION

SADV NPSBJ

UCPPRD ADJPPRD tired

and

VP trembling

VP came

ADVPDIR here

PPDIR to

NP the DeKalb County cannery

S NPSBJ America West

ADVP though

VP is

UCPPRD NP a smaller airline

and

ADVP therefore

ADJP ADJP more affected

PP by

NP NP the delayed delivery

PP of

NP a single plane

SBAR than

S NPSBJ NP many

PP of

NP its competitors

VP would

VP be

ADJP

S SADV NPSBJ

UCPPRD ADJP NP Seven years

late

PP in

NP the launching

PP NP QP billion U

over

NP budget

and

NP NP a target

PP of

NP antinuclear protestors

NPSBJ Galileo

VP has

VP ADVPTMP long

been

NPPRD NP a symbol

COORDINATION

PP of

NP trouble

S NPSBJ His plans and dreams

VP had

VP revolved

PPLOCCLR around

NP her

UCP ADVP ADVP so much

SBAR RNR

and

PPTMP for

ADVP ADVP so long

SBAR RNR

SBAR that

S ADVPTMP now

NPSBJ he

VP felt

SBAR as if

S NPSBJ he

VP had

NP nothing

In NPs

As usual NP structure is dierent from the structure of other categories When elements that b elong to

dierent syntactic categories are co ordinated and that co ordinated structure mo dies an NP the structure

is lab eled UCP

If b oth conjuncts are single words no structure is shown inside the UCP Note that this is generally not the

case outside of NPs in other categories singleword conjuncts are lab eled inside UCP

NP UCP federal and state laws

Multiword adjectival mo diers within the UCP should b e lab eled Multiword nominal mo dier within the

UCP are often unlab eled See section Shared Complements and Mo diers and section Mo dication

of NP for more information on nominal mo diers

NP the

UCP highest quality

and

ADJP most reasonably priced

product

General guidelines for the bracketing of co ordinated structures

Lab eling at the level of co ordination

A conjunction sometimes unlab eled sometimes CONJP joins two or more elements including those that are

typologically dierent and thus dominated by UCP Unlike Co ordinated Phrase Phrases with identical

bracket lab els or partofsp eech tags are of course co ordinated under the appropriate bracket lab el eg the level of co ordination for NPs and for singleword nouns is lab eled NP etc

COORDINATION

Function tags at the level of co ordination

Function tags app ear only on the bracket lab el at the highest level of co ordination in co ordinated phrases

of the same phrase type and the same function

S The Burger King worker handled the order

ADVPMNR ADVP very slowly

but

ADVP not very carefully

SNOM NPSBJ

VP serving

NP NP the wishes

PP of NP the client

UCPMNR ADVP fairly

and

PP in

NP an efficient manner

However if all conjuncts do not share the same function the function tags app ear on individual conjuncts

S PP PPTMP After

NP the crash

and

PPPRP as

NP NP a result

PP of

NP NP the recommendations

PP of

NP many studies

circuit breakers were devised to allow market participants to

regroup and restore orderly market conditions

S But in the BareFaced Messiah case the author found most of his

material

PP PPLOC in

NP court records

or

PPMNR via

NP the

NAC Freedom

PP of

NP Information

Act

Internal structure

The internal structure of the co ordinated phrase is left at if p ossible For example the internal

structure of the co ordination of singlewords is not shown and thus only the level of co ordination is lab eled

COORDINATION

NP apples and oranges

NP the apples and oranges

S NPSBJ Curious George

VP cut and pasted

NP the pictures

S NPSBJ I

VP slept and dreamed

If at least one of the co ordinated phrases is multiword co ordination is at the lowest p ossible level

ie the lowest level that includes the shared constituent and excludes any unshared constituents

S NPSBJ I

VP VP slept

and

VP dreamed

SBAR that

S NPSBJ I

VP was

NPPRD a butterfly

NX is used to show the internal structure of co ordinate structures with multiword conjuncts in NPs

There are no corresp onding X levels for other parts of sp eech See section Shared Complements

and Mo diers and for more on the use of NX

NP the

NX NX red book

and

NX yellow pencils

An extended example

This is an example of the minimal levels used for the co ordination of verb phrases

a Vlevel

If all conjoined verbs are singleword and all ob jects andor mo diers are shared co ordination is

at word level

S SNOMSBJ NPSBJ

VP Baking

and

eating

NP cookies

VP is

ADJPPRD fun

b VPlevel

COORDINATION

i Unshared ob jects and mo diers

If there are unshared ob jects or mo diers co ordination is at the lowest p ossible VPlevel

S SNOMSBJ NPSBJ

VP VP Baking

NP pies

and

VP eating

NP cookies

VP are

NPPRD fun activities

S SNOMSBJ NPSBJ

VP VP Baking

PPLOC in

NP NP Grandmas

kitchen

and

VP eating

PPLOC in

NP bed

VP are

ADJPPRD fun

S NPSBJ John

VP will

VP VP have

VP baked

NP a cake

and

VP have

VP frosted

NP the cupcakes

NPTMP this morning

ii Shared ob jects and mo diers with multiword conjuncts

Co ordination is at the level of the lowest p ossible VP and RNRattach is used when a

shared ob ject must b e attached at dierent levels of structure Shared mo diers are not

RNRattached See section Shared Complements and Mo diers for more on RNR

S NPSBJ

VP Do

VP avoid

S NPSBJ

VP VP puncturing

NP RNR

or

VP cutting

PPCLR into

NP RNR

NP meats

SPRP NPSBJ

VP to

VP test

NP them

COORDINATION

S NPSBJ John

VP will

VP VP have

VP baked

NP RNR

and

VP have

VP frosted

NP RNR

NP the cake

c Slevel

Co ordination is at Slevel only in the case where each conjunct has an overt sub ject whether

coreferential or not

S NPSBJ She

VP was

VP eating

ADVPMNR quietly

SADV S NPSBJ her head

VP hanging

and

S NPSBJ her scaly deadlooking foot

VP lifted

NPADV just a little

PPCLR from

NP the ground

S NPSBJ I

VP admire

S S NPSBJ your

VP hanging

NP your head

and

S NPSBJ your

VP dangling

NP your feet

Gapping

This section presents the ocial annotation p olicy for gapp ed structures but also describ es some likely

common alternates found in the corpus

VP gapping

In the case of VP gapping when the second conjunct lacks b oth sub ject and verb co ordination is at VPlevel

and gapcoindexing also referred to as template gapping is used See section Overview of Basic Clause

Structure and section Null Elements for more on the template approach to gapping

S NPSBJ I

VP VP cooked

COORDINATION

NP soup

NPTMP Wednesday

and

VP NP potatoes

NPTMP Thursday

S NPSBJ John

VP VP is

ADVPTMP sometimes

NPPRD a gentleman

but

VP ADVPTMP usually

NPPRD a child

S NPSBJ John

VP VP is

ADJPPRD endearing

and

VP ADVPTMP sometimes

ADJPPRD amusing

A common alternate to VP gapping in these cases ie when the second conjunct lacks b oth a verb and

a sub ject esp ecially when a mo dier o ccurs only in the second conjunct is to co ordinate the predicates

leaving the mo dier at conjunction level Therefore one might nd two of the ab ove sentences bracketed as

follows

S NPSBJ John

VP is

NPPRD ADVPTMP sometimes

NP a gentleman

but

ADVPTMP usually

NP a child

S NPSBJ John

VP is

ADJPPRD ADJP endearing

and

ADVPTMP sometimes

ADJP amusing

The problem is that ADVPs inside ADJPs are generally regarded as simple intensiers such as very some

what or a little and sometimes here is an Slevel temp oral mo dier The ocial solution is to go up a

level of co ordination and gap but some annotators feel this is excessive and would like a simpler way that

still gets sometimes interpreted at a version of Slevel

Below in general and in particular are interpreted as adjuncts to NP rather than sentential consequently

template gapping is not used

S NPSBJ

VP spurred

PRT on

PP by

COORDINATION

NPLGS NP NP the growth

PP of

NP government

PP in

ADJP general

and

NP NP NP budget gimmicks

and

NP deceptive management

PP in

NP particular

Gapping in a small clause

Gapcoindexing may b e used in a small clause when there is a mo dier with one or b oth of the predicates

As with VP gapping the ocial p olicy is to gap as in the rst example but the second example represents

a common alternative

SBAR WHNP who

S NPSBJ we

VP find

S S NPSBJ T

ADJPPRD endearing

and

S ADVPTMP sometimes

ADJPPRD amusing

SBAR WHNP who

S NPSBJ we

VP find

S NPSBJ T

ADJPPRD ADJP endearing

and

ADVPTMP sometimes

ADJP amusing

Gapping at Slevel

The level of co ordination in a gapping structure must b e Slevel when b oth a sub ject and a VP element

eg VP ob ject or adjunct are present in the second conjunct

Sub ject and VP

NP fears

SBAR that

S S NPSBJ the Thatcher government

VP may

VP be

PPPRD in

NP turmoil and

COORDINATION

S NPSBJ NP Britain s

Labor Party

VP positioned

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP regain

NP NP control

PP of

NP the

government

Sub ject and ob ject

S S NPSBJ Mary

VP likes

NP potatoes

and

S NPSBJ Bill

NP ostriches

Sub ject and adjunct

S S NPSBJ Mary

VP likes

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP swim

PPTMP on

NP Tuesdays

and

S NPSBJ Bill

PPTMP on

NP Wednesdays

Gapping in PP

Co ordination of NPs as in the rst example is a likely alternate to gapping within PPs as in the second

example

S NPSBJ The Nashville plan

VP has

VP become

VP recognized

NP

PPCLR as

NP NP ADVP perhaps

NP the

ADJP most acceptable

and

ADVP thus

COORDINATION

NP the

ADJP most practical

SBAR WHNP

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP put

NP T

PPCLR into

NP effect

PPLOC in

NP the

troubled

South

S NPSBJ The Nashville plan

VP has

VP become

VP recognized

NP

PPCLR PP as

ADVP perhaps

NP NP the

ADJP most acceptable

SBAR RNR

and

PP ADVP thus

NP NP the

ADJP most practical

SBAR RNR

SBAR WHNP

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP put

NP T

PPCLR into

NP effect

PPLOC in

NP the

troubled

South

Gapping in NP

S NPSBJ The remaining

QP billion

U

VP could

VP be

VP raised

COORDINATION

NP

PP through

NP NP NP the sale

PP of

NP shortterm Treasury bills

PP NOT

NP NP NP twoyear notes

PPTMP in

NP November

and

NP NP fiveyear notes

PPTMP in

NP early December

Some dicult cases

NOT

One may o ccasionally nd annotation such as the following where the antiplaceholder NOT indi

cates that certain items found in the second conjunct are not interpreted in the rst See section

Null Elements for more on the use of NOT For example here perhaps and the if clause go only

with the second conjunct indicated by NOT in the rst conjunct

S NPSBJ NP Robert Schneider

PP of

NP Duff Phelps

VP sees

S NPSBJ papercompany stock prices

VP VP falling

NPEXT NP

to

NP

PPTMP in

NP

ADVP NOT

SBARADV NOT

VP ADVP perhaps

NPEXT

SBARADV if

S NPSBJ there

VP s

NPPRD a recession

Template gapping with RNRattach

RNRattach may b e used in gapping structures for noncomplements that are shared across clauses

In the following example the adjunct in the rushhour tremor is extracted from a sub ordinate

clause in the rst conjunct but from a main clause in the second Note that RNRattach is not

usually used with adjuncts but is used here b ecause the clauses over which gapping takes place are not symmetrical See section Shared Complements and Mo diers for more on the use of RNR

COORDINATION

S S NPSBJ QP At least

people

VP were

VP reported

S NPSBJ

VP killed

NP

PPLOC RNR

and

S NPSBJ

VP injured

NP

PPLOC RNR

PPLOC in

NP NP the rushhour tremor

SBAR WHNP that

S NPSBJ T

VP caused

NP NP billions

PP of

NP NP dollars

PP of

NP damage

PPLOC along

NP NP miles

PP of

NP the

San Andreas fault

Bracketing of co ordinating conjunctions

Co ordinating conjunctions

Singleword

Singleword conjunctions are unlab eled

and but or

yet so

less plus minus

NP NP a hammer

and

NP a nail

Multiword

Multiword conjunctions are lab eled CONJP with at internal structure Included in this list are

quasiconjunctions a somewhat op en class of phrases that can function as conjunction or adverb

dep ending on context and annotator interpretation See section for more on the annotation of these phrases

COORDINATION

as wel l as

not to mention

rather than

instead of

if not less frequently treated as a conjunction

along with less frequently treated as a conjunction

etc

S NPSBJ That

VP builds

NP NP confidence

NP self sufficiency

CONJP not to mention

NP critical regulatory net worth

S NPSBJ She

VP valued

NP wisdom

CONJP as well as

knowledge

Discontinuous conjunctions

Only multiword p ortions of discontinuous conjunctions are lab eled CONJP Singleword p ortions are

left unlab eled

not only ::: but

not only ::: but also

not only ::: but instead

not only ::: but rather

not alone ::: but

not alone ::: but also

not alone ::: but instead

not alone ::: but rather

not just ::: but

not just ::: but also

not just ::: but instead

not ::: but instead

not ::: but

etc

S NPSBJ The proposal

VP represents

NP CONJP not alone

NP his own district

but

NP NP all the people

PP of

NP our country

COORDINATION

S NPSBJ Her actions

VP were

ADJPPRD CONJP not only

ADJP compassionate

CONJP but also

ADJP ADJP inspiring

and

ADJP indicative

PP of

SBARNOM what one can do

with cents

Quasico ordinating conjunctions

The quasico ordinating conjunctions are treated as ordinary co ordinating conjunctions when they act as

such Otherwise for example when fronted they are bracketed as SBAR eg if not and though or PP

eg than and as wel l as

if not

though

rather than

as wel l as

etc

Fronted constituents When a putative conjunction o ccurs as the rst element of a fronted phrase it

is interpreted as the head of that phrase rather than as a conjunction and the correct bracketing is

ADVP or PP

S PP Instead of

NP beans

NPSBJ I

VP will

VP eat

NP pizza

S SBARADV If not

FRAGTMP next week

NPSBJ I

VP suggest

SBAR

S NPSBJ you

VP start

NPTMP NP sometime

ADVPTMP soon

Adjuncts When a putative conjunction o ccurs after the verb and introduces a sentential adjunct and

where there is more than a typological dierence b etween the putative conjuncts the correct bracketing is ADVP or PP

COORDINATION

S NPSBJ I

VP will

VP eat

NP takeout pizza

PP instead of

SNOM NPSBJ

VP eating

PPLOC at

NP your house

Commas The presence of a comma b efore expressions such as rather than and instead of sometimes

suggests an ADVP or PP interpretation dep ending on the judgment of the annotator Thus the

following interpretations are equally likely

S NPSBJ I

VP ate

NP pizza

PP rather than

NP beans

S NPSBJ I

VP ate

NP NP pizza

CONJP rather than

NP beans

Other conjunctions such as as wel l as retain the CONJP interpretation in the presence of a comma

S NPSBJ I

VP ate

NP pizza

CONJP as well as

beans

Note that some nonconjunction interpretations app ear in the corpus due to a midcorpus p olicy

change This section represents the most recent p olicy on lab eling of comp eting conjunctionadverb

interpretations and covers the ma jority of the annotation in the present corpus

times

When it is used as a quantier times is placed inside a QP see the section on mathematical language in section Mo dication of NP

COORDINATION

NP QP three times

the governments damages

Otherwise it retains the conjunction interpretation

S NPSBJ three times five

VP equals

NP fifteen

except in the case where it is preceded by the verb multiply in which case the matter is unresolved Fortu nately the Wall Street Journal corpus contains no such examples

SHARED COMPLEMENTS AND MODIFIERS IN COORDINATE STRUCTURES

Shared Complements and Mo diers in Co ordinate Structures

This section describ es the general approach to the annotation of mo diers and complements that are shared

by more than one head Along the way we will have to of course consider the bracketing of unshared

mo diers thus much of the unsharedmo dier p olicy is also describ ed b elow As the annotation of shared

elements necessarily involves the annotation of co ordinate structures it may also b e helpful to consult

section Co ordination

Some other issues in co ordination are also discussed here including co ordination of NP mo diers see section

and certain complex NPs analyzed as having a shared head see section

Premo diers

When it is not p ossible to tell from context whether or not a mo dier is shared the default in all cases is

to analyze the item as shared

Shared bracketing in the case of NPs is at

In the case of shared premo diers of VPs the premo dier may b e attached either immediately b efore the

VP or immediately inside the VP This variation o ccurs with b oth co ordinated and nonco ordinated VPs

and is regarded as semantically and syntactically insignicant

NP ripe apples and bananas

S NPSBJ Grover

ADVPMNR deliberately

VP chewed and winked

S NPSBJ Grover

VP ADVPMNR deliberately

chewed and winked

Where it is clear that the mo dier is not shared we generally use more structure in order to indicate which

head the mo dier go es with

NP NP ripe apples

and

NP cinnamon

NP fresh

NX NX ripe apples

and

NX cinnamon

See section on page and section Notation for an explanation of the NX bracket lab el

S NPSBJ Grover

VP VP ADVPMNR noisily

chewed

and

VP winked

SHARED COMPLEMENTS AND MODIFIERS IN COORDINATE STRUCTURES

In other resp ects the annotation of premo diers of verbs and that of nouns dier signicantly as laid out

in the following sections

Verbs

This section describ es the annotation of verbs with shared adverbial premo diers

Lab eling

All mo diers of VP are lab eled including oneword adverbs this is in contrast to singleword mo diers

of NP which are left unlab eled

S NPSBJ Curious George

ADVPMNR carefully

VP cut and pasted

NP the pictures

Exceptions to this lab eling p olicy are not whether sentential or constituent negation singleword

including discontinuous conjunctions such as and but neithernor and oating quantiers such as

al l and both Some adverbs that b ehave somewhat like conjunctions are often also left unlab eled such

as then thus only so also

S NPSBJ Curious George

VP neither cut nor pasted

NP the pictures

Level of attachment

An adverbial that is outside the VP it mo dies either at co ordination level or at Slevel is interpreted

as shared Again the default in unclear cases is to bracket the adverbial as shared

Nonco ordinated VPs

In the case of nonco ordinated VPs premo diers are either left outside the VP as in a or put

inside it as in b Although the variation is in general free the adverbials inside the VP are

considerably more likely to b e MNR or degree adverbs Overall the bracketing in a is more

common

a S NPSBJ Curious George

ADVPMNR carefully

VP cut

NP the pictures

b S NPSBJ Curious George

VP ADVPMNR carefully

cut

NP the pictures

Co ordinated VPs with shared mo diers

Shared premo difying adverbials follow the same tendencies for co ordinated verbs as they do for single verbs as describ ed just ab ove for nonco ordinated VPs

SHARED COMPLEMENTS AND MODIFIERS IN COORDINATE STRUCTURES

a S NPSBJ Curious George

ADVPMNR carefully

VP cut and pasted

NP the pictures

S NPSBJ Curious George

ADVPMNR carefully

VP VP cut

NP the pictures

and

VP pasted

NP them

b S NPSBJ Curious George

VP ADVPMNR carefully

cut and pasted

NP the pictures

S NPSBJ Curious George

VP ADVPMNR carefully

VP cut

NP the pictures

and

VP pasted

NP them

Note on unshared premo diers in co ordinate structures

In the case where a premo dier mo dies only one of the conjuncts the mo dier is put inside the

VP it mo dies

S NP Grover

VP VP ADVPMNR noisily

chewed

and

VP winked

There is however some variation in the bracketing of certain adverbs premo difying second VP

conjuncts particularly then thus also even therefore so which almost act like conjunctions

They are sometimes left at conjunction level and they may b e unlab eled or lab eled ADVP

S NP Grover

VP VP ADVPMNR noisily

chewed

and

ADVP then

VP winked

Nouns

This section describ es the annotation of prehead mo diers of co ordinated noun phrase heads including adjectival and nominal mo diers p ossessives and determiners

SHARED COMPLEMENTS AND MODIFIERS IN COORDINATE STRUCTURES

Nominal premo diers

Single head of NP

The interpretation of mo diers that are themselves nominal tends to b e highly ambiguous and

sub ject to individual interpretation For example in the noun phrase the primary college entrance

examination one p erson may have a clear intuition that the college is primary while another

may b e sure that the examination is primary Similarly in US patent and copyright owners

one p erson may think that the owners are US while another may b elieve that the patents

and copyrights are US

In order to avoid sp ending large amounts of time imp osing arbitrary solutions to this problem

we try to avoid showing any structure for nominal mo diers

NP the primary college entrance examination

NP US patent and copyright owners

NP the loan and real estate reserves

In general we avoid showing either the internal structure or the extent of mo dication of noun

mo diers regardless of the strength of the annotators intuition in a particular example

Multiple heads

This p olicy for NPs with single heads extends to those with multiple heads if the only unshared

mo diers are nominal we annotate with at structure

NP the user and system identification or password

NP Manhattan phone book and tour guide

NP the new phone book and tour guide

NP highpriced red Burgundies and Cabernets and Chardonnays

NP tobacco consumption

and

lungcancer mortality

research

However prop er names are frequently annotated with internal structure although ocially they

should b e treated as other nominal mo diers

NP NP Arthur Dent

and

NP Ford Prefect

NP NP Mr Kent

and

NP Ms Lane

NP NP France

and

NP Hong Kong

Other premo diers

The interpretation of adjectives p ossessives and determiners tends to b e more uniform so more

structure is shown for such mo diers when unshared

Shared When multiple heads shared the same mo diers a at structure is used

SHARED COMPLEMENTS AND MODIFIERS IN COORDINATE STRUCTURES

NP ripe apples and bananas

NP the apples and bananas

NP the seven ripe apples and bananas

NP your old apples and bananas

However the mo diers themselves get the same internal structure that they would get in a non

co ordinated NP

NP the ADJP very ripe apples and bananas

NP NP Sharon s

apples and bananas

NP NP NP Sharon s

and

NP Anthony s

apples and bananas

NP seven

ADJP very old

apples and bananas

Unshared

When there are unshared mo diers added structure usually NP adjunction shows which mo di

ers go with which head

NP NP my dog

and

NP your cat

NP NP apples

and

NP fresh basil

NP NP NP Bob s

skirt

and

NP NP Tracy s

suit

When there are unshared adjectives determiners or p ossessives we frequently end up showing

structure for nominal mo diers as well

NP NP our science curriculum

and

NP our testing policies

NP NP trade conflicts

and

NP sluggish exports

SHARED COMPLEMENTS AND MODIFIERS IN COORDINATE STRUCTURES

NP NP accelerated unfairtrade investigations

and

NP stiff trade sanctions

NPLGS NP rising labor costs

and

NP the strong yen

NX combination of shared and unshared mo diers

So far we have only considered cases in which all the mo diers are shared or all the mo diers are

unshared When there is a mixture we add a level of structure called NX

Denition of NX

In the case where a noun is mo died by an unshared mo dier and also shares nonnominal

premo diers with another noun the NX bracket lab el is used That is unshared items

are lump ed together with their resp ective noun heads and bracketed NX with the shared

mo diers outside NX at NP level The NX levels are then co ordinated at the lowest level

p ossible as usual

NX brackets contain the head of the NP and its unshared mo diers in complicated NPs

where b oth shared an unshared mo diers are involved It do es not corresp ond to any partic

ular linguistic structure although it o ccasionally resembles Nbar Rather it exists only to

show which mo diers go with which NP head and is only used when the extent of mo dication

would not otherwise b e clear

The NAC lab el describ ed in section Mo dication of NP plays a similar role of indicating

mo diers that go together However NAC is only used for prehead modiers while NX always

contains the head or heads of the NP in which it is found

Examples

NP some

ADJP very old

NX NX red apples

and

NX bananas

NP the remarkable

NX NX former New Democracy Party representative

and

NX NX known political enemy

PP of

NP Mr Mitsotakis

NP NP the farm stand s

NX NX hard apples

and

NX mushy bananas

Note that as b efore at NP level nominal mo diers may end up with structure when one of the

other conjuncts has an unshared mo dier that is nonnominal

NP Manhattan

NX NX phone book and

SHARED COMPLEMENTS AND MODIFIERS IN COORDINATE STRUCTURES

NX exhausted guide

NP the

NX NX network affiliates

and

NX independent TV stations

Note that b oth conjuncts are lab eled NX even in the case where only one of the conjuncts is

multiword

NP the

ADJP expensive and hardtofind

NX NX ripe apples

and

NX cinnamon

NP some

NX NX red apples

and

NX bananas

With nominal mo diers

When all of the unshared mo diers are nominal NX should not b e used However sometimes

NX structure is used anyway esp ecially with prop er nouns But such structure is much less likely

to happ en when the co ordination has to b e at NX level than when it can b e at NP level See

page on such structure at NP level

NP the

NX NX World Bank

and

NX International Monetary Fund

This may even happ en when the shared mo diers are nominal though that is even more unlikely

NP NY investors

NX NX Douglas A Kass

and

NX Anthony Pedore

Predeterminer vs discontinuous conjunction

Note that some shared elements eg both either have b oth predeterminer and conjunction uses

Roughly the word in question receives the determiner analysis when it is referential and the conjunction

analysis when it is part of a discontinuous conjunction

The p olicy with resp ect to the determinerconjunction distinction assumed here follows the POS tag

ging p olicy given in the POS guidelines Santorini The distinction is made in the POS tagging

but also has implications for the syntactic annotation

When singleword conjuncts are involved the bracketing of conjunctions and shared determiners is

identical ie the annotation is at When it is not clear whether the determiner or conjunction

analysis is correct the default is to annotate as conjunction

In the following examples both and either are annotated as part of the discontinuous conjunctions

bothand and eitheror

SHARED COMPLEMENTS AND MODIFIERS IN COORDINATE STRUCTURES

NP both boys and girls

NP both digital and IBM systems

NP UCP both

Treebank

and

nonTreebank

policies

S NPSBJ Either

NP a boy

or

NP a girl

VP could

VP sing

S NPSBJ Either a boy or girl

VP could

VP sing

NP either sweet potato or mashed potato

mix

Compare with the following where both and either are annotated as predeterminers

NP both

ADJP large red and shiny

balls

NP both

the

ADJP large red and shiny

balls

S NPSBJ Either boy or girl

VP could

VP sing

NP either

NX NX sweet potato

NX RNR

or

NX mashed potato

NX RNR

NX mix

SHARED COMPLEMENTS AND MODIFIERS IN COORDINATE STRUCTURES

Complements

Verbs

Overt complements

a Singleword VPs

The internal structure of co ordinated singleword verbs is not shown and the shared ob ject is

attached under the VP

S NPSBJ John

VP baked and frosted

NP the cake

This is an example of what is meant by co ordinate low where here co ordination is at the level

of V rather than VP Note that the following structure is implicit in the annotation of singleword

conjuncts and is retrievable from the POS tagging

S NPSBJ John

VP v v baked

and

v frosted

NP the cake

b Multiword VPs

Multiword VPs may include negation auxiliaries particles adverbs other ob jects or adjuncts

etc Shared complements in multiword VPs are attached at the level of co ordination and RNR

attached into each conjunct See section PseudoAttach for a description of RNRattach

S NPSBJ John

VP VP baked

NP RNR

and

VP ADVPMNR carefully

frosted

NP RNR

NP the cake

S NPSBJ John

VP VP likes

NP RNR

but

VP will

not

VP buy

NP RNR

NP the suit

S NPSBJ Mary

VP VP handed

NP the suit

PPDTV RNR andbut

SHARED COMPLEMENTS AND MODIFIERS IN COORDINATE STRUCTURES

VP mailed

NP the tie

PPDTV RNR

PPDTV to

NP John

The dictum co ordinate low also requires that co ordination b e at the lowest p ossible VP level

in the case where there are embedded VPs as in the dierence b etween wil l have baked and may

have frosted and wil l have baked and frosted where co ordination is lower in the latter

S NPSBJ John

VP VP will

VP have

VP baked

NP RNR

and

VP may

VP have

VP frosted

NP RNR

NP the cake

S NPSBJ John

VP will

VP have

VP baked and frosted

NP the cake

S NPSBJ John

VP will

VP VP have

VP baked

NP RNR

and

VP have

VP frosted

NP RNR

NP the cake

If co ordinated verbs share some complements here spring goods but not others here to

Campeau stores the shared complement is RNRattached into each conjunct and the stranded

constituent is ICHattached into the VP it is asso ciated with

NP NP the investment

VP required

NP

SPRP NPSBJ

VP to

VP VP make

NP RNR

and

VP ship

NP RNR

SHARED COMPLEMENTS AND MODIFIERS IN COORDINATE STRUCTURES

PPDIR ICH

NP spring goods

PPDIR to

NP Campeau stores

Note The term multiword VP should not b e confused with multiword verb which refers to

ob jects such as spot check pied pipe etc The rare multiword verbs in the corpus are bracketed

at as follows with test market

S NPSBJ Adolph Coors Co

VP said

SBAR

S NPSBJ its Coors Brewing Co unit

VP will

VP test market

NP NP a new line

PP of

NP bottled water

PPLOC in

NP the West

PPTMP beginning

NP early next year

See section Orphans for more on multiword prep ositions and multiword adverbs

c With auxiliaries

Auxiliaries that share a verb are co ordinated low ie left at regardless of punctuation and

p ossible intonation breaks that might otherwise suggest an RNR analysis

S NPSBJ I

VP can and will

VP leave

PPTMP by

NP midnight

A VP shared by a multiword auxiliary here soon wil l be is RNRattached into each con

junct Note Semiauxiliaries such as ought to and be able to are bracketed as a VP S series

See section Null Elements for more on semiauxiliaries

NP NP the number

PP of

NP NP country funds

SBAR WHNP that

S NPSBJ T

VP VP are

VP RNR

or

VP ADVPTMP soon

will

VP be

VP RNR

VP listed

NP

SHARED COMPLEMENTS AND MODIFIERS IN COORDINATE STRUCTURES

PPLOC in

NP NP New York

or

NP London

d Co ordinated verbs that do not form a phrasal unit

Some single word verbs may share an ob ject without together forming a single VP That is in

cases where an intonation break is required after the rst verb the structure will b e annotated as

co ordinated VPs rather than co ordinated Vs with the shared argument RNRattached to each

singleword verb Note that this RNRattach is never available to singleword auxiliary verbs

see the preceding section With auxiliaries

S NPSBJ the likely consequence

VP would

VP be

SPRD NPSBJ

VP to

VP VP weaken

NP RNR

CONJP rather than

VP strengthen

NP RNR

NP NP the control

SBAR that

It is recognized that the intonation break is a dicult and only marginally reliable test So the

default in these cases is to co ordinate low ie leave as a single VP with co ordinated Vs unless

the annotator feels quite sure that the RNR analysis is merited

Null complements

a Singleword VPs

The null ob ject in passive constructions NP and the trace of whmovement or topicalization

NP T may also b e shared The trace is attached inside the at VP See section Co ordina

tion for the bracketing of co ordinated singleword VPs

NP NP the athletes

SBAR WHNP

S NPSBJ they

VP have

VP wooed and won

NP T

In passive constructions b oth the null which is coindexed to the surface sub ject and the by

phrase are arguments of VP attached inside VP

S NPSBJ The pictures

VP were

VP cut and pasted

NP

PP by

NPLGS Curious George

SHARED COMPLEMENTS AND MODIFIERS IN COORDINATE STRUCTURES

S NPSBJ The car

VP was

VP washed and waxed

NP

PP by

NPLGS Amy

b Multiword VPs

If one of the VPs consists of more than one word was washed and wil l be waxed clipped and put

on the refrigerator door or if the ob ject must b e attached at dierent levels was washed and sat

on see or look for then multiple traces each with the same index are used That is null

elements are not RNRattached and instead multiple instantiations of the null are shown

Passive examples

S NPSBJ The car

VP VP was

VP washed

NP

and

VP will

VP be

VP waxed

NP

S NPSBJ The car

VP VP was

VP washed

NP

and

VP polished

PRT up

NP

S NPSBJ The car

VP VP was

VP washed

NP

and

VP sat

PPCLR on

NP

S NPSBJ NP QP No fewer than

country funds

VP have

VP been

VP VP launched

NP

or

VP registered

NP

PPCLR with

NP regulators

SHARED COMPLEMENTS AND MODIFIERS IN COORDINATE STRUCTURES

NPTMP this year

Wh movement and topicalization examples

NP NP one

PP of

NP NP those columns

SBAR WHNP that

S NPSBJ you

VP VP clipped

NP T

and

VP put

NP T

PPPUT on

NP the refrigerator door

S WHNP Who

SQ did

NPSBJ you

VP VP see

NP T

or

VP look

PPCLR for

NP T

S NPTPC John

NPSBJ I

VP ca nt

VP stand

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP VP hear

PPCLR about

NP T

or

VP see

NP T

Nouns

Note that in Treebank bracketing only clauses S or SBAR are recognized as complements of NPs

Unshared complements

If the complement is unshared it b elongs inside only the relevant NP

NP NP the basketball promise

and

NP his carefully thoughtout decision

S to keep it

SHARED COMPLEMENTS AND MODIFIERS IN COORDINATE STRUCTURES

Shared complements

As with verbs shared complements of nouns are placed at the level of co ordination As usual when

it is not clear whether a complement is shared or not the default option is to bracket it as shared

NP the belief and declaration

SBAR that the world is flat

NP group decisions and attempts

S to go to puppetry school

In cases where co ordination do es not result in at structure such as when there are unshared non

nominal premo diers the shared complement is placed at the level of co ordination and RNR

attached into each conjunct

NP NP his belief

SBAR RNR

and

NP your subsequent declaration

SBAR RNR

SBAR that

S the world is flat

NP NP the right

S RNR

but not

NP the obligation

S RNR

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP sell

NP a financial instrument

PPCLR at

NP a specified price

If mo diers force the use of NX the complement clause should again b e placed at the level of co ordi

nation and RNRattached into each conjunct

NP the

NX NX growing urge

S RNR

and

NX hardtoresist temptation

S RNR

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP sleep

NPTMP all morning

SHARED COMPLEMENTS AND MODIFIERS IN COORDINATE STRUCTURES

Prep ositions

Singleword PPs

Co ordinated singleword PPs are annotated with at structure just like other singleword conjuncts

eg went in and out the door

S NPSBJ The cat

VP went

PPDIR in and out

NP the door

Multiword PPs

The term multiword PP should not b e confused with multiword prep osition which refers to

sequences of prep ositions that are annotated with at structure eg instead of because of etc See

section Orphans for a list of multiword prep ositions

Multiword PPs require an extra level of structure Shared complements of multiword PPs are attached

at co ordination level and RNRattached into each conjunct

NP NP A unit of data

SBAR WHNP that

S NPSBJ T

VP is

VP moved

NP

PPDIR PP into

NP RNR

or

PP out

PP of

NP RNR

NP the computer

S NPSBJ The average coupon

VP is

PPPRD PP NPADV QP about cents

off

NP RNR

or

PP NPADV percent

off

NP RNR

NP NP the regular price

PP of

NP the product

Such examples may b e additionally annotated with PRN parenthetical b ecause of the commas

though the rest of the structure remains the same See section Notation for more on PRN

SHARED COMPLEMENTS AND MODIFIERS IN COORDINATE STRUCTURES

S NPSBJ The average coupon

VP is

PPPRD PP NPADV QP about cents

off

NP RNR

PRN

or

PP NPADV percent

off

NP RNR

NP NP the regular price

PP of

NP the product

Adjectives

Adjectives are handled much like verbs The shared constituent is attached at co ordination level and if the

co ordinated adjectives are multiword the shared item is RNRattached

ADJP eager and ready

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP go

ADJP ADJP very eager

S RNR

but

ADJP ADVP not quite

ready

S RNR

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP go

Adjuncts and p ostmo diers

Verbs

Overt p ostmo diers in the VP

Flat VP adjunct inside VP

Because all p ostverbal elements are attached inside the VP p ostverbal shared mo diers of co or

dinated VPs are also put at co ordination level

S NPSBJ The villain

VP sang and danced

PPLOC in

NP the park

SHARED COMPLEMENTS AND MODIFIERS IN COORDINATE STRUCTURES

Multiword VPs attach at co ordination level

If the co ordination do es not result in at structure the adjunct is placed at the lowest p ossible

level of co ordination but not RNRattached Adjuncts attached at co ordination level can b e

assumed to b e interpreted at the same level in each conjunct namely as an adjunct of each main

verb

S NPSBJ NP QP No fewer than

country funds

VP have

VP been

VP VP launched

NP

or

VP registered

NP

PPCLR with

NP regulators

NPTMP this year

S NPSBJ The villain

VP VP sang

ADVPMNR brightly

and

VP danced

ADVPMNR wildly

PPLOC in

NP the park

The lowest p ossible level of co ordination may b e Slevel

S PP In

NP other words

S NPSBJ economic growth

VP would

VP be

ADJPPRD lower

and

S NPSBJ unemployment

VP would

VP be

ADJPPRD higher

PPTMP for

NP a few years

Interpretation in dierent clauses adjunct at co ordination level RNRattach used

RNRattach may b e used for noncomplements when they are shared across clauses In the

following example the adjunct is extracted from a sub ordinate clause in the rst conjunct but

from a main clause in the second RNRattach is not normally used with adjuncts b ecause

adjuncts attached at co ordination level can b e assumed to b e interpreted at the same level in

each conjunct In this case however simply attaching the lo cative adjunct at co ordination level

SHARED COMPLEMENTS AND MODIFIERS IN COORDINATE STRUCTURES

would give an incorrect interpretation at the levels of reported and injured and RNRattach

is necessary to achieve the correct interpretation at the levels of kil led and injured

S S NPSBJ QP At least

people

VP were

VP reported

S NPSBJ

VP killed

NP

PPLOC RNR

and

S NPSBJ

VP injured

NP

PPLOC RNR

PPLOC in

NP NP the rushhour tremor

SBAR WHNP that

S NPSBJ T

VP caused

NP NP billions

PP of

NP NP dollars

PP of

NP damage

Trace of whmovement and topicalization

Multiword VPs single adjunct trace at co ordination level

The traces of shared adjuncts are put at the level of co ordination in the extraction site ie just

where an unmoved adjunct would b e attached see the preceding section starting on page on

the attachment of shared adjuncts

S NPSBJ the bidding group

VP has nt

VP had

NP NP time

SBAR WHADVP

S NPSBJ

VP VP to

VP develop

NP its latest idea

ADVPMNR fully

or

VP to

VP discuss

NP it

PPCLR with

NP banks

ADVPTMP T

S ADVPTMPTPC Initially

SHARED COMPLEMENTS AND MODIFIERS IN COORDINATE STRUCTURES

NPSBJ the company

VP said

SBAR

S NPSBJ it

VP will

VP VP close

NP its lending division

and

VP stop

S NPSBJ

VP originating

NP new leases

PPLOC at

NP its lease subsidiary

ADVPTMP T

Multiple traces are not used if they would all b e attached at the same level here child of the rst

VP in every VP conjunct Rather a single trace is attached at the lowest available co ordination

level

Similarly if a trace is shared by two Ss it go es at co ordination level

NP NP a day

SBAR WHADVP

S S NPSBJ some United Airlines employees

VP wanted

S NPSBJ Mr Wolf

VP fired

NP

and

S NPSBJ takeover stock speculators

VP wanted

NP his scalp

ADVPTMP T

Interpretation in dierent clauses multiple adjunct traces

Unlike with overt adjuncts in this structure see page RNRattach is never used with

traces

Multiple traces of adjunct wh movement and topicalization are used only in the case that the

adjunct is extracted from dierent clause levels one matrix and one sub ordinate for example

as this is the only structure where attaching the trace at co ordination level will yield an incorrect

interpretation See page

NP NP the town

SBAR WHADVP where

S NPSBJ the president

VP VP spoke

ADVPLOC T

and

VP declared

SBAR that

S NPSBJ the building

VP should

VP be

SHARED COMPLEMENTS AND MODIFIERS IN COORDINATE STRUCTURES

VP built

NP

ADVPLOC T

Nouns

See the Complements and Postmodiers section of section Mo dication of NP for more details on the

bracketing of adjuncts and p ostmo diers in NP

Shared adjuncts are adjoined to the highest appropriate NP RNRattach Right No de Raising should

not b e used with adjuncts although it is used with shared complements of nouns

NP NP a book and poster

PP about

NP toads

NP NP NP a book

and

NP a poster

PP about

NP reptiles

NP NP princes and dukes

PP of

NP Luxemborg

NP NP NP handsome princes

and

NP dignified dukes

PP of

Luxemborg

NP NP the arrest and charging

PP of

NP the two men

NPPRD NP the

NX NX crown prince

and

NX hereditary grand duke

PP of

NP Luxembourg

Comparative adjectives and adverbs

The thanthatas clause in comparative structures is always adjoined to the comparative phrase Thus this

type of p ostmo dier will b e adjoined to comparative adjectives and adverbs See section Comparatives for details on the bracketing of comparative structures

SHARED COMPLEMENTS AND MODIFIERS IN COORDINATE STRUCTURES

ADJP ADJP as long and complicated

PP as

NP that paper

ADJP ADJP ADJP as long

and

ADJP as complicated

PP as

NP that paper

ADVP ADVP ADVP as quickly

and

ADVP as efficiently

PP as

ADJP possible

ADJP ADJP ADJP less

PP than

NP RNR

or

ADJP equal

PP to

NP RNR

NP the maximum link speed

Co ordination of adjectival and nominal NP mo diers

The structure of co ordinated NP premo diers is indep endent of the co ordination of NP heads Thus the

rules b elow apply equally to NPs that have a single head or multiple co ordinated heads

Adjectives

Conjoined singleword adjectives are lab eled ADJP with the internal structure left at

NP ADJP faraway and expensive

stores

NP ADJP ripe and nutritious

apples and bananas

NP the

ADJP ripe and nutritious

apples and bananas

NP NP two factors

ADJP economic and political

Conjoined multiword adjectives are lab eled ADJP with the internal structure shown even when just one of the conjuncts is multiword

SHARED COMPLEMENTS AND MODIFIERS IN COORDINATE STRUCTURES

NP ADJP ADJP round

and

ADJP bright blue

balls

NP ADJP ADJP very large

and

ADJP extremely poisonous

apples

NP NP a government

ADJP ADJP ADJP less predictable

PP than

NP Mr Gandhi s

and

ADJP ADVP possibly

more restrictive

When it is not clear whether the mo dier of the adjective go es with just the rst mo dier or with b oth it

is assumed to b e shared and the structure is left at This parallels the default treatment of other shared

elements when their scop e is not clear from context

NP ADJP very

large and poisonous

apples

Compare with the case where the scop e of mo dication is shown

NP ADJP ADJP oddly smelling

and

ADJP poisonous

apples

When a comma is used instead of a lexical conjunction only multiword adjectives are bracketed unlike

conjunction with and or etc where b oth conjuncts are lab eled

NP true entertaining stories

NP smoother

ADJP less volatile

executions

Nominal

No internal structure is shown for conjoined nominal premo diers

NP installation and maintenance procedures

NP the installation and maintenance procedures

NP both installation and maintenance procedures

NP the human and animal healthproducts segment

SHARED COMPLEMENTS AND MODIFIERS IN COORDINATE STRUCTURES

NP the

TV installation

and

antennae maintenance

procedures

Even in the case where a nominal premo dier is adjectivally mo died the entire structure is left at

NP municipal bond

and

mutual fund

orders

However nominal p ostmo diers get the same internal structure as other noun phrases

NP NP Mickey Mouse

NP editor and publisher

NP NP Micky Mouse

NP NP treasurer

and

NP chief financial officer

Co ordinated adjectival and nominal mo diers

When an adjective is co ordinated with a nominal mo dier UCP unlike co ordinated phrase is used See

section Co ordination for more information ab out UCP

No internal structure should b e shown for a co ordinated singleword noun and adjective premo dier

NP the

UCP federal and state

rulings and procedures

NP NP sales

PPLOC at

NP UCP franchisee

CONJP as

well

as

companyowned

stores

Multiword conjuncts may show internal structure

NP ADJP lowcost producing

UCP NP Pacific Rim

and

ADJP Latin American countries

SHARED COMPLEMENTS AND MODIFIERS IN COORDINATE STRUCTURES

Shared NP heads

NPs like thin and fat dogs in which unrelated mo diers are apparently conjoined are analyzed as

separate noun phrases sharing a common head The common head is lab eled NX attached at conjunction

level and RNRattached to each NP

NP NP thin

NX RNR

and

NP fat

NX RNR

NX dogs

Note that the shared NX is not limited to one word and could in principle contain head co ordination

although there are no actual examples of this in the WSJ corpus

NP NP the Japanese

NX RNR

and

NP the US

NX RNR

NX consumer markets

This analysis extends in a natural if somewhat ugly way to unrelated mo diers that share premo diers

such as a determiner

NP our

NX NX thin

NX RNR

and

NX fat

NX RNR

NX dogs

NPSBJ NP Gannett s

NX NX daily

NX RNR

and

NX nondaily

NX RNR

NX newspapers

NPSBJ NP Gannett s

NX NX New York daily

NX RNR

and

NX Pennsylvania nondaily

NX RNR

NX newspapers

This RNRattached NX analysis has also o ccasionally b een used when a simpler UCP analysis would have suced

SHARED COMPLEMENTS AND MODIFIERS IN COORDINATE STRUCTURES

NP NP municipal bond

NX RNR

NP mutual fund

NX RNR

and

NP other

NX RNR

NX orders

p erhaps should b e

NP UCP municipal bond

mutual fund

and

other

orders

In fact the NX analysis is not limited to simple conjunction of NPs If the annotator has a strong intuition

of Right No de Raising an NX can b e shared across a fairly complex structure

PPLOC PP in

NP normal

NX RNR

CONJP as well as

PP in

NP cancerous

NX RNR

NX cells

Although the same construction is more likely to b e bracketed more simply

PPLOC PP in

NP normal

CONJP as well as

PP in

NP cancerous cells

WH PHRASES

WH phrases

This section is concerned with the bracketing of wh phrases For information ab out null elements asso ciated

with wh phrases see section Null Elements

Bracketing wh phrases in direct and indirect questions

Bracket lab els

WHNP WHADVP WHADJP WHPP

WHNP

a General

When what who and which stand alone they are lab eled WHNP

SBARQ WHNP WhatWhoWhich

SQ are

NPSBJ you

VP thinking

PPCLR about

NP T

When how many stands alone it to o is lab eled WHNP However when it mo dies a nominal

head it is bracketed WHADJP as noted in c b elow

SBARQ WHNP How many

S do

NPSBJ you

VP want

NP T

b With mo diers

Singleword wh premo diers eg which in which dress are left unlab eled The mo dier and

head are dominated by WHNP

SBARQ WHNP WhatWhoseWhich dress

SQ did

NPSBJ you

VP select

NP T

Multiword wh premo diers eg how many in how many secrets are bracketed according to the

principle

Wh ness percolates up

That is the wh word here how and all higherlevel no des are bracketed with the appropriate

wh lab el In most cases of premo dication the principle is mo ot b ecause we usually dont lab el

the heads of NPs theres no question as to whether they receive a wh lab el

WH PHRASES

SBARQ WHNP WHADJP how many

secrets

SQ do

NPSBJ you

VP know

NP T

SBARQ WHNP WHADJP How hot

a room

S can

NPSBJ you

VP tolerate

NP T

The principle of upward p ercolation of wh ness is more imp ortant to the bracketing of p ost

mo died wh phrases The the wh phrase what whose or which and all higher no des are lab eled

WHx but no des that do not dominate the wh phrase are not lab eled WHx In the b elow

examples in the closet is lab eled PP not WHPP

S NPSBJ I

VP do

not

VP know

SBAR WHNP WHNP what

PPLOC in

NP the closet

S NPSBJ I

VP am

ADJPPRD afraid

PP of

NP T

SBARQ WHNP WHNP WhatWhoseWhich story

PP about

NP tribbles

SQ did

NPSBJ you

VP read

NP T

WHADVP

a General

When when why where and how stand alone they are simply lab eled WHADVP The wh trace

receives the appropriate function tag

S SBARTMP WHADVP When

S NPSBJ the clock

VP strikes

NP three

ADVPTMP T

WH PHRASES

NPSBJ the children

VP leave

SBARQ WHADVP Why

SQ did

NPSBJ you

VP jump

PPDIR off

NP the cliff

ADVPPRP T

SBARQ WHADVP Where

SQ did

NPSBJ you

VP meet

NP them

ADVPLOC T

SBARQ WHADVP How

SQ did

NPSBJ you

VP fix

NP the car

ADVPMNR T

b With mo diers

Singleword wh premo diers in WHADVPs here how are left unlab eled just as nominal single

word wh premo diers are

SBARQ WHADVP How fast

SQ did

NPSBJ the plants

VP grow

ADVP T

As with p ostmo died WHNPs wh ness p ercolates upward in p ostmo died WHADVPs In this

case the prep ositional phrase is lab eled PPLOC rather than WHPPLOC

SBARQ WHADVP WHADVP Where

PPLOC in

NP Minneapolis

SQ do

NPSBJ you

VP live

ADVPLOC T

c WHADJP

WH PHRASES

The WHADJP lab el is used to bracket phrases consisting of a wh adverb mo dier and an adjectival

head

SBARQ WHADJP How cold

SQ is

NPSBJ it

ADJPPRD T

ADVPLOC outside

d WHPP

SBARQ WHPP On

WHNP what

SQ did

NPSBJ you

VP sit

PPLOCCLR T

Note that premo died WHNP ob jects of WHPP are bracketed in accordance with the bracketing

of all other premo died WHNPs

SBARQ WHPP In

WHNP which chair

S did

NPSBJ you

VP wish

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP sit

PPLOC T

SBARQ WHPP In

WHNP WHADJP how many

chairs

S did

NPSBJ you

VP sit

PP T

Co ordination of wh phrases

Like wh phrases are as usual co ordinated as low as p ossible

NPSBJ I

VP wonder

SBAR WHNP what or who

S NPSBJ that

VP is

NPPRD T

WH PHRASES

There is no p olicy indicating how to bracket the trace of co ordinated wh phrases in cases where the

conjuncts are asso ciated with dierent function tags Below the issue is whether the ADVP T

receives a LOC TMP or b oth In some cases the trace lab el contains no function tag as in the

rst example In others the trace lab el contains all the appropriate function tags as in the second

example

S NPSBJ I

VP forgot

SBAR WHADVP where and when

S NPSBJ we

VP will

VP eat

NP lunch

ADVP T

S NPSBJ I

VP forgot

SBAR WHADVP where and when

S NPSBJ we

VP will

VP eat

NP lunch

ADVPLOCTMP T

Unlike wh phrases are dominated by UCP

S NPSBJ land developers

VP tell

NP them

SBAR UCP WHADVP when

WHADVP where

and

WHPP in

WHNP what manner

S NPSBJ the community

VP shall

VP grow

UCP T

The problem of how to bracket the wh trace noted in the preceding section on Like wh phrases

p ertains here as well

ICHattaching to wh phrases

In cases where a p ostp osed constituent is interpreted as an adjunct to a wh phrase it is ICHattached to

the wh phrase See section PseudoAttach for more information ab out ICHattaching

WH PHRASES

SBARNOM WHNP WHNP what

SBAR ICH

S NPSBJ T

VP is

ADJPLOCPRD present

SBAR WHNP that

S NPSBJ T

VP is

VP creating

NP artificial volatility

Problematic cases

There are a number of tricky cases for which there is no p olicy These o ccur infrequently in the present

corpus Possible bracketings are listed for each case

how come how comes it

The question inversion app ears to b e tied up in the frozen form how come hence the problem of

SBAR vs SBARQ

SBARQ how come

SQ NPSBJ you

VP bushwhacked

NP them rustlers

what if

X WHNP what

SBAR if

S I told you pigs have wings

SBAR WHNP what

if

S

why not

SBARQ WHADVP why

SQ NPSBJ

not

VP grow

NP some

PP ADVP just

for

NP winter blooming

SBAR WHADVP why

not

S

WH PHRASES

SBAR why not

S

hows about

SBAR how about

S NPSBJ

VP watering

NP the plants

seeing as how

SBAR seeing as how

S NPSBJ the flowers

VP need

NP attention

Bracketing wh phrases in relative clauses

Bracket lab els

WHNP

Singleword WHNP

NP NP answers

SBAR WHNP thatwhich

S NPSBJ we

VP d

VP like

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP have

NP T

Premo died WHNP

NP NP the teacher

SBAR WHNP whose scarf

S NPSBJ I

VP admired

NP T

Postmodied WHNP

In most cases these cases are bracketed according to the principle wh ness p ercolates upward

However since this principle was applied somewhat inconsistently deviations as shown in the

second example are likely

NP NP three blind mice

SBAR WHNP NP none

WHPP of

WHNP which

S NPSBJ I

VP was

WH PHRASES

VP ADVP very

charmed

NP

PP by

NPLGS T

SBAR WHNP WHNP some

WHPP of

WHNP whom

S NPSBJ T

VP do nt

VP have

NP adequate staffs

WHADVP

NP NP the place

SBAR WHADVP thatwhere

S NPSBJ I

VP put

NP the book

ADVPPUT T

NP NP the time

SBAR WHADVP when

S NPSBJ I

VP met

NP you

ADVPTMP T

Note that the SBARs do not have LOC or TMP lab els Only the adverbial trace receives a function

tag

WHPP

NP NP the place

SBAR WHPP in

WHNP which

S NPSBJ I

VP matured

PPLOC T

NP NP the woman

SBAR WHPP of

WHNP which

S NPSBJ I

VP am

ADJPPRD fond

PP T

WH PHRASES

Null wh elementszero relatives

For information ab out bracketing null wh elements see section Null Elements

Free headless relatives

General A free or headless relative is dened as any relative clause that lacks a head Free headless

relatives are lab eled SBARNOM

PP instead of

SNOM NPSBJ

VP listening

PPCLR to

SBARNOM WHNP what

S NPSBJ T

VP is

PPLOCPRD in

NP his soul

S SBARNOMSBJ WHNP What

S NPSBJ T

VP is

PPPRD of

NP NP ADJP much more

importance

PP to

NP the Colombian economy

PP than

NP NP the supposed

benefits

PP of

NP laundered drug

money

VP is

NPPRD NP higher prices

PP for

NP NP Colombia s

legitimate products

Distinguishing b etween free relatives and indirect questions

When the SBAR is a complement of PP or in sub ject p osition it is clearly a free relative and thus

lab eled SBARNOM

When the SBAR is a complement of a VP it may b e interpreted as either a free relative or a clausal

complement

In the rst example b elow the SBAR is bracketed as a clausal complement in this case an indirect

question and do es not receive the NOM tag The sentence can b e paraphrased as I asked what

did he ask

In the second example the clause is bracketed as a free relative and do es receive the NOM tag The

sentence can b e paraphrased as I asked that which he asked or I asked the same question that he asked

WH PHRASES

indirect question interpretation

S NPSBJ I

VP asked

SBAR WHNP what

S NPSBJ he

VP asked

NP T

freerelative interpretation

S NPSBJ I

VP asked

SBARNOM WHNP what

S NPSBJ he

VP asked

NP T

SBAR complements of verbs such as ask tel l and know that can take clausal complements are

usually analyzed as clausal complements Freerelative interpretations of clausal complements of

VP happ en infrequently and are either due to a b onade freerelative interpretation or to error

NP NP the first

SBAR WHNP

S NPSBJ T

VP to

VP tell

NP him

SBAR WHNP what

S NPSBJ T

VP is

PPLOCPRD in

NP our minds

Longdistance movement

Instances of longdistance movement ie the wh phrase is interpreted in a clause that is more deeply

embedded than the free relative clause itself are bracketed as follows

free relative

S The company is upset over

NP NP the use

PP of

SBARNOM what

S NPSBJ it

VP says

SBAR WHNP

S NPSBJ T

VP are

NPPRD its exclusive

WH PHRASES

trademarks

indirect question

S NPSBJ I

VP forgot

SBAR WHNP who

S NPSBJ they

VP said

SBAR WHNP

S NPSBJ they

VP wanted

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP hire

NP T

SUBORDINATE CLAUSES

Sub ordinate Clauses

Scop e of this chapter

Of the various kinds of sub ordinate clauses this section is concerned only with those that are introduced

by sub ordinating conjunctions See section Overview of Basic Clause Structure for information ab out

sentential adjunct clauses section Small Clauses for small clauses and section WH Phrases for

sub ordinate clauses introduced by wh phrases

Denition of sub ordinating conjunction

The Treebank brackets as sub ordinating conjunctions those constructs which introduce nite clauses past

participle clauses and sentence fragments Most sub ordinate present participle clauses are classied as

nominal gerunds and introduced by prep ositions with a few exceptions such as clauses introduced by while

See section Gerunds and Participles for more information ab out the bracketing of present participles

Note that many words can function b oth as sub ordinating conjunctions and prep ositions A word is con

sidered a sub ordinating conjunction heading an SBAR when it introduces a sentence and a prep osition

heading a PP when it introduces nominals and other complements

Distribution of sub ordinating conjunctions

Sententialverbal adjunct

S SBARTMP After

S NPSBJ she

VP finished

NPSBJ she

VP took

NP a shower

S NPSBJ She

VP read

NP the paper

SBARTMP while

S NPSBJ

VP eating

NP breakfast

Adjunct or complement of noun

S NPSBJ NP Her muscles

SBARTMP before

S NPSBJ she

VP started

S NPSBJ

VP lifting

NP weights

VP were

SUBORDINATE CLAUSES

ADJPPRD smaller

NP the belief

SBAR that

S NPSBJ the world

VP is

ADJPPRD round

NP NP such a pretty butterfly

SBAR that

S NPSBJ I

VP smiled

PPCLR with NP delight

When a p ostmo difying clause is introduced by as there is usually no wh element

NP NP the scenario

SBAR as

S NPSBJ

VP depicted

NP

PP by

NPLGS the middleoftheroad group

Predicate

S NPSBJ The perfect time

VP is

SBARPRD after

S NPSBJ she

VP finishes

Complement of VP

S NPSBJ Willie

VP knew

SBAR WHNP who

S NPSBJ T

VP threw

NP the ball

Ob ject of PP

assuming that

excepted that

excepting that

given that

granted that

granting that provided that

SUBORDINATE CLAUSES

providing that

save that

seeing that

supposing that

etc

S PP Given

SBAR that

S NPSBJ raindrops

VP are

ADJPPRD blue

NPSBJ NP it

S EXP

VP does nt

VP make

NP sense

S to get a blue umbrella

SPRP because they will just blend in

so that

S NPSBJ These beliefs

VP ADVP ADVP so

SBAR ICH

dominate

NP NP our educational establishment

NP our media

NP our politicians

and

NP even

our parents

SBAR that

S NPSBJ NP it

S EXP

VP seems

ADJP almost

blasphemous

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP challenge

NP them

SBARs in comparative constructions See section Comparatives for information ab out this sub ject

SUBORDINATE CLAUSES

Absolute with constructions

In line with the general p olicy stated ab ove present participle clauses are bracketed SNOM and dominated

by PP and past participle clauses are bracketed S and dominated by SBAR See section Gerunds and

Participles for more information

SBAR with

S NPSBJ the flowers

VP arranged

NP

PP by

NPLGS Penelope

PP with

SNOM NPSBJ her eyes

VP rolling

When with is followed by co ordinated NPsSNOMs and past participles p olicy is undetermined The

following disparate bracketings are p ossible

S NPSBJ the end result

VP would

VP be

NPPRD NP a leaner meaner corporate America

PP with

UCP NP soaring productivity and profits

and

S NPSBJ the weaker

VP gone

PPDIR to

NP the wall

S SBARADV With

S S NPSBJ demand

VP growing

and

S NPSBJ workers

PPPRD in

NP short supply

NPSBJ many Japanese manufacturers

VP are

VP spending

ADVPMNR heavily

PPCLR on

NP automation

SUBORDINATE CLAUSES

Bracketing of sub ordinating conjunctions

Singleword

The following words are singleword sub ordinating conjunctions and are bracketed SBAR

after although as

because before

for

if

like

once

since so

than though

unless until

whether while

SBAR though

S the world is no longer flat

SBAR though

FRAG ADJP flat

Multiword

The following words are bracketed SBAR No internal structure is shown

as if

as though

in case

in order tothatfor

in that

inasmuch as

insofar as

so as

so that

such that

whether or not

SBAR as if

S he had walked for miles

Note that such that is not always a sub ordinating conjunction

Sub ordinating conjunction

S NPSBJ X

VP divides

PPCLR into Y

SBARADV such that

S NPSBJ the result

SUBORDINATE CLAUSES

VP is

NP Z

Not a sub ordinating conjunction

S NPSBJ the weather

VP is

ADJPPRD such

SBAR that

S you ought to bring your umbrella

Note that or not in whether or not is attached unlab eled in SBAR whether the S precedes it or follows it

S NPSBJ I

VP dont

VP know

SBAR whether or not

S I should buy this

S NPSBJ I

VP dont

VP know

SBAR whether

S I should buy this

or not

The collo cation now that is most often bracketed

ADVPTMP now

SBAR that

S

Mo died sub ordinating conjunctions

Degreeextent mo diers These are for the most part left unlab eled However in some cases most

often with especially they have b een lab elled ADVP Examples of b oth bracketings are given b elow

only

even

just

especially

SBAR only

because

S you agree to pay that dollars

SBAR ADVP only

because

S you agree to pay that dollars

SUBORDINATE CLAUSES

Quantitative mo diers

The following are equally likely

SBARTMP NPADV two weeks

before

S NPSBJ they

VP departed

SBARTMP NP two weeks

before

S NPSBJ they

VP departed

Correlative the clauses thethe constructions

There is no denitive p olicy for handling these cases Most analyses involve the use of SBAR See section

Correlative the Clauses for more on the bracketing of correlative the clauses thethe constructions

S SBARADV X the sooner

S our vans hit the road each morning

X the easier

it is for us to fulfill that obligation

MODIFICATION OF NP

Mo dication of NP

The p olicies describ ed in this section apply to cases in which the mo dier is not shared by co ordinated heads

See section Shared Complements and Mo diers for information on the annotation of b oth co ordinated

heads and co ordinated mo diers

Premo diers

Adjectives

Singleword ADJPs are not lab eled

NP poisonous apple

Multiword ADJPs are lab eled ADJP

NP ADJP very poisonous apple

NP ADJP nearly invalid license

NP ADJP Holliston Massbased company

NP ADJP well to do people

Hyphenated adjectives are considered singleword since they form single wordtokens in the POS

tagging and are therefore not lab eled

NP prehistoric apple

NP a Massachusettsbased company

Nominal mo diers

Since it is often imp ossible to determine the scop e of nominal mo diers they are not lab eled

NP fake sales license

NP whitewater rafting license

NP weekend sales license

NP furniture sales license

NP fake fur sale

NP State Secretary inauguration

NP New York public officials

Likewise titles that precede prop er names are not lab eled

NP club president Helen Parker

NP State Secretary James Baker

MODIFICATION OF NP

Note however that nominal mo diers containing PPs are not left at Instead the PP is fully annotated

and the nominal mo dier is lab eled NAC Not A Constituent The NAC structure here do es not indicate

complementation despite app earances to the contrary and is to b e considered on a par with other cases of

p ostnominal adjunction See section

NP NAC sale

PP of

NP firecrackers

law

NP NAC Secretary

PP of

NP State

James Baker

NP premo diers of words such as ago and before are lab eled NP See note at the end of section on page

The co ordination of nominal mo diers is not annotated

NP installation

and

NAC maintenance

PP of

NP software

procedures

NP NAC installation

PP of

NP hardware

and

NAC maintenance

PP of

NP software

procedures

NP NAC installation maintenance

PP of

NP software

procedures

Possessives

The p ossessive marker usually s but sometimes just an ap ostrophe is treated as an individual token it is

separated from the previous word and partofsp eech tagged POS However p ossessive pronouns including

its are treated as a single token partofsp eech tagged PP

We indicate what is doing the p ossessing by annotating the p ossessor as a noun phrase attaching the

p ossessive marker as the last child of the noun phrase

NP NP my best friend s boyfriend

MODIFICATION OF NP

A p ossessive s phrase is always lab eled NP even if the p ossessor is singleword b ecause the p ossessive

marker is a separate token

NP NP Sharon s

bananas

Complicated p ossessive phrases are handled by using the usual rules for noun phrases and then attaching

the p ossessive marker as the last child of the p ossessing noun phrase Hence the p ossessing NP can b e

analyzed by removing the p ossessive marker and analyzing the remainder in the same way as for ordinary

NPs The NAC lab el which would b e used in the b elow case if the p ossessive marker was not present

should not b e used for p ossessives

NP NP NP First

PP of

NP America

s

operating results

Possessives can b e nested

NP NP NP Reader s

Digest Association s

new Magazine Publishing Group

or serial

NP NP China s

NP People s

Daily

Possessive phrases can also sometimes function as nouns

S NPSBJ It

VP was

NPPRD NP my decision

not

NP anyone else s

S NPSBJ Kim s

VP has

NP yummy food

Dates places expressions of amount

Nominal mo diers that are expressions of measure or amount dates or places are treated as adjectives in

the simple cases

NP a fivedollar book

NP a vote

NP June

MODIFICATION OF NP

NP the Jan meeting

NP the New York meeting

More complex cases may involve the lab els QP NAC etc See section for more details on the annotation

of complex measure and amount phrases dates and places in NP

NP a

ADJP ashare U

increase

NP a

ADJP QP to lb

monkey

NP a

ADJP QP million U

contract

NP the

NACTMP Jan

meeting

NP my

NACLOC New York

NY

birthplace

Substantive adjectives

Substantive adjectives are lab eled NP An elided head noun is not represented overtly but is nonetheless

recoverable from the annotation if the last child of a base NP is an ADJP or JJx then that adjective is

either the head of the NP or mo difying a null head dep ending on ones theory of substantives

NP the rich

NP the best

NP NP the best

PP of

NP friends

Co ordinated substantive adjectives or substantive adjectives that are mo died ie multiword ADJPs are

lab eled ADJP within a headless NP Again an elided head noun is not represented in the annotation

NP the ADJP best and brightest

NP the

ADJP ADJP very best

and

ADJP most talented

MODIFICATION OF NP

The internal structure of substantive ADJPs follows the same rules as for other ADJPs See section Shared

Complements and Mo diers for more on co ordination and the annotation of shared mo diers

Participial and gerund mo diers

When it is not clear whether a mo dier is an adjectiveparticiple or a noungerund annotators refer to the

POS tag or the tests listed in the POS guidelines Santorini See section Gerunds and Participles

for more details on the annotation of participles and gerunds acting as heads

Participles

Participial mo diers are bracketed like adjectival mo diers Therefore the head of an ADJP may b e

POStagged VBN or VBG

NP a

flying

plane

NP a

ADJP flying and competing

plane

NP A

ADJP Swiftly Tilting

Planet

NP a

ADJP professionally flying competing

plane

NP ADJP publicly traded

portfolios

Gerunds

Gerund mo diers are bracketed like nominal mo diers

NP a

baking

guidebook

NP a

baking and frosting

guidebook

NP a

vegetarian cooking guidebook

MODIFICATION OF NP

Complements and Postmodiers

Adjuncts

General

a All p ostmo diers are Chomskyadjoined to the phrase they mo dify with the exception of clausal

complements of certain nouns eg deverbal nouns See section for information on distin

guishing complements from relative clauses

NP NP the books

PPLOC on

NP the shelf

NP NP books

PP of

NP prayer

NP NP writers

ADJP full

PP of

NP promise

NP NP the earthquake

NPTMP yesterday

NP NP women

SBAR WHNP who

S NPSBJ T

VP love

NP potato chips

Exception Only clausal complements of NP are placed inside NP

NP the belief

SBAR that the world is round

b One could argue that the structures in the previous section do not reect the true structure of

noun phrases For example the lamp which is near the window cant b e understo o d really as

NP NP the lamp

SBAR which is near the window

b ecause the lamp cant refer successfully the the means that the rest of the phrase must pick out

a unique lamp which it do esnt So the right structure must b e something like

NP the

lamp

SBAR which is near the window

However making this kind of distinction on a regular basis would make our NP structure to o

complicated to b e annotated at reasonable sp eed so we settle for the simplied structures shown in the previous section on page

MODIFICATION OF NP

This p olicy also applies to complex cases in which it is more obvious that our structure do esnt

represent the truth For example ii may b etter reect the annotators understanding of the

text as well as the correct underlying structure in that it is the governments damages which are

undetermined rather than three times the governments damages as implied by i Nonetheless

i shows the correct annotation

i NP NP QP three times

NP the government s

damages

SBAR WHNP which

S NP T

VP are

ADVPTMP presently

ADJPPRD undetermined

ii NP QP three times

NP the government s

damages

SBAR WHNP which

S NPSBJ T

VP are

ADVPTMP presently

ADJPPRD undetermined

c TMP and LOC are the only tags used for NP p ostmo diers For instance the NP in a by phrase

should not receive a LGS logical sub ject tag

NP NP the destruction

PP of

NP Rome

PP by

NP me

Contrast with the case where the by phrase is a p ostmo dier of destroy a verb

NP NP the city

VP destroyed

NP

PP by

NPLGS me

See section Overview of Basic Clause Structure and section Notation for more details on

the use of the LGS tag

d ICHattach is never used to show word order of adjuncts within NPs i shows the correct

treatment of displaced adjuncts within NP ii shows an incorrect use of ICHattachment with

adjuncts

i NPSBJ NP A report

NPTMP late yesterday

SBAR WHNP that

S NPSBJ I

MODIFICATION OF NP

VP liked

NP T

ii NPSBJ NP A report

SBAR ICH

NPTMP late yesterday

SBAR WHNP that

S NPSBJ I

VP liked

NP T

Note that ICHattach is used within nouns only when other p ostmo diers intervene b etween

the head noun and its complement

NP NP the decision

S ICH

PPLOC in

NP upper management

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP hire

NP new people

Reduced relative clauses

VPbased

When the p ostmo dier contains an overt VP but no sub ject and no sub ordinating conjunction

all items are attached inside the VP and the VP is adjoined to the NP See section Gerunds

and Participles for more details on the annotation of reduced relative clauses

NP NP women

VP loving

NP women

NP NP women

VP loving

NP women

PPTMP in

NP this century

Note that passive traces are not coindexed when they o ccur in reduced relative clauses This

reects an understanding of the relationship b etween the NP and reduced relative as p ost

mo dication rather than predication See section Null Elements for more information ab out

the annotation of reduced relative clauses

NP NP meals

VP enjoyed

NP

PP by

NPLGS everybody

MODIFICATION OF NP

NonVPbased

Annotation of reduced relative clauses that do not contain VPs varies as follows When there

are several p ostmo difying elements p ossibly all part of the same relative clause the preferred

approach is to analyze only one adjunct as part of the relative clause leaving the rest to b e

attached at S or VP level as appropriate if p ossible as in a

a S NPSBJ I

VP read

NP NP the books

PPLOC on the shelf

NPTMP yesterday

In the case where such an interpretation is imp ossible as in I read the books on the shelf yesterday

quickly and the books on the shelf today slow ly where yesterday must go inside the NP and cannot

b e attached at a higher level ocial p olicy is to use the RRC lab el as in b though more likely

annotations are as listed in c where the p ostnominal elements are adjoined nonrecursively and

d where the p ostnominal elements are placed within a single constituent which is then adjoined

to the NP See section Gerunds and Participles for more information ab out nonVPbased

reduced relatives

b VP read

NP NP the books

RRC PP on NP the shelf

NPTMP yesterday

c NP NP the books

PPLOC on

NP the shelf

NPTMP yesterday

d NP NP titles

PPLOC not

ADVPTMP presently

in

NP the collection

Nonrecursivity of adjuncts

a Consecutive unrelated adjuncts are nonrecursively attached to the NP they mo dify Relative

clauses are also nonrecursively attached to the NP containing the head noun

NP NP the woman

PPLOC in the store

SBAR who sold me the book

NP NP State University

PP of NY

PPLOC at Albany

NP NP the book

SBAR I read yesterday

SBAR which is called Bread and Jam

MODIFICATION OF NP

b Exceptions to the the nonrecursivity p olicy in the previous section on page

App osition App ositives are recursively adjoined to the NP they mo dify

That is an NP dominates everything b efore the comma an NP dominates everything after

the comma and the two are adjoined under a higher NP leaving intact the structure of other

p ostmo diers of the NP or app ositive

NP NP NP the book

SBAR I read yesterday

NP a historical novel

Note that nonrestrictive relative clauses are not considered app ositives and are therefore not

recursively adjoined

NP NP the book

SBAR I read yesterday

SBAR which is called Bread and Jam

Postmodifying phrases following the expressions a share per share are recursively adjoined

Note that this is not the case with similar expressions such as a day per person etc after

which subsequent p ostmo difying phrases are nonrecursively adjoined

The expressions a share and per share may in some cases b e treated dierently The phrase a

share is always adjoined to the head noun when the NP containing the head noun immediately

precedes it as in a

a NP NP NP dollars

NPADV a share

PP in interest

However there is some variation in the annotation of p ostmo difying per share when it im

mediately follows the NP containing the head noun where the NP may contain recursive

adjunction b or not c

b NP NP NP dollars

PP per share

PP in interest

c NP NP dollars

PP per share

PP in interest

When there is intervening material a shareper share is not recursively adjoined

NP NP dollars

PP in interest

NPADV a share

c TTL

Constituents tagged TTL title are bracketed recursively regardless of whether it is the head

NP or the app ositive that b ears the TTL tag

NP NP NP the book

SBAR I read yesterday

MODIFICATION OF NP

NPTTL NP Bread and Jam

PP for

NP Frances

NP

NPTTL NP Bread and Jam

PP for

NP Frances

NP NP the book

SBAR I read yesterday

Reexive pronouns

Reexives are adjoined to the NP they follow

NP NP the boys and girls

NP themselves

NP NP he

NP himself

Note that if the reexive falls elsewhere in the sentence it is not pseudoattached to the noun and is

instead lab eled NPADV

S NPSBJ He

VP did

NP it

NPADV himself

Alone else much al l

Postmodiers such as alone else and much are for the most part adjoined to the NP they follow

o ccasionally no internal structure is shown There is also some variation as to whether the word is

lab eled ADVP or ADJP The hop edfor most common bracketings are shown b elow

NP NP its real estate

ADVP alone

NP NP they

ADVP alone

NP NP anything

ADJP much

When a quantier immediately follows an NP as in they al l it is usually bracketed as follows

MODIFICATION OF NP

NP NP they

NP all

The bracketing of else has the most variation all three p ossibilities are likely

NP NP someone

ADJP else

NP NP someone

ADVP else

NP someone else

Note Words such as ago and before which are easily mistaken for p ostmo diers are instead annotated

as the head of a phase that takes an NP premo dier See section for more on the annotation of

measure and amount phrases

ADVPTMP NP weeks

ago

ADVPTMP NP two weeks

before

To distinguish a premo difying NP from the NP complement of the PP the premo dier is usually

tagged ADV However due to annotator variation ab out a third of such NPs lack the ADV It role

is recoverable from the structure however

PPTMP NPADV two weeks

before

NP their departure

PPTMP NP two weeks

before

NP their departure

Similar variation exists for NP premo diers of sub ordinate clauses

SBARTMP NPADV two weeks

before

S they departed

SBARTMP NP two weeks

before

S they departed

MODIFICATION OF NP

Clausal complements

Bracketing

a Clausal complements of nouns are placed inside NP as follows

NP the desire

S to dance wildly on the roof

NP the fact

SBAR that she wants that particular book

b The sentential complement of a noun is ICHattached to the head NP if other p ostmo diers

intervene

NP NP the decision

S ICH

PPLOC in

NP upper management

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP hire

NP new people

Distinguishing clausal complements from relative clauses

An S or SBAR is bracketed as a complement when it follows certain nouns eg deverbal nouns

andor when it and the asso ciated noun can b e paraphrased as a sub jectpredicate pair

a Following is a partial list of words which take complements

S desire permit proposal option temptation authority contract negotiations attempt chance de

cision power right ability

SBAR fact idea proposal claim

b Examples of nouncomplement sub jectpredicate paraphrases

S the desire to dance wild ly on the roof

The desire is to dance wild ly on the roof

SBAR the fact that the young girl was courageous

The fact is that the young girl was courageous

c An S is analyzed as a relative clause when

i the asso ciated noun is not on the ab ove wordlist and the S cant b e paraphrased as part of

sub jectpredicate pair but can b e paraphrased with a wh phrase

time to go

time at which to go

ii it has a gap ie a place an NP or wh phrase can b e interpreted

time at which to go then

d Note that some of the nouns on the ab ove complementtaking list may b e followed by a clause

which is paraphrasable with a wh phrase This enables annotators to bracket them as taking a

relative clause when context suggests doing so

For example authority usually takes a complement But in the NP b elow the SBAR is shared by

authority and funds which do es not take a clausal complement There is therefore a wh trace in

the SBAR Since this trace would b e inappropriate in a complement clause authority is instead

analyzed as taking a relative clause paraphrasable as authority under which to build fal lout

shelters

MODIFICATION OF NP

NP NP authority

and

funds

SBAR WHADVP

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP build

NP NP fallout shelters

VP costing

NP QP about million

dollars

ADVPCLR T

Reduced relative vs oating participle

See section Gerunds and Participles for a lengthy discussion of this distinction

Reduced relatives

Reduced relatives are identied as having the following prop erties they are i strongly asso ciated

with a noun ii may not b e paraphrased with while or being and iii may b e paraphrased with which

is or who is

S NPSBJ NP The progress

VP reported

NP

PP by

NPLGS the advisory committee

VP is

ADJPPRD real

Floating participles

Floating participles are identied as having the following prop erties they i may b e moved around

the sentence without fundamentally changing the relationship of the participle to the sentence ii

may b e paraphrased with while and being and iii may not b e paraphrased with which is or who is

See section Gerunds and Participles for more on the annotation of participles

S And

ADVPTMP now

NPSBJ the woman

SADV NPSBJ

UCP ADJPPRD tired

and

VP trembling

VP came

ADVPDIR here

PPDIR to

NP the DeKalb County cannery

MODIFICATION OF NP

Variation

The application of the ab ove tests varies from annotator to annotator and sometimes dierent tests

will result in dierent bracketing For example the following are b oth likely interpretations of the

replacing phrase

oating participle

S NPSBJ NP The Rusk belief

PP in

NP balanced defense

SADV NPSBJ

VP replacing

NP NP the Dulles theory

PP of

NP massive retaliation

VP removes

NP a grave danger

reduced relative

S NPSBJ NP NP The Rusk belief

PP in

NP balanced defense

VP replacing

NP NP the Dulles theory

PP of

NP massive retaliation

VP removes

NP a grave danger

MeasureAmount Phrases

QP quantier phrase

This lab el is not used for NPs with quanticational determiners such as every some almost al l etc Instead

it is used for multiword numerical expressions that o ccur within NP and sometimes ADJP where the

QP corresp onds frequently to some kind of complex determiner phrase

The determiners a and an are included in the QP in cases where the appropriate interpretation is one

NP QP under an hour

NP QP less than a year

When expressions such as fromto form a complex determiner they are lab eled QP

NP QP from to monkeys

MODIFICATION OF NP

NP QP to

monkeys

NP QP to million

lbs

NP QP or million

lbs

NP QP between and

percent

NP QP between

four and five

hundred thousand

humans

Note that there are instances as describ ed in the next section where fromto is treated as a

PP rather than QP corresp onding roughly to cases where the measure phrase is a p ostnominal mo dier

Postnominal mo diers are distinguished from p ostp osed mo diers such as the following in which the

fromto phrase is lab eled QP

NP NP gorillas

NP QP from to

lbs

NP NP a number

PP between

NP and

PP between

NP NP dollars

and

NP dollars

Discontinuous QPs are annotated as follows where or more is considered to b e part of the QP two or three

NP QP two or three

inches

QP or more

In the following examples an and are the rst part of a discontinuous QP but b eing single words are

not lab eled as such in accordance with general p olicy

PPTMP in

NP an hour

QP or so

NP NP gorillas

NP lbs

QP and up

MODIFICATION OF NP

In cases where the head noun is missing understo o d from context we place the lab eled QP inside an

otherwise empty NP bracket This applies only to multitoken numbers and their mo diers or to multiword

nonnumeric quantiers Examples are common in sto ck quotes where p oints is often implied but rarely

written out see IBM example b elow

NP QP as many as

single token numbers with no numeric mo diers unlab eled

average circulation of

NP NP average circulation

PP of

NP

an additional of the Class C warrants

NP NP an additional

PP of

NP the Class C warrants

multitoken numbers and their mo diers

IBM rose p oints

NPEXT QP

million cars broke down on the freeway last year

NP QP million

This car seats more than p eople

NP QP more than

multiword nonnumeric quantiers

I paid more than double the original price

NP QP more than double

Hey you ate more than half the pie

NP QP more than half

When a measure such as p ound is morphologically singular it is lab eled ADJP rather than NP This type of ADJP may also contain a QP expression

MODIFICATION OF NP

NP a

ADJP QP to

lb

monkey

NP a

ADJP ashare U

increase

Ranges and endp oints fromto

Where a range is indicated fromto is annotated as a complex conjoined PP where two end p oints

are indicated from and to are annotated as separate nonconjoined PPs The distinction is made using the

following test if the order of the PPs in question can b e reversed then they constitute endp oints and if

not they constitute a range Note that fromto ranges in determiner p osition are called QP as in the

example from to monkeys ab ove on page The following examples contain nouns mo died by

rangesendp oints

range

NP NP a number

PP PP from

NP

PP to

NP

NP NP excursions

PP PP from

NP studio

PP to

NP studio

endp oints

NP NP the transition

PP from

NP vinyl records

PP to

NP compact discs

range or endp oints dep ending on context

PP from

NP June

PP to

NP June

MODIFICATION OF NP

When ranges or endp oints mo dify a verb the picture is much the same as with nouns

range

VP varied

PP PP from

NP

PP to

NP mg

endp oints

VP went

PPDIR from

NP Paris

PPDIR to

NP Dakar

VP went

PPDIR from

NP general

PPDIR to

NP specific terms

Symbols in the text

Units of measure U

In cases where the head noun of a measure phrase app ears as a symbol such as or whose p osition

precludes its b eing bracketed as the head noun U is inserted as a placeholder meaning unit or

units

NP QP million U

NP a

ADJP QP million U

contract

When the QP is a single word it is not lab eled Symbols such as in the example b elow are not

counted as words in making the single or multipleword distinction

NP U

In cases where a symbol can b e bracketed as the head noun U is unnecessary

NP QP between to

MODIFICATION OF NP

This contrasts with cases where the symbol in question app ears with b oth numbers where U is

required

NP QP between to U

NP NP QP between and U

NPADV a week

The ab ove p olicy works much b etter with dollars and than with cents which app ears as a word

rather than a symbol throughout the corpus As a result some variation exists in the bracketing of

examples with ranges of cents

For example eight cents to cents may b e bracketed in the following ways

NP NP eight cents

to

NP cents

NP QP eight cents to cents

NP QP eight cents to cents U

Mathematical language

plus and times are bracketed as conjunctions

NP NP ADJP old and new

photos

plus

NP a written statement

S NPSBJ three

times

four

VP is

NPPRD twelve

Measure phrases in other syntactic environments

Without of

Measure phrases without of are bracketed as adjunction structures

NP NP one tablespoon

NP quickcooking tapioca

With prep ositions and adverbs

Measure phrases that mo dify prep ositions or adverbs are placed inside the phrase and are lab eled NP and not QP

MODIFICATION OF NP

ADVPTMP NP two weeks

ago

ADVPTMP NP two weeks

before

PPTMP NP two weeks

before

NP their departure

ADVPTMP NP an hour

QP or so

later

VP bury

NP him

PPLOC NP six feet

under

NP the ground

Compare with the case where the measure phrase do es not mo dify the prep osition but rather the PP

mo dies the NP

PPTMP during

NP NP the two weeks

PPTMP before

NP their departure

Height and width

ADJP NP ft

long

NP NP ft

PP in

NP length

NP NP QP from to

feet

PP in

NP height

PP at

ADJP ADVP just under

ADJP NP four feet

tall

and

ADJP NP two feet wide

MODIFICATION OF NP

Note that just under here is annotated as an adverbial mo dier of the ADJP much like approximately

etc

Scores

Scores are left with at structure They are lab eled ADVP when they o ccur with verbs

NP a vote

S NPSBJ they

VP won

ADVP

S NPSBJ they

VP won

ADVP to

S NPSBJ The Knicks

VP destroyed

NP Orlando

ADVP

Multipliers times half as much etc

Expressions of amount such as times half as much etc are lab eled QP when they can b e analyzed as

complex determiners

NP NP QP three times

NP the government s

damages

SBAR WHNP which

S NPSBJ T

VP are

ADVPTMP presently

ADJPPRD undetermined

S NPSBJ BLAH

VP VP occupies

NP NP QP half as much

floor space

PP as

NP older systems

but

VP can

VP store

NP QP five times as much

data

VP bought

NP QP more than double

that amount

MODIFICATION OF NP

NP NP QP nine times as many

frogs

PP as

NP toads

When similar expressions mo dify a verb they are lab eled ADVP rather than QP

VP ADVP more than

double

NP its purchases

An alphab etized Bestiary of treatments of measure and quantier phrases

American Heritage Dictionary A medieval collection of allegorical fables ab out the habits and

traits of animals each fable followed by an interpretation of its moral signicance

about

NP QP about

people

al l but

NP QP all but

states

When al l but mo dies a verb in the sense of did everything except it is annotated as a at ADVP

and up

NP NP gorillas

NP lbs

QP and up

around

NP QP around

people

as many as

NP QP as many as

names

NP NP QP as many as five million

PP of

NP its common shares

MODIFICATION OF NP

as much as

NP NP QP as much as

PP of

NP Jaguar shares

There may b e o ccasional irregularities in the treatment of as much as where it app ears with the

bracketing shown b elow which is consistent with the usual structure for comparatives but inconsistent

with just ab out everything else

NP NP as much

PP as

NP

PP of

NP Jaguar shares

at least

NP QP at least

people

from X on

PP PP from

NP there

ADVP on

VP begins

PP PP from

NP number

ADVP on

just under

Note that just under here is annotated as an adverbial mo dier of the ADJP much like approximately

etc

PP at

ADJP ADVP just under

ADJP NP four feet

tall

and

ADJP NP two feet

wide

more than

NP QP more than one person

MODIFICATION OF NP

NP QP more than one

chimpanzee

NP QP more than three in five

NP QP and more than

orangutans

NP NP a value

NP QP no more than

characters

NP NP ADJP NP QP to U

more

output

PP than

NP the current crop

S NPSBJ I

VP want

NP NP more

PP than

NP money

nearly

NP QP nearly

people

only

NP QP only

people

out of

NP NP QP three out of five

skilled workers

and

NP QP one out of five

technicians

over

NP QP over people

MODIFICATION OF NP

through

NP NP a number

PP PP from

NP

PP through

NP

As a general rule when through is not in construction with another prep osition and o ccurs b etween

two like categories such as NPs it is annotated as a conjunction

NP numbers

through

NP NP the file mode number

PRN LRB

NP through

RRB

under

NP QP under

people

up to

NP QP up to

bites

NP NP QP up to U

NPADV a month

upwards of

NP QP upwards of

people

Dates and places

The annotations of dates and places are parallel in many resp ects

Dates

Dates are lab eled NP when they are not adjectival mo diers of some other NP They may or may not receive

the adverbial TMP tag dep ending on their function in the sentence The internal structure of the date NP

is left at

NP June

MODIFICATION OF NP

NP NP the meeting

PPTMP on

NP March

NP NP NP Bill s

birthday

NPTMP April

Dates that are adjectival mo diers inside an NP are bracketed in one of two ways If they contain a comma

or the they are lab eled NAC Not A Constituent and given the TMP tag Internal structure of NAC is

not shown

NP the

NACTMP Jan

meeting

NP the

NACTMP Friday the th

stock plunge

Otherwise they are left at

NP the Jan meeting

Places

Placephrases are lab eled NP when they are not adjectivally mo difying some other NP They may or may

not receive the adverbial LOC tag dep ending on their function in the sentence The internal structure of

the place NP is annotated with adjoined structure

NP NP IBM

NPLOC NP Akron

NP OH

NP NP IBM

VP based

NP

PPLOCCLR in

NP NP Akron

NP OH

NP NP the meeting

PPLOC in

NP NP New York

MODIFICATION OF NP

NP NY

Placesphrases that mo dify NPs are bracketed in one of two ways If they contain a comma or are otherwise

complex they are lab eled NAC Not A Constituent and given the LOC tag The internal structure of

NAC is not shown

NP the

NACLOC New York

NY

meeting

NP NP Bill s

NACLOC Newark

NJ

birthplace

NP my

NACLOC New York

NY

birthplace

Otherwise they are left at

NP the New York meeting

Prop er nouns

Prop er nouns are bracketed in the same way as common nouns There are no sp ecial rules concerning them

NP Free Press financial statements

NP the Free Press

NP KnightRidder officials

NP Xerox marketing strategies

NP the

NX NX Free Press

and

NX New York Public Library

Since nominal mo diers of nouns are usually left at prop er noun mo diers should also b e left at

NP the Free Press and New York Public Library scandal

TITLES

Titles

Whole constituent as title

Only titles of b o oks movies songs and names of other created works are lab eled TTL Note that TTL

implies NOM so no constituent need b e tagged b oth TTL and NOM

S

NPTTLSBJ NP Bedtime

PP for

NP Frances

VP is

NPPRD my favorite book

S NPSBJ I

VP like

STTL NPSBJ

VP Driving

NP Miss Daisy

S SBARTTLSBJ WHADVP When

S NPSBJ Harry

VP Met

NP Sally

ADVPTMP T

VP was

NPPRD a good movie

S NPSBJ I

VP am

PPPRD in

NP NP awe

PP of

STTL NPSBJ The Empire

VP Strikes

ADVPCLR Back

NP

PPTTL In

NP NP the Heat

PP of

NP the Night

NP the NBC series

Names of institutions games and companies should not b e lab eled TTL

PP according

PP to

NP NP the Center

TITLES

PP for

NP NP Continuing Study

PP of

NP the California Economy

The lab el at the level of co ordination involving items with TTL is NP without an additional TTL

NP NPTTL Crime and Punishment

STTL NPSBJ One

VP Flew

PPDIR Over

NP NP the Cuckoo s

Nest

and

NPTTL NP The House

PPLOC at

NP Pooh Corner

Premo died titles

When a title that would otherwise constitute a full NP is preceded by a mo dier or determiner it is lab eled

NX to create a placeholder for the TTL tag

NP the uptempo

NXTTL Sky

NP NP SaintSaens s

NXTTL The Swan

NP NP Steinbeck s

NXTTL NX The Grapes

PP of

NP Wrath

However some variation exists with p ostmo died NXs esp ecially with NXTTL Some such examples in the

corpus are bracketed as follows

NP NP Steinbeck s

NXTTL NP The Grapes

PP of

NP Wrath

Titles as premo diers A complex constituent acting as a nominal mo dier may b e annotated with full structure and tagged TTL

TITLES

NP NP the late Martin Luther King s

famous

STTL NPSBJ I

VP Have

NP a Dream

speech

NP the premiere

PPTTL In

NP the Dumpster

column

However constituents that might ordinarily b e called NP present more of a problem since noun mo diers

are usually not annotated The most common strategies are to leave the mo dier at if simple or to use

NACTTL

NP The Thin Man series

NP the old Warner Bros Road Runner cartoons

NP a

NACTTL My Favorite Bureaucrat

plaque

NP the Oct

NACTTL Corporate Elite

issue

NPSBJ The Wall Street Journal

NACTTL American Way

PP of

NP Buying

Survey

NP a

NACTTL NP Points

PP of

NP Light

foundation

NP NP the auto company s

NACTTL Cars

SBAR WHNP That

S NPSBJ T

VP Make

NP Sense

campaign

GERUNDS AND PARTICIPLES

Gerunds and Participles

General remarks

Distributional distinction

It was decided that a theorybased distinction b etween nominal ing clauses gerunds and other present par

ticiples would b e to o dicult to make consistently across annotators and throughout the corpus Therefore

the distinction made in Treebank bracketing is a purely distributional one ing clauses are lab eled SNOM

in sub ject p osition and as the ob ject of a prep osition VP as the complement of be S as the complement of

other verbs and SADV or other appropriate adverbial tag when mo difying the matrix VP or sentence

Since ing clauses lab eled SNOM S and SADVetc are at least partly sentential in nature like all other

sentences they have sub jects either overt sub jects or null sub jects when there is no overt sub ject present

They may also have VPlevel complements andor mo diers The annotation of present and past participles

is such that predicateargument structure can b e extracted from them as with ordinary sentences

Past participles are lab eled S never SNOM with coindexing of the sub ject and adverbial function tags as

appropriate

For the sake of convenience the term gerund is used b elow to refer lo osely to ing clauses in general

Function tags

ing clauses lab eled S may receive the following tags SNOMSBJ in sub ject p osition SNOM after prep o

sitions S after verbs and sub ordinating conjunctions SADV or TMP LOC PRP etc for adverbial

functions

Coindexation of null sub jects

If there is no overt sub ject of the ing clause a null sub ject is present in the annotation NPSBJ The

null sub ject of an ing clause is coindexed to another NP in the sentence if a coindexed interpretation is

available Coindexation pro ceeds as usual according to pragmatic coreference as well as syntactic binding

and control and indep endent of the SNOMS distinction However null sub jects of gerund complements

of PP mo diers of NPs are coindexed only if there is a particularly strong coindexed interpretation See

section Null Elements for more on the coindexation of null elements

Present progressive

Any ing form after auxiliary be is lab eled VP and annotated as a complement See section for the

annotation of present participles following other verbs

S NPSBJ I

VP am

VP baking

NP cookies

GERUNDS AND PARTICIPLES

Present participles

Sub jects

Overt sub jects whether p ossessive or not are bracketed as the sub ject of the ing clause if the clause is

lab eled S If the clause is a gerund lab eled SNOM the p ossessive is treated like any other p ossessive in

NP

Sub ject of sentence

S SBARPRP Because

S NPSBJ he

VP should

VP have

VP been

VP disqualified

NP

SNOMSBJ NPSBJ his

VP playing

ADVP at all

VP stinks

ing clause following verb

S NPSBJ I

VP do

nt

VP mind

S NPSBJ you

VP washing

NP the car

SNOM vs S

For the most part there is not a theorybased distinction b etween nominal ing clauses and other present

participles but rather a distributional one see section for the distributional distinction that is made

This section addresses the way in which SNOM and S are used

The SNOM vs S distinction for ing clauses is made according to the following distributional criteria

SNOM

ing clauses are lab eled SNOM when they o ccur in the following p ositions

as sub jects of S lab eled SNOMSBJ

S SNOMSBJ NPSBJ

VP Baking

NP pies

VP is

ADJPPRD fun

GERUNDS AND PARTICIPLES

S SNOMSBJ NPSBJ

VP Walking

ADVPMNR quickly

VP is

NPPRD good exercise

S SBARPRP Because

S NPSBJ he

VP should

VP have

VP been

VP disqualified

NP

SNOMSBJ NPSBJ his

VP playing

ADVP at all

VP stinks

as ob jects of prep ositions lab eled SNOM

Note that prep osition here means any prep osition that takes an NP on at least one of its uses

So of by after before with as in etc all head PPs when followed by an ing clause but while if

and other necessarily sentential sub ordinators are always SBAR Note that all ing clause ob jects

of PP are SNOM

S NPMNR That way

NPSBJ investors

VP can

ADVP essentially

VP buy

NP the funds

PP without

SNOM NPSBJ

VP paying

NP the premium

If an ing clause has a null sub ject and there is a pragmatic coindexed interpretation the

sub ject is coindexed

Note that there is generally coindexation when the PP is an adjoined p ostmo dier of NP only if

there is a particularly strong coindexed interpretation

S NPSBJ the company

VP has

NP NP no intention

PP of

SNOM NPSBJ

VP tapping

NP its shortterm bank lines

PPTMP for

NP NP a good part

PP of

NP

GERUNDS AND PARTICIPLES

Some examples

about

NP NP no squeamishness

PP about

SNOM NPSBJ

VP admitting

NP this

after

S PPTMP After

SNOM NPSBJ

VP winning

NP the race

NPSBJ she

VP ran

NP a victory lap

as

S ADVPTMP Often

NPSBJ the displeased parties

VP interpreted

NP our decision

PPCLR as

SNOM NPSBJ

VP implying

NP NP favoritism

PP toward

NP the other

at

S NPSBJ The government

VP aimed

PPCLR at

SNOM NPSBJ

VP stimulating

NP NP a faster rate

PP of

NP NP economic growth

PP of

NP the country

before

S PPTMP Before

S NPSBJ

VP leaving

PPCLR for

NP school

NPSBJ

VP eat

GERUNDS AND PARTICIPLES

NP a good breakfast

by

S NPSBJ He

VP inherited

NP a fortune

PPMNR by

SNOM NPSBJ

ADVPMNR brutally

VP murdering

NP his brother

for

SINV ADVPLOCPRDTPC Here

VP would

VP be

ADVPLOCPRD T

NPSBJ NP a powerful force

PP for

SNOM NPSBJ

VP raising

NP business activity

from

S NPSBJ The police

VP kept

NP him

PPCLR from

SNOM NPSBJ

ADVP actually

VP collecting

NP the money

in

S NPSBJ This

VP results

PPCLR in

SNOM NPSBJ a separate record

VP being

VP made

NP

of

S NPSBJ I

VP am

ADJPPRD tired

PP of

SNOM NPSBJ

VP writing

NP lists

GERUNDS AND PARTICIPLES

since

S NPSBJ I

VP have

VP worked

NP several odd jobs

PPTMP since

SNOM NPSBJ

VP leaving

NP school

while

S NPSBJ The committee

VP continued

NP its meeting

SBARTMP while

S NPSBJ

VP eating

NP lunch

with in absolute with constructions

S PP With

SNOM NPSBJ interest rates

VP rising

NPSBJ the market

VP is

VP moving

ADVPMNR slowly

Note that with is bracketed as SBAR if it is not followed by an SNOM present participle

SBARADV with

S NPSBJ the new understudy

VP hired

NP

SBARADV with

S NPSBJ his boyfriend

ADJPPRD abroad

as a child of the VP co ordinated with other NP ob jects

In this case the ing clause is lab eled SNOM so that the bracket lab el at the level of co ordination

is NP rather than UCP see section on co ordination b elow

S

ing clauses are lab eled S when they o ccur in the following p ositions

as children of VP

Complements are lab eled S while adjuncts receive an appropriate tag SADV SMNR etc See

section

S NPSBJ I

VP do

GERUNDS AND PARTICIPLES

nt

VP mind

S NPSBJ your

VP washing

NP the car

S S SBARADV If

S NPSBJ it

VP promotes

NP fashion

ADVPMNR too much

NPSBJ the shop

VP risks

S NPSBJ

VP alienating

NP its oldline customers

S PPMNR by

SNOM NPSBJ

VP emphasizing

NP value

NPSBJ it

VP risks

S NPSBJ

VP watering

PRT down

NP its highminded mystique

S NPSBJ Mrs Ward

VP took

PRT over

PPTMP in

NP

SADV NPSBJ

VP becoming

NP NP NP the school s

seventh principal

PPTMP in

NP years

Exception if the gerund is a child of the VP but is co ordinated with other NP ob jects it is

lab eled SNOM so that the bracket lab el at the level of co ordination is NP rather than UCP see

section on co ordination b elow

after sub ordinating conjunctions lab eled S with no adverbial tag

Note that sub ordinating conjunction here means any sub ordinator that can never take an

ordinary NP ob ject eg while when if etc Sub ordinating conjunctions are never followed by SNOM

GERUNDS AND PARTICIPLES

at Slevel in preverbal p osition lab eled SADVetc

S vs SADV

The SSADV etc distinction is made according to the following distributional criteria

S

An ing clause is lab eled S with no adverbial function tag if it is the complement of a verb or o ccurs

in a serial verb construction

All ing complements of verbs other than be eg begin come continue deny get go justify keep

like permit sit stand start stop etc are bracketed in this way As usual the null sub ject is

coindexed with the matrix sub ject if there is a coindexed interpretation

S NPSBJ I

VP like

S NPSBJ

VP helping

NP children

S NPSBJ he

VP VP broke

PRT out

NP the go codes

and

VP tried

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP start

S NPSBJ

VP transmitting

NP one

Note that this parallels the treatment of innitival complements of some of these verbs

S NPSBJ He

VP tried

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP start

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP transmit

NP one

SADV

ing clauses are given adverbial function tags if they b ehave as adverbial mo diers of the matrix VP

or S

The appropriate adverbial tag is used instead of ADV if applicable TMP PRP LOC MNR

GERUNDS AND PARTICIPLES

CLR is used in some rare cases listed here

spendwaste timemoney Xing

S NPSBJ Digital

VP has

VP spent

NP QP almost billion U

SCLR NPSBJ

VP developing

NP the new technology

have problemsdicultytrouble Xing

The most recent annotation p olicy for this construction is represented here in a but some

o ccurrences of this construction may b e annotated according to an older p olicy as given in

b Ab out half of the a analyses include the coindexing shown here

a S NPSBJ everybody

VP will

VP have

NP NP a difficult time

SNOM NPSBJ

VP reaching

NP their profit objectives

b S NPSBJ everybody

VP will

VP have

NP a difficult time

SCLR NPSBJ

VP reaching

NP their profit objectives

ADV is used if no other adverbial tag applies

This is esp ecially common with oating participles including dangling participles see section

for more details on oating participles

S SADV NPSBJ God

VP willing

NPSBJ we

VP will

VP arrive

PPLOC at

NP our destination

ADVPMNR safely

S SADV NPSBJ

VP Having

ADVPMNR carefully

VP considered

NP his options

NPSBJ he

VP decided

GERUNDS AND PARTICIPLES

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP take

NP the job

All past participles that mo dify S or VP are lab eled SADVetc

S SADV NPSBJ

VP Given

NP

NP the chance

NPSBJ I

VP d

VP do

NP it

ADVPTMP again

Dangling participles Floating participles here includes dangling participles They are lab eled

SADV and a null sub ject is coindexed as appropriate

S SADV NPSBJ

VP Living

PPLOCCLR in

NP this house

NPSBJ the noise

VP is

VP driving

S NPSBJ me

ADJPPRD buggy

NP vs S or SNOM

Singleword nominal ing clauses are lab eled NP the only exception is for those with a strong event reading

Gerunds that have an overt sub ject or a complement or are mo died by an adverbial are bracketed as VP

dominated by S or SNOM

Distinguishing b etween NP and S or SNOM

A distinction is made b etween nouns ending in ing lab eled NP with the head generally POStagged

NN and ing clauses lab eled S or SNOM with the head generally POStagged VBG according to

the following criteria

a An ing form is lab eled NP if it

i is a single word eg running except when it has a strong event reading see page

ii has a determiner eg some teaching

iii has an of PP ob ject eg teaching of dicult students

iv has other mo diers that could b e mo difying an ordinary noun eg worldclass running as

opp osed to adverbial mo diers which suggest VP

Sub ject p osition

GERUNDS AND PARTICIPLES

S NPSBJ Baking

VP is

ADJPPRD fun

Ob ject p osition

S NPSBJ I

VP like

NP NP field hockey

and

NP swimming

With an NP p ossessive

S NPSBJ The men

VP were

ADJPPRD tired

PP from

NP NP a night s

drinking

With a p ossessive pronoun

S NPSBJ We

VP kicked

NP him

PPCLR out

PP of

NP the band

SBARPRP because

S NPSBJ his playing

VP stinks

With quantiers

S NPSBJ There

VP is

NPPRD no smoking

PPLOC on

NP this flight

S NPSBJ There

VP will

VP be

NPPRD no talking

PPTMP during

NP the movie

With PP p ostmo diers

S NPSBJ There

VP s

VP been

NPPRD NP no finding

PP by

NP anybody

GERUNDS AND PARTICIPLES

PP of

NP NP any substantive violation

PP of

NP any antitrust laws

Gerunds with of complements and other adjectival and PP mo diers of NP are bracketed

just like ordinary NPs

S NPSBJ NP The taking

PP of

NP Iwo Jima

VP was

NPPRD no easy feat

contrast with

S SNOMSBJ NPSBJ

VP Taking

NP Iwo Jima

VP was

NPPRD no easy feat

With a nonPP p ostmo dier

S NPSBJ NP The dancing

SBAR WHNP which

S NPSBJ T

VP was

ADJPPRD very good

VP began

PPTMP at

NP

b An ing form with a strong event reading may b e lab eled S or SNOM

Singleword gerund ob jects of verbs are normally lab eled NP but in sentences with strong event

readings they may b e lab eled S or SNOM The null sub jects of these gerunds are coindexed if

appropriate

S NPSBJ Apple

ADVP allegedly

VP discouraged

NP retailers

PPCLR from

SNOM NPSBJ

VP discounting

The default is to lab el as NP as in a b elow For example the expression I hate lying has b oth

an NP I hate it when others lie interpretation as in a and an S interpretation I hate to

lie as in b

a I hate it when others lie

S NPSBJ I

VP hate

GERUNDS AND PARTICIPLES

NP lying

b I hate to lie

S NPSBJ I

VP hate

S NPSBJ

VP lying

Overt sub jects

When the gerund has an overt genitive sub ject as in They liked our singing it is lab eled NP unless it

clearly warrants a clausal interpretation

a They liked the way we sang

S NPSBJ They

VP liked

NP our singing

b They liked the fact that we sang

S NPSBJ They

VP liked

S NPSBJ our

VP singing

c However if the sub ject is not p ossessive it is always bracketed S

S NPSBJ we

VP have

S NPSBJ them

VP waiting

Additional complements mo diers etc

In cases where the gerund o ccurs with complements mo diers etc S or SNOM is used only when

the structure is unambiguously clausal b ecause the gerund has a direct ob ject Otherwise NP is used

S NPSBJ They

VP liked

S NPSBJ our

VP singing

NP folk songs

S SNOMSBJ NPSBJ

VP Taking

NP Iwo Jima

VP was

NPPRD no easy feat

Quantiers

Any quantier can b e a determiner for an SNOM ing clause If the gerund is lab eled SNOM the SNOM and the unlab eled quantier are b oth children of an outer NP lab el

GERUNDS AND PARTICIPLES

S NPSBJ There

VP was

ADVP certainly

NPPRD no

SNOM NPSBJ

VP stopping

NP NP the tide

PP of

NP emotion

ADJP vs S

A gerund may b e ambiguous b etween two interpretations adjectival noun phrase mo dier ADJP and

gerund clause S For instance the sentence Flying planes can be dangerous has at least two interpretations

in isolation paraphrased b elow When it is not clear whether a gerund should b e analyzed as ADJP or S

the default is to analyze it as an adjective as in a

a Planes which are ying overhead can b e dangerous

S NPSBJ Flying planes

VP can

VP be

ADJPPRD dangerous

b The act of ying planes can b e dangerous

S SNOMSBJ NPSBJ

VP Flying

NP planes

VP can

VP be

ADJPPRD dangerous

Pseudoprepositions

Pseudoprep ositions are words that b ehave like prep ositions but are historically or apparently verb par

ticiples

Tests for deciding whether a gerund is a pseudoprep osition

Piedpiping

Members of the class of pseudoprep ositions are admitted if they can undergo pied piping and only

if the annotator has a strong intuition that the item in question is b ehaving as a prep osition

Lack of verbal content

These pseudoprep ositions either have no real verbal meaning or have a meaning other than their

ordinary verbal usage

POS tagging

While these pseudoprep ositions are bracketed with a PP lab el the Part of Sp eech tags asso ciated

with these words are still VBG gerund verb or VBN past participle verb as describ ed in the POS

guidelines Santorini

GERUNDS AND PARTICIPLES

PP VBG including

NP DT the

NN kitchen

NN sink

Real prep ositions Note that while during and pending may at rst glance lo ok like participles they

lack corresp onding verbs so these should b e POStagged IN or JJ according to usage However

automatic tagging to ols tend to assign a VBG tag so these may o ccasionally b e erroneously analyzed

as verbs

Examples The following is a partial list of items annotated as pseudoprep ositions

according to barring based on combined with compared with concerning depending on

excluding fol lowing given including provided that regarding

according to

S PP According

PP to

NP NP sources

PPLOC in

NP the White House

NPSBJ the President

VP has

VP been

ADJPPRD depressed

PPTMP since

NP the election

Test According to whom has the President b een depressed

barring

S PP barring

NP NP a recession

and

NP NP a further strengthening

PP of

NP the dollar

PP against

NP foreign currencies

NPSBJ the industry

VP is nt

VP headed

PPCLR for

NP a prolonged slump

based on

VP staggering

NP rates

PP based

PP on

NP NP the size

GERUNDS AND PARTICIPLES

PP of

NP deposit

combined with

S NPSBJ NP The

NX NX glut

and

NX consequent lower prices

PP combined

PP with

NP cancer fears

VP was

NPPRD NP a ADJP very serious blow

PP to

NP growers

compared with

S NPSBJ IBM stock

VP sold

PPCLR at

NP

PP compared

PP with

NP NP

ADVPTMP NP a month

ago

Test Compared with what did IBM sto ck sell at Note also that this use of compared with

diers from its verbal meaning

concerning when equivalent to about

S NPSBJ Imogen

VP admitted

NP NP a mild curiosity

PP concerning

NP Flavia

Test Concerning whom did Imogen admit a mild curiosity

depending on

S PP Depending

PP on

NP the organism

NPSBJ there

VP may

VP be

NPPRD multiplication

PPLOC in

NP some food or beverage products

GERUNDS AND PARTICIPLES

Contrast with its verbal use

S SADV NPSBJ

VP Depending

PPCLR on

NP NP the babysitter s

reliability

NPSBJ they

VP stayed

ADVPLOCCLR out

ADVPTMP late

excluding

S NPSBJ NP net sales

PP of

NP NP all mutual funds

PP excluding

NP money market funds

VP fell

PPDIR to

NP QP billion U

PPTMP in

NP September

PPDIR from

NP QP billion U

PPTMP in

NP August

fol lowing when equivalent to after

S NPSBJ Soviet police

VP clashed

PPCLR with

NP demonstrators

PPLOC in

NP Moscow

PPTMP following

NP NP a candlelight vigil

PPLOC around

NP NP the KGB s

Lubyanka headquarters

Test Following what did the Soviet p olice clash with demonstrators

Contrast with its verbal use

S SADV NPSBJ

VP Following

NP NP the doctor s

directions

NPSBJ she

GERUNDS AND PARTICIPLES

VP took

NP one pill

PPTMP after

NP each meal

given when it means in light of or considering

S PP Given

NP the present conditions

NPSBJ I

VP think

SBAR

S NPSBJ she

VP s

VP done

ADVPMNR rather well

Contrast with verbal use

S SADV NPSBJ

VP Given

NP

NP the chance

NPSBJ I

VP d

VP do

NP it

ADVPTMP again

including

PP including

NP the kitchen sink

provided that

Note that although the pied piping part of the pseudoprep ostionho o d test do esnt work with

that clauses the other criterion lack of verbal meaning is applicable In cases where the that

is absent but interpreted SBAR is inserted

S NPSBJ The prepaid plans

VP may

VP be

NPPRD a good bet

PP provided

SBAR

S NPSBJ NP the guarantee

PP of

NP future tuition

VP is

ADJPPRD secure

GERUNDS AND PARTICIPLES

regarding when it means about

S NPSBJ I

VP need

NP NP some information

PP regarding

NP NP flights

PPDIR to

NP Guam

Multiword prep ositions

The ab ove pseudoprep ositions should not b e confused with multiword prep ositions which are

bracketed at The following is an exhaustive list of multiword prep ositions because of instead of

rather than and such as See section section Orphans

Past Participles

Past participles are lab eled S and adverbial function tags are added if appropriate

Prep ositions

A prep osition or sub ordinator that dominates a past participial clause is bracketed as SBAR The rule ab out

prep ositions as describ ed in section on page applies only to ing clause complements not to other

sentential complements ie until is always a PP with gerund complements b ecause it could take an NP

complement until yesterdaylast year etc However since past participles are always Ss until with a past

participle complement is an SBAR

Function tags

If not under a sub ordinator the participle receives the appropriate function tag

S SADV NPSBJ

VP Given

NP

NP the chance

NPSBJ I

VP d

VP do

NP it

ADVPTMP again

If under a sub ordinator here until it is the sub ordinator that b ears the adverbial function tag

S NPSBJ I

VP will

VP wait

ADVPLOC here

SBARTMP until

S NPSBJ

VP asked

GERUNDS AND PARTICIPLES

NP

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP leave

Coindexation and tracing

Coindexation and tracing pro ceed as usual with past participles This means that there is generally a passive

trace coindexed with a null sub ject in participial clauses The null sub ject is coindexed with another NP in

the sentence if appropriate according to interpretation

Co ordination

Co ordination rules laid out in section Co ordination apply to NP SNOM S SADV with no change See

section Shared Complements and Mo diers for more details on the annotation of co ordinate structures

and shared elements

There are only two sp ecial cases in the co ordination of gerunds and participles the co ordination of SNOM

with NP and S b ecoming SNOM in order to co ordinate with NP

Level of co ordination is lab eled NP

The co ordination of SNOM and NP is lab eled NP

S NPSBJ we

VP must

VP choose

PPCLR between

NP NP peace

and

SNOM NPSBJ

VP keeping

NP the Communists

PPLOCCLR out

PP of

NP Berlin

S b ecomes SNOM

Although the ing clause ob ject in VP is normally lab eled S it is lab eled SNOM when it is co ordinated

with another NP ob ject so that it can b e co ordinated under an NP lab el Coindexation of the null

sub ject is less likely than usual

S NPSBJ I

VP like

NP NP cookies

NP mako sharks

and

SNOM NPSBJ

VP swimming

GERUNDS AND PARTICIPLES

PPLOC in

NP the lake

PPTMP on

NP Tuesdays

If it is necessary to co ordinate any S other than a gerund with an NP the co ordination must b e lab eled

UCP Unlike Co ordinated Phrase

S NPSBJ she

VP gets

UCP NP the best comic bits

and

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP wear

NP glamorous dresses

Reduced relatives and oating participles

There are two kinds of NPmo difying participle the reduced relative and the oating participle

Reduced relatives are those that are closely related to the NP and dont easily app ear in any p osition other

than just after the mo died NP This type tends to roughly corresp ond to restrictive relatives but note

that even this rough distinction is not made for nonreduced relatives Floating participles are those that

move easily around the sentence b eginning and end of sentence as well as just after the noun

Reduced Relative Clause

The reduced relative clause resembles a restrictive relative clause in which the complementizer and auxiliary

verb are absent It p ostmo dies a noun and consists of either a past participle a present participle or an

ADJP NP or PP with sentential mo diers

VP If the reduced relative is a past or present participle the participle is lab eled VP and adjoined to the

NP

S NPSBJ NP An orangutan

VP foaming

PPCLR at

NP the mouth

VP should

not

VP be

VP provoked

NP

In the case of passives the passive trace is indicated by NP However note that this null element do es

not b ear an index as ordinarily it would b e coindexed with the sub ject of the relative clause which in this

case is not present in the annotation

S NPSBJ He

VP bought

NP NP two watches

GERUNDS AND PARTICIPLES

VP designed

NP

PP by

NPLGS Paloma Picasso

Notice that the passive trace NP may sometimes function as the sub ject of a sub ordinate clause

NP NP an elephant

VP called

S NPSBJ

NPPRD Dumbo

SBARPRD because

S NPSBJ his ears

VP were

ADJPPRD so large

NonVP RRC and other likely common alternates The lab el RRC is used only if the reduced

relative is not a VP but rather some other p ostmo dier such as NP PP ADJP or ADVP that itself

has sentential mo diers The RRC bracketing provides an additional level under which to attach these

mo diers Note that use of RRC is rare

NP NP titles

RRC not

ADVPTMP presently

PPLOC in

NP the collection

NP NP the negative ad

RRC PPTMP for

NP years

NP NP a secondary presence

PPLOC in

NP most political campaigns

NP NP this kind

PP of

NP mudslinging

RRC ADVPTMP long

ADJP empty

PP of

NP significant issues

However note that despite this p olicy and despite the fact that reduced relatives of this type are fairly

widespread in the corpus the RRC lab el is in general not used by the annotators Instead one of several

alternate annotations may b e found illustrated here

where mo diers are bracketed as children of the mo difying phrase

GERUNDS AND PARTICIPLES

NP NP titles

PPLOC not

ADVPTMP presently

in

NP the collection

NP NP the negative ad

NP NP ADVPTMP always

a secondary presence

PPLOC in

NP most political campaigns

NP NP this kind

PP of

NP mudslinging

ADJP ADVPTMP long

empty

PP of

NP significant issues

where mo diers are adjoined to the mo difying phrase

NP NP the negative ad

NP PPTMP for

NP years

NP a secondary presence

PPLOC in

NP most political campaigns

NP NP this kind

PP of

NP mudslinging

ADJP ADVPTMP long

ADJP empty

PP of

NP significant issues

where mo diers are adjoined separately to the NP as though they were mo diers of the NP rather

than mo diers of the mo difying phrase itself This option which in fact misrepresents the semantic structure is rare

GERUNDS AND PARTICIPLES

NP NP the books

PPLOC on

NP the shelf

NPTMP yesterday

NP NP the negative ad

PPTMP for

NP years

NP NP a secondary presence

PPLOC in

NP most political campaigns

NP NP this kind

PP of

NP mudslinging

ADVPTMP long

ADJP empty

PP of

NP significant issues

which represents the co ordination of reduced relatives with mo diers placed at the level of co ordi

nation

NP NP this kind

PP of

NP mudslinging

ADJP ADVPTMP long

ADJP empty

PP of

NP significant issues

but

ADVPTMP still

ADJP common

Floating participles

Floating participle is a blanket term used by the Treebank to refer to a mo difying predicate attached at

S or VP level They include past participles present participlesgerunds adjectives and the o ccasional NP

or PP They are bracketed as VPs or PRDs dominated by an SADV

Floating participles are placed at Slevel if they o ccur b efore the verb and at VPlevel if they o ccur after the

verb They are lab eled SADV often with a null sub ject that is coindexed with the appropriate NP usually the sub ject of the matrix clause

GERUNDS AND PARTICIPLES

Before the sub ject

When the oating participle app ears b efore the sub ject it is never analyzed as a reduced relative and

is bracketed as follows

S SADV NPSBJ

ADJPPRD heady

PP with

NP success

NPSBJ I

VP rushed

NP it

PRT in

S SADV NPSBJ

VP Considered

NP

PPCLR as

NP a whole

PRN

S NPSBJ Mr Lane

VP said

SBAR

S T

NPSBJ the filings

VP will

VP be

ADJPPRD effective

S SADV NPSBJ

VP Clad

NP

PPCLR in

NP his trademark black velvet suit

NPSBJ the softspoken clarinetist

VP announced

SBAR that

S NPSBJ NP his new album

NPTTL Inner Voices

VP had

ADVPTMP just

VP been

VP released

NP

GERUNDS AND PARTICIPLES

After the sub ject nonadjacent to the sub ject

When the oating participle app ears after the sub ject and nonadjacent to the sub ject it is never

analyzed as a reduced relative

S NPSBJ I

VP rushed

NP it

PRT in

SADV NPSBJ

ADJPPRD heady

PP with

NP success

After the sub ject adjacent to the sub ject

If the participle app ears after the sub ject but adjacent to it or its mo diers it can b e bracketed either

as a reduced relative or as a oating participle Annotators use the following tests to decide whether

a given mo dier is a reduced relative or a oating participle Of course which tests the annotator

decides to use will inuence the eventual annotation In most cases the outcome is the same but there

is some variation in the results The tests are listed in the order that they are most likely to b e used

by the annotators

Distinguishing oating participle from reduced relative

a Mobility

Is its semantic relation to the sentence maintained if it is moved around the sentence

Yes oating participle

No reduced relative

Rep orted by the advisory committee the progress is real

This participial clause cannot move therefore reduced relative

S NPSBJ NP The progress

VP reported

NP

PP by

NPLGS the advisory committee

VP is

ADJPPRD real

b Commas

Do es it have comma intonation insofar as that can b e ascertained There is a strong tendency for

the choice to b e inuenced by the presence of commas in the text which signal comma intonation

in the case of oating participles

Yes oating participle

No reduced relative

And now the woman tired and trembling came here

This participial clause requires comma intonation therefore oating participle

S And

ADVPTMP now

NPSBJ the woman

GERUNDS AND PARTICIPLES

SADV NPSBJ

UCPPRD ADJPPRD tired

and

VP trembling

VP came

ADVPDIR here

PPDIR to

NP the DeKalb County cannery

c Paraphrase with while or being

Is its semantic relation to the sentence maintained if while or being is inserted

Yes oating participle

No reduced relative

The Rusk b elief while replacing

This is OK therefore oating participle

S NPSBJ NP The Rusk belief

PP in

NP balanced defense

SADV NPSBJ

VP replacing

NP NP the Dulles theory

PP of

NP massive retaliation

VP removes

NP a grave danger

The progress while rep orted This is not OK therefore reduced relative

S NPSBJ NP The progress

VP reported

NP

PP by

NPLGS the advisory committee

VP is

ADJPPRD real

d Paraphrase with whichthat isare

Is its semantic relation to the sentence maintained if whichthat isare is inserted

Yes reduced relative

No oating participle

The progress that is rep orted

This is go o d therefore reduced relative

S NPSBJ NP The progress

VP reported

NP

PP by

NPLGS the advisory committee

VP is

GERUNDS AND PARTICIPLES

ADJPPRD real

Nonparticipial SADVs

Note that although the vast ma jority of SADVs are in fact oating participles any adverbial mo dier

that contains a predicate merits S the relevant adverbial tags for example innitival clauses and

things such as I hope not too late

S S NPSBJ She

VP asked

SBAR if

S NPSBJ I

VP had

NP other advice

and

S NPSBJ I

VP rushed

NP it

PRT in

SADV NPSBJ I

VP hope

SBAR

S NPSBJ

ADJPPRD not too late

INFINITIVES

Innitives

Bare innitives

Complements of verbs

Bare innitives ie ones without to preceding them are bracketed as VPs The bare innitive complements

of p erception verbs see hear feel and causative verbs make let have also help are bracketed together

with the NP preceding them as a complement S The structural sub jects of b oth the matrix clause and the

embedded clause are tagged SBJ

S NPSBJ I

VP saw

S NPSBJ him

VP do

NP it

Imp eratives

Imp eratives are bracketed similarly The addressee if present in the sentence is tagged VOC Note that

the sub ject is not coindexed with the VOC phrase

S NPVOC Junior

NPSBJ

VP finish

NP your dinner

To innitives

These fall into quite a few categories but the basic structure of an innitival with to is

S NPSBJ subject

VP to

VP main verb

The _{may b e either overt a null or in certain relative clauses a null T}

Innitival relative clauses IRCs

The null sub ject of an IRC is never indexed except when the gap is in sub ject p osition in which case the

WHNP element is coindexed with a T

Trace in verbal ob ject p osition

NP NP much research

SBAR WHNP

S NPSBJ

VP to

INFINITIVES

VP do

NP T

Trace in prep ositional ob ject p osition

NP NP a crisis

SBAR WHNP

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP get

PPCLR past

NP T

PPTMP within NP a few days

Trace in sub ject p osition

Active

NP NP bloodhounds

SBAR WHNP

S NPSBJ T

VP to

VP trail

NP the assassins

Passive

NP NP work

SBAR WHNP

S NPSBJ T

VP to

VP be

VP done

NP

With for

NP NP a desirable organization

SBAR WHNP

for

S NPSBJ us

VP to

VP join

NP T

Trace in adjunct p osition

NP NP time

SBAR WHADVP

S NPSBJ

VP to

INFINITIVES

VP go

ADVPTMP T

With wh word

NP NP three levels

SBAR WHPP on

WHNP which

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP treat

NP the subject

PPLOC T

Some tricky cases

Despite the o ccasional intuition that the following innitivals and others like them are complements

they are bracketed as adjunct relative clauses

the rst::: to:::

S NPSBJ It

VP was

NPPRD NP the first

PPLOC in

NP the series

SBAR WHNP

S NPSBJ T

VP to

VP be

VP sponsored

NP

PP by

NPLGS First Lady

Jacqueline Kennedy

the only::: to:::

S NPSBJ The National Gallery

VP is

NP NP the only museum

PPLOC in

NP the country

SBAR WHNP

S NPSBJ T

VP to

VP have

NP a fulltime music director

INFINITIVES

Complements of nouns

The innitival complements of nouns do not get SBAR structure and are instead lab eled S The null sub ject

in this case do es not get an index See section Mo dication of NP for more information ab out the

bracketing of complements of nouns

NP a brave attempt

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP describe

NP the English language

Complements of adjectivesadverbs

The likely type with null sub ject Certain sub jectraising adjectives such as likely take an

innitival complement whose sub ject is interpreted as coreferent with the sub ject of the matrix clause For

these adjectives the null sub ject of the innitive is coindexed to the matrix sub ject

S NPSBJ This distinction

VP is

ADJPPRD likely

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP be

ADJPPRD difficult

S NPSBJ Zaphod

VP is

ADJPPRD ready willing and able

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP eat

NP the steak

The tough type with null ob ject Other adjectives such as tough take an innitival complement that

contains a gapp ed ob ject of PP or VP which is represented with T coindexed to a WHNP in an

SBAR introducing the clause

S NPSBJ A pro

VP is

ADJPPRD tougheasyhard

SBAR WHNP

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP beat

NP T

S NPSBJ NP Sentences

PP with NP tough

VP are

INFINITIVES

ADJPPRD tough

SBAR WHNP

for

S NPSBJ syntacticians

VP to

VP explain

NP T

S

NPTTLSBJ Psyche

VP is

NPPRD NP a lush sweetsounding affair

SBAR

WHNP that

S NPSBJ T

VP was

ADJPPRD pleasant

SBAR WHNP

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP encounter

NP T

ADVPTMP once

again

After enough Enough introduces an innitival clause with either a null or overt sub ject and no gap

otherwise

S NPSBJ There

VP has

not

VP been

NPPRD NP time

ADJP enough

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP institute

NP reforms

S NPSBJ We

VP want

S NPSBJ our policy

VP to

VP be

ADJPPRD consistent enough

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP please

NP everyone

INFINITIVES

S NPSBJ We

VP need

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP put

PRT in

NP enough gas

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP reach

NP Reno

S NPSBJ We

VP need

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP put

PRT in

NP enough gas

SBAR for

S NPSBJ the car

VP to

VP reach

NP Reno

After too Too in an adjective or adverb phrase often introduces an innitival clause that indicates extent

Some of these have obvious gaps and in others its dicult to nd one If a gap is apparent the innitival

is lab eled SBAR and a T in the p osition of the gap is coindexed with WHNP in SBAR as in a and

b If no gap is apparent the innitival is lab eled S and attached under ADJP as in c

Ob ject gap

S NPSBJ NP The desolation

PP of

NP a postattack world

VP would

VP be

ADJPPRD too awful

SBAR WHNP

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP face

NP T

Sub ject gap

S NPSBJ NP NP Col Faget s

information

PP on NP Cuba

INFINITIVES

VP was

ADJPPRD too outdated

SBAR WHNP

S NPSBJ T

VP to

VP be

ADJPPRD useful

S NPSBJ Miss Schwarzkopf

VP is

NPPRD NP ADJP too great

an artist

SBAR WHNP

S NPSBJ T

VP to

VP need

NP them

No apparent gap

S S NPSBJ the risks

VP were

ADJPPRD too high

S RNR

and

S NPSBJ the potential payoff

ADVPPRD too far

PP in

NP the future

S RNR

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP justify

NP a higher offer

S NPSBJ It

VP was

ADJPPRD too late

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP worry

PPCLR about

NP that

Purp osereason clauses

Sentential purp ose clauses Normal innitive purp ose clauses ie those without a gap express a

purp osereason for the action describ ed by the verb They are simply lab eled SPRP and attached at VP

level The null sub ject is coindexed as appropriate

INFINITIVES

S NPSBJ Mary

VP took

NP a class

SPRP NPSBJ

VP to

VP learn

NP statistics

S NPSBJ The figures

VP were

VP adjusted

NP

SPRP NPSBJ

VP to

VP remove

NP NP the effects

PP of

NP usual seasonal patterns

Ob ject and sub ject purp ose clauses OPCs and SPCs Ob ject and sub ject purp ose clauses express

a purp ose for an ob ject as opp osed to a purp osereason for the action describ ed by the sentence as a whole

They contain a gap and are usually bracketed as relative clauses p ossibly with a PRP tag on the SBAR or

S As noted if the gap is not obvious the clause may b e bracketed as a sentential purp osereason clause

Ob ject

S NPSBJ We

VP bought

NP NP a broom

SBARPRP WHNP

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP sweep

NP the floor

PPMNR with

NP T

Sub ject

S NPSBJ John

VP designed

NP NP telescopes

SBARPRP WHNP

S NPSBJ T

VP to

VP sit

PPLOC on

NP Kitt Peak

INFINITIVES

SPCs are dicult to distinguish from innitival semicomplements see section Small Clauses under

designtype verbs so the ab ove sentence may receive the analysis b elow instead

S NPSBJ John

VP designed

NP telescopes

SCLR NPSBJ

VP to

VP sit

PPLOC on NP Kitt Peak

Complements of verbs

Indirect questions Innitival clauses headed by a wh word are bracketed just as tensed complement

clauses are with a null sub ject

S NPSBJ I

VP do nt

VP know

SBAR WHNP what

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP do

NP T

PPCLR with

NP this sentence

S NPSBJ I

VP asked

NP the boss

SBAR WHNP what

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP do

NP T

Ditransitives The Treebank recognizes only a very small number of verbs that allow an innitive clause

complement with a separate NP indirect ob ject The following list of ditransitives is based on

Quirk et al section

advise ask beg beseech chal lenge command counsel detail direct enjoin exhort forbid implore incite

instruct invite order persuade pray promise remind request recommend teach tel l urge

By default verbs not on this list are bracketed as monotransitives taking a single S complement Note that

verbs like al low authorize bribe encourage force inspire and require are not included here and should

b e bracketed with a single S complement For ease of reference much of this information is rep eated in

section Small Clauses See Quirk et al section for more on the problem of distinguishing

ditransitives from complex transitives

These innitive clause complements have a null sub ject that is coindexed with the sub ject or indirect ob ject of the verb according to interpretation

INFINITIVES

S NPSBJ Ford

VP persuaded

NP Zaphod

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP run

PPCLR for

NP president

S NPSBJ Zaphod

VP promised

NP Ford

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP run

PPCLR for

NP president

S NPSBJ Zaphod

VP was

VP persuaded

NP

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP run

PPCLR for

NP Galactic president

Monotransitives and complex transitives All verbs in these classes are bracketed with a single clausal

S complement If there is no expressed sub ject a null sub ject is added and coindexed with the logical

antecedent If the clause is introduced by for for app ears as a complementizer inside SBAR

With overt sub ject

S NPSBJ I

VP believe

S NPSBJ it

VP to

VP be

NPPRD a fair copy

S NPSBJ The following prompts

VP allow

S NPSBJ you

VP to

VP specify

SBAR WHADVP how

S NPSBJ you

VP want

S NPSBJ the printed output

INFINITIVES

VP to

VP look

ADVPMNR T

With null sub ject

S NPSBJ We

VP decided

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP move

This includes raising constructions

S NPSBJ The Soviets

VP are

ADVP widely

VP believed

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP need

NP additional supplies

S NPSBJ the demon

VP seems

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP have

VP gone

after be

When be acts as a semimo dal the sub ject of the innitival clause is coindexed and the S should not

receive a PRD tag

S NPSBJ You

VP are

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP resign

ADVPTMP immediately

However if be is acting as a simple linking verb the S complement is tagged PRD and its sub ject is

not coindexed

S NPSBJ His idea

VP was

SPRD NPSBJ

VP to

VP leave

INFINITIVES

ADVPTMP ADVP as soon

PP as

ADJP possible

With for

S NPSBJ I

VP sat

S NPSBJ

VP waiting

SBAR for

S NPSBJ Life

VP to

VP VP come

ADVPCLR along

and

VP sweep

NP me

PRT up

With extrap osition

S NPSBJ I

VP consider

S NPSBJ NP it

S EXP

VP to

VP be

NPPRD my job

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP keep

S NPSBJ the customer

VP ADVP well

informed

NP

Semicomplement clauses Certain verbs eg use design hire build are frequently followed by a

closely related adjunct clause However they are not generally considered complements since deleting the

clause do es not appreciably change the meaning of the verb These clauses are frequently bracketed with

CLR however to indicate the middle ground that they o ccupy b etween argument and adjunct

See section Small Clauses for examples and more information under Use and verbs like design and

also section ab ove page under SPCs

Verbs like cost and take These verbs app ear in two dierent constructions that alternate with each

other as listed b elow Possible approaches to bracketing are listed under each

Innitival semicomplement Verbs like cost and take often introduce a noun phrase complement

of duration or extent followed by an innitival semicomplement that contains a gap that is often interpreted as coreferential with the matrix sub ject

INFINITIVES

The pro cess will take as many as six months to complete

The place costs nearly million a year to maintain

Innitival lab eled SCLR gap not marked

S NPSBJ The process

VP will

VP take

NP QP as many as six

months

SCLR NPSBJ

VP to

VP complete

Innitival lab eled SPRP gap not marked

S NPSBJ The place

VP costs

NP NP QP nearly million U

NPADV a year

SPRP NPSBJ

VP to

VP maintain

Innitival lab eled SCLR gap marked with ellipsed material

S NPSBJ The plant

VP will

VP cost

NP QP about million Canadian dollars

SCLR NPSBJ

VP to

VP build

NP

it extrap osition These verbs also app ear in a construction that lo oks like it extrap osition though it

is not necessarily bracketed that way see section It Extrap osition for more on the annotation of

extrap osition structures

It will take as many as six months to complete the pro cess

It costs nearly million a year to maintain the place

It will take Ford days to sell o the current inventory

Innitival lab eled SPRP innitival null sub ject coindexed with matrix ob ject

S NPSBJ it

VP may

VP take

NP us

NP QP six to nine months

SPRP NPSBJ

VP to

VP find

NP the money

INFINITIVES

Extrap osition structure no coindexation

S NPSBJ NP it

S EXP

VP may

VP take

NP us

NP QP six to nine months

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP find

NP the money

SMALL CLAUSES AND THEIR NEAR RELATIVES

Small Clauses and their near relatives

This section is concerned with the closely related complements of certain verbs The verbs discussed here

generally have a noun phrase complement that is the logical sub ject of a second complement that app ears

to b e predicated of the rst complement a construction often referred to as a small clause However

since we cannot hop e to capture all the subtleties of the small clausetype structures describ ed in syntactic

literature we therefore annotate alike all complement pairs that show a predicative relationship As a

result this section covers many constructions that are not small clauses in the technical sense including

constructions which up on closer insp ection may in fact not merit the predicative analysis we give them here

Note also that the p olicy describ ed here turns out to b e a bit to o complex to follow entirely consistently

Users of the corpus should therefore exp ect a little roughness around the edges

Bracketing

In general nonnite clausal complements are lab eled S The sub ject of the clause is marked SBJ and

the predicate is marked PRD unless the predicate is a VP which never b ears the PRD tag

S NPSBJ I

VP consider

S NPSBJ Kris

NPPRD a fool

If the verb is passive the null passive ob ject is shown as the sub ject of a clause

S NPSBJ Kris

VP is

VP considered

S NPSBJ

NPPRD a fool

PP by

NPLGS most people

Small clauses may b e structurally distinguished from ordinary main clauses by the fact that they are imme

diately dominated by a VP and lack a tensed verb or mo dal POStagged VBP VBZ VBD or MD in an

Slevel VP

Small clause criteria

The main diculty lies in distinguishing whether a particular verb has a clausal complement or two inde

p endent complements that are not so closely related the latter exemplied by give Calvin a comic book or

persuade Hobbes to eat Calvin neither of which are given the small clause analysis In all cases for a pair

of complements to b e eligible for small clause bracketing the NP complement must b e the logical sub ject

of the second complement

In addition it should meet certain requirements in the form of syntactic and semantic tests which are

sp ecic to the nature of the predicate as describ ed in the following sections The tests in a given section are

only intended to apply to the sort of predicate that the section is concerned with For example the criteria

for adjectival predicates do not apply to adverbial predicates and viceversa The intention of this p olicy

is to make bracketing decisions much faster and easier by allowing the annotator to decide most cases by

quick easy rules only resorting to Tests in a few cases Note that despite this intention some annotators

o ccasionally confused the sections and applied incorrect criteria to dierent predicates esp ecially among the

nonverbal predicates Again users of the corpus should exp ect a little roughness around the edges

SMALL CLAUSES AND THEIR NEAR RELATIVES

Overt sub ject clausal complements

Verbal predicates

toinnitives

These are usually bracketed as a single S with a small list of ditransitive exceptions see b elow and

some variation in the case of verbs of the usedesign type see page See section Innitives

for a slightly longer story on these

a Monotransitives S complement

Most verbs take a single S complement

S NPSBJ This

VP does not

VP allow

S NPSBJ the mystery

VP to

VP invade

NP us

S NPSBJ he

VP had

ADVPTMP finally

VP gotten

S NPSBJ NP Chairman Bill Hollowell

PP of

NP the committee

VP to

VP set

NP it

PPCLR for

NP NP public hearing

PPTMP on

NP Feb

b Ditransitives NP S complement

The following verbs are considered ditransitives and take an NP and an S complement Note

that here we are only concerned with ditransitives that have clausal complements see section

Overview of Basic Clause Structure and section Notation for information ab out verbs such

as give or compare that take two complements or semicomplements that are not clausal

advise ask

beg beseech

chal lenge command counsel

detail direct

enjoin exhort

forbid

implore incite inform instruct invite

order

persuade pray promise

remind request recommend

teach tel l urge

SMALL CLAUSES AND THEIR NEAR RELATIVES

By default verbs not on this list are bracketed as monotransitives taking a single S complement

Note that verbs like al low authorize bribe encourage force inspire and require are not included

here and are bracketed with a single S complement

S NPSBJ He

VP told

NP me

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP wake

NP you

c Use and verbs like design

Verbs of this category are bracketed according to a system that grew out of annotator conventions

and semiocial decisions that were followed to varying degrees as describ ed here

Use

Most annotators lab el the innitival following use SCLR

S NPSBJ Miss McCullers

VP uses

NP her

NX NX NP poet s instinct

and

NX NP storyteller s skill

SCLR NPSBJ

VP to

VP reaffirm

NP NP her place

PPLOC at

NP NP the very top

PP of

NP modern

American writing

But note that one annotator diverged signicantly from this convention b eing more likely

to lab el innitivals following active use SPRP with no coindexing of the null sub ject and

more likely to lab el innitivals following passive use as S with the null sub ject acting as the

passive trace

Design type verbs including hire build write and others

This class consists of verbs that take a direct ob ject and an optional innitive whose sub ject

generally receives its reference from the direct ob ject This type is not as common as use

The corpus reects three basic approaches none esp ecially more common than the others

i PRP andor CLR

The innitive may b e tagged with PRP or CLR with the null sub ject often coindexed

with the direct ob ject

S NPSBJ I

VP designed

NP the bomb

SCLR NPSBJ

VP to

VP explode

PP on

NP contact

SMALL CLAUSES AND THEIR NEAR RELATIVES

S NPSBJ the vehicles

VP were

VP built

NP

SPRPCLR NPSBJ

VP to

VP meet

NP US government

auto safety standards

S NPSBJ the Senate Ethics Committee

VP should

VP hire

NP a special outside counsel

SCLR NPSBJ

VP to

VP conduct

NP an investigation

ii Simple monotransitive

The innitive may b e bracketed as a simple monotransitive esp ecially in passive con

structions

S NPSBJ he

VP has

VP hired

S NPSBJ civil engineers

VP to

VP check

PRT out

NP his own

ADJP mildly damaged

building

S NPSBJ the offering

VP was

VP designed

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP create

NP NP longterm incentives

PP for

NP employees

iii Sub ject purp ose clause

The innitive may b e bracketed as a sub ject purp ose clause which might have PRP on

the S PRP on SBAR or no PRP at all

S NPSBJ John

VP designed

NP NP telescopes

SBARPRP WHNP

S NPSBJ T

VP to

SMALL CLAUSES AND THEIR NEAR RELATIVES

VP sit

PPLOC on

NP Kitt Peak

S NPSBJ the company

VP has

VP hired

NP NP an investment banker

SBAR WHNP

S NPSBJ T

VP to

VP help

S NPSBJ it

VP raise

NP additional cash

d Triple complements

These are very rare One common way of handling such constructions might b e

S PPTMP In NP and

NPSBJ the English Muscovy Company

VP had

VP sent

NP him

ADVPDIR northward

SCLR NPSBJ might have PRP too

VP to

VP look

PPCLR for

NP NP a route

PPLOC

PP over

NP the North Pole

or

PP across

NP NP the top

PP of

NP Russia

Bare innitives

These are always bracketed as a single S see section Innitives list for details

S NPSBJ The following

VP helps

S NPSBJ you

VP plan

PPCLR for

NP NP future use

PP of

NP the system monitor

Present participles

SMALL CLAUSES AND THEIR NEAR RELATIVES

These are bracketed as a single S See also section Gerunds and Participles

S NPSBJ You

VP d

VP see

S NPSBJ her

VP correcting

NP homework

PPLOC in

NP the stands

PPLOC at

NP a football game

S ADVP Lastly

NPSBJ governmental and private planners

VP will

PPTMP at NP this stage

VP begin

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP see

S NPSBJ large capital requirements

VP looming

ADVPLOCCLR ahead

Note that this could also b e interpreted as requirements which are looming in which case it should

b e bracketed as a reduced relative See section Gerunds and Participles for details on the bracketing

of reduced relatives

Past participles

These are bracketed as a single S The gap contains a passive trace coindexed with the clausal sub ject

S NPSBJ I

VP want

S NPSBJ NP the room

PPLOC in

NP the attic

VP prepared

NP

PPBNF for

NP him

S NPSBJ NP the man

SBAR WHNP who

S NPSBJ T

VP submits

NP a manuscript

PPCLR to NP a publisher

VP will

VP find

SMALL CLAUSES AND THEIR NEAR RELATIVES

S NPSBJ himself

VP reviewed

NP

SBARTMP before

S NPSBJ he

VP is VP accepted NP

S NPSBJ I

VP had

VP had

S NPSBJ my name

VP taken

NP

PPDIR out

PP of

NP the telephone book

Adjectival predicates

These are generally given a clausal analysis Verbs that receive the clausal analysis for their adjectival pred

icates include but are not limited to hold keep leave call report like prefer want believe consider nd

imagine presume think drive get make certify declare proclaim This list is based on Quirk et al

section

S NPSBJ People

VP find

S NPSBJ this statement

ADJPPRD utterly impenetrable

With as

Adjectival predicates introduced by as are lab eled PPCLR with no small clause

S NPSBJ They

VP do not

VP consider

NP NP themselves

and

NP their plight

PPCLR as

ADJP statistical

Resultatives

A few adjectival predicates are more adverbial than predicative and are not given the clausal analysis

These are extremely rare in the entire WSJ corpus This bracketing is used only when eliminating

the putative predicate causes no substantial change in the meaning of the rest of the sentence

That is if you

lick the platter clean eat sh unco oked

SMALL CLAUSES AND THEIR NEAR RELATIVES

paint the town red

sho ot the man dead

p ound the nail at

you also

lick the platter

eat sh

paint the town

sho ot the man

p ound the nail

However if you

drive your parents crazy

get your brother in trouble

make your sister happy

declare the manual unwritable

you generally dont

drive your parents

get your brother

make your sister

declare the manual

Thus the second set of verbs take a simple small clause analysis The rst set on the other hand get

the more complicated resultative structure

S NPSBJ They

VP painted

NP the apartment

SCLR NPSBJ

ADJPPRD orange

pink

and

white

PP according

PP to

NP her instructions

S NPSBJ NP the government s

action

VP caught

NP Jaguar management

SADV NPSBJ

ADJPPRD flatfooted

S NPSBJ She

VP had

VP VP raised

NP a calf

SMALL CLAUSES AND THEIR NEAR RELATIVES

VP grown

NP it

SCLR NPSBJ

ADJPPRD beeffat

Pseudoadjectives Phrases with adjectival meaning and predicate adjective distribution that are

lab eled something other than ADJP also receive a clausal analysis

S NPSBJ John

VP got

S NPSBJ Bob

PPPRD in

NP trouble

S NPSBJ Sam

VP wanted

S NPSBJ the whole house

PPPRD in

NP order

SBARTMP before

S NPSBJ he

VP came

ADVPDIR downstairs

Nominal predicates

Verbs with two NP complements receive either a small clause analysis

S NPSBJ The late

NAC Secretary PP of NP State

John Foster Dulles

VP considered

S NPSBJ the Geneva agreement

NPPRD NP a specimen

PP of NP appeasement

or a double ob ject analysis

S NPSBJ His bel canto style

VP gave

NP the performance

NP a special distinction

Small clauses are distinguished by an equative relationship b etween the rst complement NP and the

second NP That is two NP complements are given the clausal analysis when it makes sense to say

NP is NP In almost all cases where a small clause bracketing was conceivable the annotator made the

NPs into a small clause Therefore virtually all NP pairs that are directly under a VP and not within a

complement clause and also not tagged with CLR TMP etc are indirect ob jectdirect ob ject pairs

Verbs that can take this kind of Small Clause include hold keep leave call pronounce wish believe

consider nd imagine think appoint elect make vote certify christen declare name among others

SMALL CLAUSES AND THEIR NEAR RELATIVES

For example

Small Clause

S NPSBJ House Speaker Sam Rayburn

VP called

S NPSBJ the Kennedy program

NPPRD a ADJP mighty fine thing

S NPSBJ That

VP makes

S NPSBJ them

NPPRD a reasonable option

S NPSBJ NP John A Conlon Jr

NP

VP was

VP named

S NPSBJ

NPPRD NP a managing director

PPLOC at

NP this investmentbanking company

Double ob ject

S NPSBJ I

VP permitted

NP the invading car

NP free access

Adverbial predicates

Most ADVP and PP complements that express direction or lo cation are not shown as small clauses and are

instead tagged with CLR or LOCCLR with the exception of put whose lo cative complement gets PUT

These verbs include put get send drive show keep leave among others

S NPSBJ We

VP put

NP the proposal

PPPUT on NP the table

S NPSBJ We

VP left

NP the cat

PPLOCCLR at NP home

SMALL CLAUSES AND THEIR NEAR RELATIVES

There are however a few ab out tokens adverbial small clauses in the corpus These include cases

where the adverbial is actually adjectival but receives a bracket lab el such as PP see pseudoadjectives

in section page for more information They also include cases where the annotator had an strong

intuition of smallclauseness misundersto o d the p olicy or simply made an error This is most likely to

happ en with verbs like get keep and leave which frequently app ear with adjectival predicates

S NPSBJ The doctor

VP wanted

S NPSBJ him

PPLOCPRD in NP a hospital

S NPSBJ they

VP could

VP get

S NPSBJ some roadblocks

PPPRD out

PP of

NP the way

With as Predicates introduced with as are lab eled with PPCLR without a small clause

VP consider

NP Spain Portugal and Greece

PPCLR as

NP possible manufacturing sites

VP listed

NP NP the mayor s

occupation

PPCLR as

NP attorney

Particle predicates

Particles are not treated as clausal predicates although some particle verbs app ear with constructions that

resemble small clauses For example in turn the light o the light is o as a result of the action

describ ed by the verb We do not however bracket these as small clauses

S NPSBJ

VP turn

NP the light

PRT off

Null sub ject clausal complements

Active

to innitive complement

SMALL CLAUSES AND THEIR NEAR RELATIVES

If the verb is active and there is a single innitival complement one which is not a purp ose clause the

complement S is bracketed with a null sub ject In general the null sub ject should also b e coindexed

with the sub ject of the main clause However if the sentential sub ject is not interpreted as the sub ject

of the lower clause there is no coindexation

S NPSBJ I

VP would

VP like

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP think

PPCLR of

NP NP a way

SBAR

WHADVP

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP make

NP a little extra money

ADVPMNR T

S But

INTJ alas

NPSBJ the authenticity

VP seems

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP stop

PPLOCCLR at

NP NP the set s edge

ing participial clauses includes serial verbs

These are also lab eled S and given null sub jects coindexed as appropriate See section Gerunds

and Participles for more information on the bracketing of participial complements of VP

S NPSBJ I

VP d

ADVP rather

VP VP keep

S NPSBJ

VP bailing

or

VP sink

S ADVP Characteristically

NPSBJ Trevelyan

SMALL CLAUSES AND THEIR NEAR RELATIVES

VP enjoyed

S NPSBJ

VP writing

NP the work

Passive

Small clause complements as dened in section ab ove

Passives of verbs that take single clausal complements are annotated with the NP passive trace

in sub ject p osition of the small clause Examples are given here for verbal adjectival and nominal

predicates

Verbal

S NPSBJ Professional responsibility

VP is

VP seen

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP consist

ADVP largely

PPCLR in

SNOM NPSBJ

VP serving

NP NP the wishes

PP of NP the client

UCPMNR ADVP fairly

and

PP in

NP an efficient

manner

S NPSBJ NP the tall figure

PP with

NP the rifle and field glasses

VP had

VP been

VP seen

S NPSBJ

VP riding

NPDIR that way

Adjectival

S NPSBJ Such vital information

PRN

S NPSBJ he

VP said

SBAR

S T

VP has

S NPSBJ

SMALL CLAUSES AND THEIR NEAR RELATIVES

VP to

VP be

VP made

S NPSBJ

ADJPPRD available

PP to

NP the public

UCPTMP ADVP frequently

and

PP at NP regular intervals

SBARPRP for

S NPSBJ residents

VP to

VP know

Nominal

S And

NPSBJ he

VP was

nt

ADVP really

VP elected

S NPSBJ

NPPRD NP treasurer

PP of NP the science club

NP NP a factor

SBAR WHNP which

S NPSBJ T

VP has

VP caused

S NPSBJ the Citizens Group

VP to

VP obtain

NP signatures

PP under

SBARNOM

WHNP what

S NP T

VP were

VP termed

S NPSBJ

NPPRD false pretenses

Double complement passives

Verbs that take a double complement when not passive receive the same analysis when in the passive

with the same sort of coindexing

Ditransitive innitive cf section

SMALL CLAUSES AND THEIR NEAR RELATIVES

Verbs such as persuade in the passive are annotated with two null elements a passive trace

coindexed with the structural sub ject and a null sub ject in the innitive coindexed with the

passive ob ject

S NPSBJ Zaphod

VP was

VP persuaded

NP

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP run

PPCLR for NP Galactic president

Adverbial adjectiveResultative cf section

S NPSBJ Fish

VP are

ADVPTMP sometimes

VP eaten

NP

SCLR NPSBJ

ADJPPRD uncooked

Sp ecial problems

Heavy shift

When the NP is heavy and therefore moved past the predicate the clause is bracketed S and the dierent

word order is represented by the SBJ tag on the sub ject

S NPSBJ I

VP VP lifted

NP the lines

PPCLR from NP the dust

and

VP found

S VP hitched

NP

PPCLR to NP that plow

NPSBJ NP the finest team

SBAR WHNP

S NPSBJ I

ADVPTMP ever

VP held

NP a rein

PPCLR on

NP T

S NPSBJ The Supreme Court

VP let

S VP stand

NPSBJ NP a New York court s ruling

SMALL CLAUSES AND THEIR NEAR RELATIVES

SBAR that

Note in some cases annotators lab eled these clauses SINV even though this is slightly inconsistent with

the denition of SINV as S containing tensed verb or mo dal preceding clause sub ject Since small clauses

dont contain a tensed verb or mo dal by denition they should not b e lab eled SINV

Co ordination

Small clauses like everything else are co ordinated as low as p ossible

S NPSBJ The cow

VP kept

S S NPSBJ her eyes

ADJPPRD open

and

S NPSBJ her mind

PPPRD on NP her business

S NPSBJ NP any one

PP of

NP these spiced meats

VP VP makes

S NPSBJ a man

NPPRD a cook

and

VP ADVPTMP sometimes

S NPSBJ a meal

NPPRD a feast

CLEFTS

Clefts

It clefts or true clefts

Cleft sentences contain the nonreferential sub ject pronoun it followed by a form of the verb be followed

by the clefted p ortion followed by a nal clause with gap eg It is the clumsy child who sustains the

worst injuries

Declarative it clefts

Declarative it clefts are lab eled SCLF it receives the SBJ tag as the surface sub ject the clefted part or

fo cus is tagged PRD as the complement of be the nal clause SBAR is attached at VP level and is not

marked with a dash tag

The adverbial function tags LOC MNR PRP TMP etc are used only on the trace in the sub ordinate

clause not in the clefted part of the sentence which may only b e tagged PRD

Sub ject as fo cus

SCLF NPSBJ It

VP is

NPPRD the clumsy child

SBAR WHNP who

S NPSBJ T

VP sustains

NP the worst injuries

Direct ob ject as fo cus

SCLF NPSBJ It

VP is

NPPRD this conclusion

SBAR WHNP that

S NPSBJ we

VP challenge

NP T

Manner as fo cus

SCLF NPSBJ It

VP was

ADVPPRD slowly

SBAR WHADVP that

S NPSBJ Kris

VP opened

NP the door

ADVPMNR T

Time as fo cus

CLEFTS

SCLF NPSBJ It

VP is

ADVPPRD then

SBAR WHADVP that

S NPSBJ young queens

VP begin

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP appear

ADVPTMP T

Lo cation as fo cus

SCLF NPSBJ It

VP was

PPPRD at

NP the bus stop

SBAR WHADVP that

S NPSBJ we

VP met

ADVPLOC T

Purp osereason as fo cus

SCLF NPSBJ It

VP was

SBARPRD because

S NPSBJ he

VP got

ADJPPRD sick

SBAR WHADVP that

S NPSBJ we

VP cancelled

NP the meeting

ADVPPRP T

Interrogative it clefts

Interrogative cleft sentences are lab eled SQCLF see section Overview of Basic Clause Structure for the

treatment of SQs The rest of the sentence is annotated as describ ed ab ove for declarative clefts

SQCLF Was

NPSBJ it

NPPRD John

SBAR WHNP who

S NPSBJ T

VP came

PPDIR to

NP the party

PPMNR in

NP a dress

CLEFTS

Inversion in it clefts

A cleft sentence that app ears inside an SINV is lab eled SINVCLF and the p ostp osed clause is attached at

VP level as with other types of clefts describ ed in this section In this case the inverted cleft functions as

a conditional clause and is thus lab eled SBARADV see section Overview of Basic Clause Structure for

more on the treatment of inverted conditionals

S SBARADV SINVCLF Had

NPSBJ it

VP been

NPPRD NP Wonder Woman

CONJP rather than

NP Aquaman

SBAR WHNP who

S NPSBJ T

VP was

VP flying

NP the plane

NPSBJ it

VP might

not

VP have

VP crashed

Gapping across cleft sentences

Gapping across cleft sentences pro ceeds in the same way as with other instances of gapping

SCLF PPTMP In

NP the past

NPSBJ it

VP has

VP VP been

NPPRD the husband

SBAR WHNP who

S NPSBJ T

VP has

VP been

ADJPPRD dominant

and

VP NPPRD the wife

ADJPPRD passive

Wh clefts or pseudo clefts

Wh clefts do not receive sp ecial treatment in the corpus They contain a freeheadless relative followed by

a form of the verb be followed by a predicate eg What sustained the worst injuries was the car See

section WH Phrases on free relatives

ITEXTRAPOSITION

ItExtrap osition

Itextrap osition from sub ject p osition

When a clausal sub ject is p ostp osed expletive it app ears in the structural sub ject p osition Characteristic

of itextrap osition is that the nal clause can replace it It is a pleasure to teach her To teach her is a

pleasure

Declaratives with it extrap osition

Declaratives with it extrap osition are analyzed as it be predicate logical sub ject Sentences that

contain extrap osed clausal sub jects are lab eled S The nal clause is attached at VP level and adjoined to

the it with EXPattach and the NP containing the two is tagged SBJ as the surface sub ject Like the

SBARs in it clefts and unlike all other noncomplement SBARs in VP the extrap osed clauses do not have

adverbial dash tags As usual the complement of be b ears the PRD tag Note that the LGS tag is not used

in this case but only for the logical sub jects of passive sentences see section Overview of Basic Clause

Structure and section Null Elements on LGS

S NPSBJ NP It

S EXP

VP is

NPPRD a pleasure

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP teach

NP her

S NPSBJ NP It

SBAR EXP

VP does

nt

VP matter

SBAR WHNP what

S NPSBJ you

VP do

NP T

S NPSBJ NP it

S EXP

VP behooves

NP the hospital management

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP do

NP some

ADJP mighty careful

planning

S NPSBJ NP It

S EXP

VP s

ITEXTRAPOSITION

ADJPPRD ADJP easier

SBAR ICH

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP get

ADJPPRD worse

SBAR than

FRAG ADJPPRD better

PPLOC in

NP this game

Interrogatives with it extrap osition

Interrogatives with it extrap osition are lab eled SQ see section Overview of Basic Clause Structure for

the treatment of SQ The rest of the sentence is annotated as describ ed ab ove for the declarative version

SQ Is

NPSBJ NP it

SBAR EXP

ADJPPRD possible

SBAR that

S NPSBJ he

VP killed

NP her

Inversion with it extrap osition

Extrap osition may o ccur within SINV see section Overview of Basic Clause Structure for the treatment

of SINV

SINV PPLOC Under

NP no circumstances

would

NPSBJ NP it

S EXP

ADVPTMP ever

VP be

ADJPPRD acceptable

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP permit

NP NP the termination

PP of

NP the human race

Exclamatives with it extrap osition

Exlamatives that contain it extrap osition are lab eled SBAR and contain the wh phrase followed by the

expletive sub ject followed by be followed by a coindexed trace in the p osition of the gap followed by the

extrap osed clause eg How bizarre it is that they eat bugs

ITEXTRAPOSITION

SBAR WHADJP How bizarre

S NPSBJ NP it

SBAR EXP

VP is

ADJPPRD T

SBAR that

S NPSBJ they

VP eat

NP bugs

Ambiguity with itextrap osition

A p ossible ambiguity arises when the nal clause is headed by for

Innitival with overt sub ject In some cases the entire for clause is extrap osed and therefore can b e

fronted to replace it eg It was impossible for anyone to escape For anyone to escape was impossible

Treating the entire for clause as extrap osed represents the default option

S NPSBJ NP It

SBAR EXP

VP was

ADJPPRD impossible

SBAR for

S NPSBJ anyone

VP to

VP escape

PP innitival In other cases it is only the innitive with null sub ject that is extrap osed and for

heads an indep endent PP eg It is dicult for Wil lie to resist chocolate To resist chocolate is dicult

for Wil lie For Wil lie to resist chocolate is dicult

S NPSBJ NP It

S EXP

VP is

ADJPPRD difficult

PP for

NP Willie

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP resist

NP chocolate

S NPSBJ NP It

S EXP

VP was

ADJPPRD easy

PP for

NP the psalmist

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP sing

ITEXTRAPOSITION

NP them

PPTMP in

NP his day

Gapping with it extrap osition

Gapping across sentences with it extrap osition pro ceeds in the same way as with other instances of gapping

S S NPSBJ It

VP VP is

ADJPPRD nice

PP for

NP teachers

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP think

SBAR

S NPSBJ they

VP are

VP engaged

NP

PPCLR in

NP personality development

and

VP ADVPPRD even nicer

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP minimize

NP NP those irksome tests

PP with

NP ADJP often disappointing

results

It extrap osition in small clauses

When it extrap osition o ccurs from the sub ject p osition of a small clause it is treated in a manner similar

to extrap osition of the clausal sub ject as describ ed in section with the exception that in this case

the extrap osed clause is put at Slevel rather than VPlevel which in the small clause do es not exist For

example I nd it annoying that you constantly interrupt me when I am speaking I nd that you constantly

interrupt me when I am speaking annoying

S NPSBJ I

VP find

S NPSBJ NP it

SBAR EXP

ADJPPRD annoying

SBAR that

S NPSBJ you

ADVPTMP constantly

VP interrupt

NP me

ITEXTRAPOSITION

SBARTMP WHADVP when

S NPSBJ I

VP am

VP speaking

ADVPTMP T

S NPSBJ We

VP made

S NPSBJ NP it

S EXP

NPPRD our objective

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP finish

NP the projects

PPMNR in

NP a timely fashion

Itextrap osition from ob ject p osition

There is no established p olicy for the annotation of these constructions and it extrap osition from ob ject

p osition is quite rare in the corpus This is how one example was done

S But

NPSBJ I

VP liked

NP it

SBAR that

S NPSBJ they

VP d

VP brought

NP their children

Most other cases of putative ob ject it extrap osition are analyzed in the corpus as extrap osition from the sub ject p osition of a small clause see section

SUBJECTRAISING PREDICATES

Sub jectRaising Predicates

Sub jectraising predicates are those wherein the sub ject of an embedded clause can optionally b e raised

to the sub ject p osition of the matrix clause eg It appears that John is sick Johni appears PROi to

be sick This section describ es the annotation of unraised raising predicates only Raised sub jectraising

predicates are discussed in section Innitives

The that clause is bracketed as a complement of the sub jectraising verb or adjective and the it in sub ject

p osition is lab eled SBJ

Active verbs

The sub jectraising verbs include appear be chance happen seem etc

S NPSBJ It

VP seems

SBAR that

S NPSBJ he

VP was

VP lying

S NPSBJ It

VP may

VP be

SBARPRD that

S NPSBJ I

VP was

ADJPPRD wrong

Passive verbs

The sub jectraising passive verbs include add assume believe claim decide nd grant hope know observe

prove remember say see show suggest etc Unlike with it extrap osition here the that clause is an

argument of the verb even though it can b e fronted There is thus no passive trace Note that in their active

forms all of these verbs take a that clause complement even without the additional NP complement

S NPSBJ It

VP was

ADVPMNR widely

VP believed

SBAR that

S NPSBJ the world

VP was

ADJPPRD flat

S NPSBJ It

VP has

VP been

VP claimed

SBAR that

S NPSBJ money

VP is

SUBJECTRAISING PREDICATES

NPPRD NP the root

PP of

NP all evil

A note on variation these are easy to confuse with it extrap osition and some examples in the corpus are

bracketed as extrap osition with a passive trace

S NPSBJ NP It

SBAR EXP

VP was

ADVPMNR widely

VP believed

NP

SBAR that

S NPSBJ the world

VP was

ADJPPRD flat

Adjectives

The sub jectraising adjectives include certain likely etc See section Innitives for more ab out this

construction and its raised variant Note that these also are easily confused with it extrap osition

S NPSBJ It

VP is

ADJPPRD likely

SBAR that

S NPSBJ I

VP will

VP be

PPPRD on

NP time

S NPSBJ It

VP is

ADJPPRD certain

SBAR that

S NPSBJ he

VP will

VP win

Sub jectraising predicates in small clauses

Sub jectraising predicates may also app ear in small clauses

S NPSBJ

VP Let

S NPSBJ it

VP be

VP granted

ADVP then

SBAR that

S NPSBJ NP the theological differences

SUBJECTRAISING PREDICATES

PPLOC in

NP this area

PP between

NP NP Protestants

and

NP Roman Catholics

VP appear

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP be

ADJPPRD irreconcilable

Inversion with sub jectraising predicates

The following are examples of sub jectraising predicates in SINV

SINV ADVPLOC Nowhere

is

NPSBJ it

VP proven

SBAR that

S NPSBJ you

VP have

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP be

ADJPPRD rich

SPRP NPSBJ

VP to

VP be

ADJPPRD happy

SINV PP in

NP no way

is

NPSBJ it

ADJPPRD likely

SBAR that

S NPSBJ we

VP will

VP solve

NP NP all the problems

PP of

NP syntax

WEATHER IT AND REFERENTIAL IT

Weather it and Referential it

Weather it and referential it receive no sp ecial annotation

S NPSBJ It

VP s

VP raining

Instances of referential it include uses such as the following

S NPSBJ It

VP ll

ADVP probably

VP be

NPTMPPRD QP at least an

hour

QP or two

SBARTMP before

S NPSBJ I

VP can

VP check

ADVPCLR back

PPCLR with

NP you

S NPSBJ It

VP is

NPPRD NP time

SBAR WHADVP

for

S NPSBJ you

VP to

VP go

ADVPTMP T

EXISTENTIAL THERE

Existential there

Note that the ATIS sample included in this release uses an extrap osition treatment of these cases while the

WSJ corpus do es not

ATIS bracketing

This construction app ears only in questions in the ATIS sample

SQ Are

NPSBJ NP there

NP EXP

NP NP any flights

VP arriving

PPTMP after

NP eleven am

SBARQ WHNP WHADJP How many stops

SQ are

NPSBJ NP there

NP EXP

NP T

SBARQ WHNP WHNP What flights

PPDIR ICH

PPDIR ICH

PPTMP ICH

SQ are

NPSBJ NP there

NP EXP

NP T

PPDIR from

NP Milwaukee

PPDIR to

NP Phoenix

PPTMP on

NP Saturday

WSJ bracketing

S NPSBJ There

VP is

NPPRD a lovely statue

PPLOC in

NP the garden

S NPSBJ There

VP was

NPPRD a sudden noise

EXISTENTIAL THERE

SQ Are

NPSBJ there

NPPRD NP any flights

VP arriving

PPTMP after

NP eleven am

With a relative clause

S NPSBJ There

VP is

NPPRD NP nothing

SBAR WHNP

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP eat

NP T

S NPSBJ There

VP has

VP been

NPPRD NP a lot

VP accomplished

NP

NPTMP today

With a clausal complement or adjunct

S NPSBJ There

VP is

NPPRD no use

SADV NPSBJ

VP trying

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP Explain

PPDIR to

NP a yearold

S ADVPTMP NP A few weeks

ago

NPSBJ I

VP read

PPLOC in

NP the Bulletin

SBAR that

EXISTENTIAL THERE

S NPSBJ there

VP were

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP be

VP given

NP

NPPRD Chinese classes

PPLOC in

NP Cranston

THOUGH CLEFTS

Though Clefts

Though clefts are considered a sp ecial case of topicalization and so are bracketed as follows See section

Null Elements for more details

S SBARADV VPTPC Shout

PPCLR at

NP Eichmann

though

S NPSBJ he

VP might

VP T

NPSBJ the Prosecutor

VP could

not

VP establish

S SBARADV ADJPPRDTPC Airless and dingy

though

S NPSBJ it

VP was

ADJPPRD T

NPSBJ the attic

VP represented

NP luxury

COMPARATIVES

Comparatives

This section describ es comparative structures and related structures Comparatives represent a complex and

dicult problem and the bracketing p olicy for comparatives was never nalized As a result variation in

analysis is more prevalent for comparatives than for simpler constructions

Basic to ols for bracketing the thanthatas phrase

The than that or as is bracketed as either a PP or an SBAR and a certain amount of variation exists in

the choice of PP or SBAR SBAR is used when the rest of the thanthatas phrase is a tensed sentence

or when it contains a sub ject PP is in general used when the rest of the thanthatas phrase is a single

constituent There is a tendency to use SBAR when the rest of the thanthatas phrase is a VP or other

predicate tagged PRD even if it is a single word and when the rest of the phrase is dominated by FRAG

though PP may also b e used

The rest of the thanthatas phrase after the than that or as is most often bracketed simply with the bracket

lab els and function tags appropriate for the constituent It may b e dominated by FRAG particularly if more

than one constituent is involved or if the rest of the phrase is a VP or other predicate but not an S

The null element is used to indicated missing constituents in the predicate of the thanthatas phrase

See section Null Elements for a more complete description of the uses of The null element has

the bracket lab el that the missing constituent would have if present see section

Throughout this section on comparatives alternate bracketings are shown when they seem particularly likely

or common ie not all of the p ossible variants are shown for each example

A schematic for p ossible bracketings follows

PP or SBAR for the than that or as

PP thanas

xP rest of phrase

OR

SBAR thanthatas

S rest of phrase

For the rest of the phrase after the than that or as

Appropriate bracket lab el and function tags

PP than

NP ice cream

OR

SBAR as

S NPSBJ I

VP was

FRAG may dominate

PP as

FRAG ADJP possible

COMPARATIVES

OR

SBAR as

FRAG ADJPPRD possible

With predicates the null element may b e used for missing parts of the predicate

SBAR as

S NPSBJ I

VP was

ADJPPRD

Adjunction

The default for most comparative constructions is to Chomskyadjoin the thanthatas phrase to the

comparative phrase ADJP ADVP NP If the comparative phrase is an NP mo dier the thanthatas

phrase is adjoined to the entire NP rather than to the mo dier

Examples of several common constructions follow

AS

AS AS

ADJP ADJP as mysterious

PP as

NP NP a tiny hole

PPLOC in

NP my skin

AS MUCH AS

S NPSBJ it

VP might not

VP mean

NP NP as much

SBAR as

S NPSBJ it

VP means

PP to

NP us

NOT SO MUCH AS

NP NP not

ADVP so much

a search

PP for

NP truth

PP as

PP for

NP certainty

COMPARATIVES

AS ADJP A NPSBAR AS

NP NP ADJP as good a year

PP as

NP

THAN

ER THAN

ADJP ADJP friendlier

PP than

NP NP a dog

PP on

NP a picnic

MORE THAN

ADJP ADJP more interesting

SBAR than

S NPSBJ I

VP thought

OR

ADJP ADJP more interesting

SBAR than

S NPSBJ I

VP thought

S

THAT

SO THAT

ADJP ADJP so friendly

SBAR that

ADVP ADVP so slowly

SBAR that

SO A THAT

NP NP so playful a kitten

SBAR that

SUCH A THAT

NP NP such a playful kitten

SBAR that

COMPARATIVES

Items intervening b etween the comparative phrase and the thanthatas

phrase

Simple adjunction

The thanthatas phrase is adjoined as usual to the comparative phrase if the intervening item is another

mo dier of the same comparative phrase ie not attached at a higher level

S NPSBJ There

VP s

NPPRD NP more reading and instruction

SBAR WHNP

S NPSBJ T

VP to

VP be

VP heard

NP

PPLOC on

NP discs

PP than

ADVPTMP ever before

ICHattachment

If the intervening item is attached at a higher level the thanthatas phrase is ICHattached and the

ICH null element adjoined to the comparative phrase

S NPSBJ it

VP might not

VP mean

NP NP as much

SBAR ICH

PP to

NP German banking

SBAR as

S NPSBJ it

VP means

PP to

NP us

S NPSBJ NP More industrial acreage

PP ICH

VP lies

ADVPCLR vacant

PPLOC in

NP St Clair county

PP than

PPLOC in

NP NP any other jurisdiction

PPLOC in

NP the St Louis area

COMPARATIVES

Thanas phrase containing only one constituent

In most cases when the thanas phrase contains only one constituent the than or as is bracketed as a PP

with the single constituent as its complement

However when the single constituent is a predicate ie a VP or PRD the than or as is often bracketed

as an SBAR The predicate may b e immediately dominated by FRAG or S with a null sub ject

with NP

S NPSBJ I

VP like

NP cake

ADVP ADVP more

PP than

NP ice cream

with PP

S NPTMP Last year

NPSBJ the average broker

VP earned

NP NP U

ADJP ADJP NP

lower

PP than

PPTMP in

NP

OR

ADJP ADJP NP lower

PP than

FRAG PPTMP in

NP

with VP

S NPSBJ visitors

VP have

NP NP more

SBAR WHNP

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP do

NP T

COMPARATIVES

PP than

VP ski

OR

NP NP more

SBAR WHNP

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP do

NP T

SBAR than

S NPSBJ

VP ski

OR

NP NP more

SBAR WHNP

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP do

NP T

SBAR than

FRAG VP ski

OR

NP NP more

SBAR WHNP

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP do

NP T

PP than

FRAG VP ski

with PRD

S

NPSBJ NP It

S EXP

VP s

ADJPPRD ADJP easier

SBAR ICH

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP get

ADJPPRD worse

SBAR than

FRAG ADJPPRD better

COMPARATIVES

with expected

S NPSBJ NP The total

PP of

NP NP deaths

PP from

NP NP malignant mesothelioma

NP lung cancer

and

NP asbestosis

VP was

ADJPPRD ADJP far higher

SBAR than

S NPSBJ

VP expected

OR

ADJPPRD ADJP far higher

SBAR than

S NPSBJ

VP expected

NP

OR

SBAR than

FRAG VP expected

NOTE if expected o ccurs in a eshedout sentence a is likely to b e used as in

NP NP fiscal fourthquarter earnings

SBAR WHNP that

S NPSBJ T

VP were

ADJPPRD ADJP better

SBAR than

S NPSBJ analysts

VP had

VP expected

S

with possible usual etc

Usually done as a PP with an ADJP complement

NP NP more

PP than

ADJP usual

COMPARATIVES

NP NP as many

ADJP solidly minority

districts

PP as

ADJP possible

Rarely done as SBAR

NP NP as many

ADJP solidly minority

districts

SBAR as

FRAG ADJPPRD possible

More complicated thanas phrases use of

When the thanas phrase contains b oth a sub ject and a p ortion of a predicate these constituents form the

basis of an S and the missing elements ie the elements which are interpreted but not realized are often

represented by See section Null Elements for more details on

In the following list the likelihoo d of there b eing a go es from greatest to least

sub ject copular verb missing predicate most likely use for

In this example the missing predicate is a PP assumed to b e something like of military value

S NPSBJ Laos

VP is

PPPRD of

NP NP ADJP ADVP no more

purely military

value

SBAR ICH

PP to

NP NP Moscow

NP itself

SBAR than

S NPSBJ it

VP is

PPPRD

PP to

NP Washington

sub ject other main verb missing direct ob ject

S NPSBJ the Controller

VP will

VP have

NP NP the opportunity

PP for

NP NP greater usefulness

COMPARATIVES

PP to

NP good government

SBAR than

S NPSBJ he

VP has

NP

ADVPTMP now

sub ject auxiliary missing main verb

S NPSBJ The submission

VP would

VP place

NP the issues

PPLOCCLR before

NP the court

ADVP ADVP more readily

SBAR than

SINV would

NPSBJ NP discussion

PP in

NP the abstract

VP

sub ject main verb missing clausal complement

S NPSBJ the steel strike

VP lasted

ADVPTMP ADVP much longer

SBAR than

S NPSBJ he

VP anticipated

SBAR

S

OR

S NPSBJ the steel strike

VP lasted

ADVPTMP ADVP much longer

SBAR than

S NPSBJ he

VP anticipated

SBAR

sub ject auxiliary auxiliary replaces main verb

COMPARATIVES

S NPSBJ Bill

VP ate

NP NP more hotdogs

SBAR than

S NPSBJ Mary

VP did

VP

NPTMP yesterday

S NPSBJ Bill

VP eats

NP NP more hotdogs

SBAR than

S NPSBJ Mary

VP does

VP

OR

S NPSBJ Bill

VP eats

NP NP more hotdogs

SBAR than

S NPSBJ Mary

VP does

Sup erlative relative clause

Sup erlatives with relative clauses are bracketed using the standard bracketing for an NP with a relative

clause mo difying it There is no comparative structure shown

S NPSBJ He

VP was

ADVP altogether

NPPRD NP the ADJP most combustible looking man

SBAR WHNP

S NPSBJ I

ADVPTMP ever

VP saw

NP T

FINANCIALSPEAK CONVENTIONS

Financialsp eak conventions

This section covers some of the constructions that are sp ecic to texts ab out nancial happ enings hereafter

referred to as Financialsp eak Note that some of the treatments describ ed b elow are not found in any

context outside Financialsp eak

Salient features of Financialsp eak text

Annotators determine intuitively whether a particular set of tokens is Financialsp eak Text that annotators

consider to b e Financialsp eak tends to have one or more of the following characteristics

It contains verbs like rise grow increase decrease drop fal l jump close nish etc

the entire le is a list of rising and falling sto ck or b ond prices

rising and falling monies

rep etitious sentence structures centering around the ab ove verbs

its talking ab out nancial stu but you dont really know whats going on

theres no sensible way to interpret the sentence other than as Financialsp eak

Though the Treebank has no precise way of delimiting Financialsp eak there is a reasonable degree of

agreement among annotators ab out when they are bracketing Financialsp eak

Bracketing conventions

Bracketing of updownphrases in VP

Updown phrases are bracketed ADVPCLR when they immediately follow the Financialsp eak verbs

listed ab ove particularly closed settled and nished and when there are no other constituents The

quanticational NP ie points is attached as a complement of up or down

S NPSBJ IBM

VP closed

ADVPCLR up

NP points

S NPSBJ IBM

VP finished

ADVPCLR down

NP points

After copular verbs updown phrases are lab eled PRD

S NPSBJ IBM

VP was

ADVPPRD up

NP points

FINANCIALSPEAK CONVENTIONS

Nonupdown phrases which are interpreted as describing the sub ject in some way and which follow

noncopular verbs may b e interpreted as secondary predication as follows

S NPSBJ IBM

VP finished

SADV NPSBJ

ADJPPRD unchanged

If the VP contains an updown phrase followed by another mo dier there is no dened p olicy dictating

which items receive CLR The corpus may contain the following bracketings

S NPSBJ Copper

VP finished

ADVPCLR down

NP cents

PPCLR at

NP NP U

NPADV a pound

S NPSBJ Copper

VP finished

ADVPCLR down

NP cents

PP at

NP NP U

NPADV a pound

Note that constructions like cents lower are treated the same as updown phrases

S NPSBJ Copper

VP finished

ADVPCLR NP cents

lower

PPCLR at

NP NP U

NPADV a pound

If an item intervenes b etween an updown phrase and the verb and the updown phrase is a child of

VP see the next section for Attachment the updown phrase do es not receive CLR

S NPSBJ NP Volume

PPLOC on

NP the first section

VP was

VP estimated

NP

PPCLR at

FINANCIALSPEAK CONVENTIONS

NP QP billion shares

ADVP up

PP from

NP QP million

NPTMP Tuesday

Attachment child of VP versus NP adjunct

When items intervene b etween an updown phrase and the verb the updown phrase is attached at

VP level if it is p ossible to say SBJ to b e ADVP As mentioned in the preceding section the

updown phrase do es not receive CLR

S NPSBJ Sales

VP were

NPPRD QP billion U

ADVP down

PP from

NP QP billion U

PPTMP in

NP the quarter

S NPSBJ IBM

VP rose

PPDIR to

NP

ADVP up

NP

S NPSBJ The Financial Times share index

VP finished

PPCLR at

NP

ADVP up

NP points

Otherwise ie if one cant say SBJ to b e ADVP the updown phrase is attached to the NP

The US is up billion from a year ago

S NPSBJ The US

VP imported

NP NP QP billion barrels

PP of

NP oil

ADVP ICH

NPTMP this year

ADVP up

NP QP billion

PP from

ADVPTMP NP a year ago

FINANCIALSPEAK CONVENTIONS

CLR on PPs asso ciated with sold bought estimate priced

S NPSBJ The Water Works

VP was

VP sold

NP

PPCLR for

NP

S NPSBJ shares

VP were

VP bought

NP

PPCLR from

NP the unsuspecting old lady

S NPSBJ NP PAFAs

stock

VP sold

PPCLR at

NP NP U

NPADV a share

S NPSBJ NP convertible debentures

PP of

NP ABC

VP were

VP priced

NP

PPCLR at

NP U

SCLR NPSBJ

VP to

VP yield

NP

PPDIR and double complements

The prep ositions to and from are lab eled PPDIR when they are complements of a Financialsp eak

verb

Financialsp eak to and from are analyzed as optionally taking two complements a range and a time

The time will always b e tagged TMP and the range will have no dash tag The p ossibilities are

a tofrom range time

b tofrom range

c tofrom time

Both range and time will b e bracketed as complements of the prep osition ie attached at the same

level as children of the PP

Examples

FINANCIALSPEAK CONVENTIONS

range

S NPSBJ IBM

VP rose

NPEXT

PPDIR to

NP QP

time

S NPSBJ NP The

ADJP West German

machinery and plant equipment industry s

orders

VP rose

NPEXT an inflationadjusted

PPTMP in

NP September

PPDIR from

NPTMP a year earlier

range time

S NPSBJ Annual inflation

VP rose

PPDIR to

NP

PPTMP in

NP October

PPDIR from

NP

PPTMP in

NP September

Miscellaneous note

Only in Financialsp eak and only when the mother PP is a PPDIR can temp oral

mo diers b e put inside a PP as in this example

S NPSBJ unconsolidated pretax profit

VP increased

NPEXT

PPDIR to

NP QP billion yen

PPTMP in

NP NP the first half

VP ended

NPTMP Sept

PPDIR from

NP QP billion yen

ADVPTMP NP a year

ago Otherwise TMP things go at S or VP level

FINANCIALSPEAK CONVENTIONS

S PPLOC In

NP active trading

PPTMP on

NP Tuesday

NPSBJ IBM

VP vanished

S NPSBJ Bats

VP invaded

NP my apartment

PPTMP at

NP midnight

NPTMP Friday

Financialsp eak bracketing conventions covered elsewhere in this manual

For information ab out QPs see section Mo dication of NP For information ab out EXT see section Notation

NUMBERED LISTS

Numbered Lists

The bracketings describ ed b elow for lists that include list item markers also generalize somewhat to similarly

long lists that lack item markers

LST

Letters and numerals which identify items in a list and their surrounding punctuation are lab eled

LST

LST LRB

RRB

List item markers include

a b c

i ii iii one two three

The list item marker is made a child of the constituent it precedes

When the enumerated items are listed in one sentence they are conjoined

S NPSBJ It

VP was

VP used

NP

SCLR NPSBJ

VP VP LST LRB

RRB

to

VP investigate

NP wave behavior

VP LST LRB

RRB

to

VP estimate

NP the wave energy

and

VP LST LRB

RRB

forecast

NP coastal changes

NUMBERED LISTS

When the enumerated items o ccur in separate sentences ie each list item ends with a p erio d or some

other kind of nal punctuation treat the colon as nal punctuation and place each list item in its

own set of empty outer parentheses

S NPSBJ The aged care plan

VP carries

NP these benefits

PP for

NP NP persons

PP over

NP

NP LST

NP Full payment

PP of

NP NP hospital bills

PP for

NP NP stays

NP QP up to days

NP LST

NP Full payment

PP of

NP nursing home bills

PPTMP for

NP NP QP up to days

PPTMP following

NP NP discharge

PP from

NP a hospital

NP LST

NP Hospital outpatient clinic diagnostic service

PP for

NP NP all costs

PP in

NP NP excess

PP of

NP NP

NPADV a patient

Lists in app osition

PPPRP for

NP NP several reasons

NP NP LST

NP NP Broglio s

NX NX wonlost record

and

NX earnedrun mark

PP against

NUMBERED LISTS

NP Pittsburgh

ADVPTMP NP a year

ago

NP LST

The desire

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP give

NP Broglio

NP NP ADJP as many

starts

PP as

ADJP possible

NP LST

NP NP The Redbirds

disheartening collapse

PP against

NP the Phillies

NPTMP Sunday

The b elow contains an example of a nonnumbered list Treatment is similar to that for numbered

lists the list items are adjoined if not separated by nal punctuation and the adjoined list is in turn

adjoined to the introducing phrase

In this case the introducing phrase is not adjacent to the list so the list but not the separating

colon is ICHattached Finally the entire list is group ed under NP b ecause TTL implies NOM

and multiples NOMs are adjoined under NP

S NPSBJ NP books

NP ICH

VP are

VP recommended

NP

PPMNR with

NP gusto

NP NPTTL Crime and Punishment

STTL NPSBJ One

VP Flew

PP Over

NP NP the Cuckoo s

Nest

and

NPTTL NP The House

PPLOC at

NP Pooh Corner

CORRELATIVE THE CLAUSES

Correlative the Clauses

Treatment of prop ortional clauses introduced by the fronted correlative thethe is based up on the following

schematic bracketing

S SBARADV X the sooner

S our vans hit the road each morning

X the easier

it is for us to fulfill that obligation

Annotators were to try to approximate the ab ove bracketing as b est they could for thethe constructions

encountered in the WSJ corpus Thethe p olicy was not a high priority for the Treebank due to the rarity

and irregular nature of these constructions so a more sp ecic p olicy do es not exist

The following examples show how some sentences from the corpus might have b een bracketed

S SBARADV X The sooner

S NPSBJ our vans

VP hit

NP the road

NPTMP each morning

X the easier

NPSBJ NP it

SBAR EXP

VP is

ADJPPRD

SBAR for

S NPSBJ us

VP to

VP fulfill

NP that obligation

S SBARADV X the more

S NPSBJ a scandal

VP has

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP do

PPCLR with

NP NP NP a congressman s

duties

PP as

NP a congressman

X the

ADJP less likely

NPSBJ it

VP is

S NPSBJ

CORRELATIVE THE CLAUSES

VP to

VP catch

NP NP the fancy

PP of

NP a network

S SBARADV X the more

S NPSBJ he

VP muzzles

NP his colleagues

X the more

NPSBJ leaks

VP will

VP pop

PRT up

PPLOC all around

NP Washington

S

SBARADV X The less

S NPSBJ they

VP know

NP

X the easier

NPSBJ it

VP is

PP for

NP us

S SBARADV X The more

S NPSBJ we

VP think

PPCLR about

NP it

X the more

NPSBJ we

VP suspect

SBAR

S NPSBJ Mr Brady

VP does

ADVP indeed

VP have

NP enough power

SBARLOC WHADVP where

S NPSBJ he

ADVPTMP already

VP is

ADVPLOCPRD T

CORRELATIVE THE CLAUSES

S NPSBJ A trader

VP said

SBAR that

X SBARADV X the more

S NPSBJ an issue

VP gained

NP

ADVPTMP recently

X the sharper

NP NP the loss

VP sustained

NP

NPTMP Wednesday

S SBARADV X The more factories and robots

S NPSBJ Japanese manufacturers

VP add

NP

S X the more

NPSBJ they

VP will

VP be

ADJPPRD able

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP export

NP

and

S X the less

NPSBJ their domestic customers

VP will

VP need

S NPSBJ

VP to

VP import

NP

ORPHANS

Orphans

This section includes miscellaneous constructions that have not found a home under other headings and

other o ddities

List of miscellaneous phrases

al l about

S PPTMP from

NP childhood

NPSBJ he

VP had

VP known

PPCLR all about

NP knives

as of

PPTMP as

PP of

NP the first

come as in come spring cleaning PP

S NPSBJ You

VP can

VP hope

PP against

NP hope

SBAR that

S PPTMP come

NP spring cleaning

NPSBJ your fairweather friends

VP will

eective

The word eective o ccasionally introduces an adverbial with a time complement as in The chairman is

resigning eective Monday These are fairly rare so no uniform treatment exists

Some are analyzed as oating participials

S NPSBJ he

VP is

VP quitting

SADV NPSBJ

ADJPPRD effective

NPTMP Dec while others are simply ADJP often with a ADV or TMP tag

ORPHANS

S NPSBJ Columbia Pictures Entertainment Inc

VP was

VP dropped

NP

ADJPADV effective

NPTMP today

PPDIR from

NP the recreational products group

half see also the section on Multipliers in section Mo dication of NP

using half whole wheat and half white our

S NPSBJ

VP using

NP NP half whole wheat

NX RNR

and

NP half white

NX RNR

NX flour

no doubt

as adverb

S NPSBJ He

NPADV no doubt

VP will

VP go

S NPSBJ He

VP ll

NPADV no doubt

VP go

as noun

S NPSBJ There

VP s

NPPRD no doubt

SBAR that

S NPSBJ he

VP ll

VP go

no matter

ORPHANS

S PPLOC In

NP the stands

NPSBJ he

VP is

ADJPPRD lonely and lost

ADVP no matter

SBAR WHNP how many

S NP T

VP are

PPLOCPRD about

NP him

percent

Percent is simply a at NP whether or not it is written with a space

NP percent

NP per cent

regardless of

ADVP regardless

PP of

though

clefted see section Though clefts and section Null Elements for more on though clefts

fronted SBARADV

SBARADV Though FRAG ADJP limited

not fronted conjunction

NP NP the

ADJP welldefined

though

limited

range

PP of

NP motifs

using

VP estimated

SMNR NP

VP using

worth

ORPHANS

with complement ADJP

Note that some instances of this use of worth are lab eled PPPRD as in b however the use of

ADJPPRD as in a predominates

a S PP With

NP NP respect

PP to

NP this view

NPSBJ two points

VP are

ADJPPRD worth

S NPSBJ

VP making

S NPSBJ NP the results

ADJP however general

VP are

ADJPPRD worth

NP the search

b S PP With

NP NP respect

PP to

NP this view

NPSBJ two points

VP are

PPPRD worth

SNOM NPSBJ

VP making

S NPSBJ NP the results

ADJP however general

VP are

PPPRD worth

NP the search

dol lars worth NP

There is considerable variation but here is a common way of analyzing expressions like ve dol lars

worth

VP issue

NP NP ADJP QP some million to million U worth

ORPHANS

PP of

NP Rural Roads Authority bonds

Flat multiword ADVPs and PPs

The following are annotated as at ADVPs

al l but

at al l

at best

at least

at most

more than doubled

Unfortunately the POS tagging for these is more often though not always comp ositional atIN

al lDT See the POS guidelines Santorini for more information

The following are annotated as at PPs

because of

instead of may also b e CONJP

rather than may also b e CONJP

such as

NP NP desserts

PP such as

NP NP ice cream

and

NP brownies

Foreign words

There is no sp ecial bracket tag for foreign words They are simply bracketed according to the annotators

interpretation of their syntactic function If the annotator is unable to determine its syntactic function the

phrase is lab eled X The internal structure of foreign phrases is not annotated

S NPSBJ My favorite

VP is

NPPRD NP pie

PP a la mode

S NPSBJ The new movie

VP is

NPPRD a tour de force

ORPHANS

NP NP ballooning

PPTMP at

NP NP the ADJP de rigueur hour

PP of

NP am

Negation

The negative element not is always left unlab eled and is attached in accordance with the p olicy governing

the attachment of all adverbials See reduced relatives sections in section Gerunds and Participles and

in section Shared Complements and Mo diers for more information ab out negation in those cases

S NPSBJ I

VP do

not

VP understand

S NPSBJ She

VP is

not

NPPRD a certified teacher

S NPSBJ She

VP is

not

VP listening

S NPSBJ I

VP am

VP VP going

PPNOM to NP that other restaurant

and

VP not

eating

NP overpriced overcooked broccoli stalks

ADVPTMP again

S NPSBJ I

VP am

VP VP going PP to NP that other restaurant

CONJP but not

VP ordering NP their broccoli

REFERENCES

References

Marcus et al Marcus M Kim G Marcinkiewicz MA MacIntyre R Bies A Ferguson M

Katz K and Schasberger B The Penn Treebank Annotating Predicate Argu

ment Structure in Proceedings of the Human Language Technology Workshop March

Morgan Kaufmann Publishers Inc San Francisco CA

Marcus et al Marcus M Santorini B Marcinkiewicz MA Building a large annotated cor

pus of English the Penn Treebank Computational Linguistics Vol

Quirk et al Quirk R Greenbaum S Leech G and Svartvik J A comprehensive grammar

of the English language Longman London

Santorini Santorini B PartofSpeech Tagging Guidelines for the Penn Treebank Project

rd Revision Tech Rep ort MSCIS Linc Lab Department of Computer and Information Science University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia

Index

pseudo

in comparatives interrogative

wh clefts

CLF

about to

CLR

absolute with

in nancialsp eak

adjectives

coindexing

ADJP vs S as noun mo dier

and ing clauses

substantive

limits of

ADJP

colons

adjuncts

come

shared

comparatives

comparative adjectives adverbs

nouns

adjunction

verbs

sup erlative relative clause

ADV

complementation

adverbials

complements

ADVP

clausal

al l about

overt sub ject

al l but

double

along with

of nouns

ambiguity

adjuncts

b enign

clausal complements

complex structural

of prep ositions

p ermanent predictable

shared

app osition

adjectives

to predicate

nouns

arguments

prep ositions

internal

verbs

as if

triple

as of

conditionals

as though

CONJP

as wel l as

conjunctions

at al l

co ordinating

at best

bracketing of

at least

discontinuous

at most

quasi

attachment

quasico ordinating

levels of

sub ordinating

AUX

bracketing of

mo diers of

because of

co ordination

b enefactives

general guidelines

BNF

of gerundsparticiples

braces

of unlike categories

bracket lab els

phraselevel

brackets

wordlevel

by phrases

copular verbs

simple copular complements

clause types

correlative the clauses

clefts

INDEX

cost headlines

heavy shift

dashes

HLN

dates

how come

dative PPs

hyphens

dative shift

DIR ICHattach

discontinuous dep endency identity index

ditransitive verbs if not

ditransitives if clauses

clausal imp eratives

prep ositional in case

do so constructions in order tothatfor

DTV in that

inasmuch as

eective

indexing

ellipses

innitival relatives

enough

innitives

existential there

bare

EXPattach

to innitives

EXT

complements of adjectivesadverbs

complements of nouns

nancialsp eak

complements of verbs

updown phrases in VP

innitival relative clauses

bracketing conventions

purp osereason clauses

miscellaneous

insofar as

at ADVPs

instead of

at PPs

instrument phrases

foreign words

INTJ

formfunction discrepancies

inversion

FRAG

inverted auxiliary

free relatives

it clefts

fromto

declarative

fronted constituents

gapping in

function tags

interrogative

inversion

gap coindexing

it extrap osition

gapping

ambiguity

at Slevel

declarative

in noun phrases

exclamative

in prep ositional phrases

EXPattach

intersentential

from ob ject p osition

intrasentential

from sub ject p osition

NOT

gapping

template

in small clauses

wRNRattach

interrogatives

VP gapping

inversion

gerunds

and participles distinction b etw

LCB

as complement of SBAR

leftdislo cation

as complement of verb

LGS

likely

half

lists

have problemsdicultytrouble Xing in app osition

INDEX

LOC OF

nonadverbial uses of orphans

vs TMP

parasitic gap

lo catives

parentheses

longdistance movement

parentheticals

LRB

participles

LSB

and gerunds distinction b etw

LST

dangling

oating

measureamount phrases

and commas

miscellaneous constructions

vs reduced relatives

MNR

past

mo diers

present

as app ositives

passive traces

measureamount phrases

passives

of NP

percent

p ostadjectival

p ermanent predictable ambiguity

p ostverbal

phrasal verbs

PP

piedpiping

preverbal

places

shared

p ostmo diers

co ordination of

of nouns

more than

adjuncts

multiword ADVPs

clausal complements

multiword PPs

shared

multipliers

comparative adjectives adverbs

NAC

nouns

NACTTL

verbs

no doubt

PP

no matter

PPAattach

NOM

PRD

and ing clauses

predicate

SNOM vs S

adjectival

NOT

adverbial

not to mention

arguments of

notation

function tag for

nouns

nominal

now that

sub jectraising

NP

verbal

shared heads

predication adjuncts

vs S or SNOM

premo diers

null elements

of nouns

attaching to

adjectival

illegal types

dates places expressions of amount

numbered lists

NX

gerund

denition of

nominal

in shared constructions

participial

p ossessives

ob jects

prop er nouns

dative

shared

direct

of nouns

indirect verbal

INDEX

prep ositional phrases right no de raising

conjunctive RNRattach

pseudoprep ositions with template gapping

with past participles RRB

present progressive RRC

PRN RSB

PRO

S

arbitrary

basic elements

controlled

vs ADJP as noun mo dier

PRP

vs SADV

PRT

with ing

pseudoadjectives

SADV

pseudoattach

nonparticipial

pseudoattach

SBAR

pseudoprep ositions

in comparative constructions

punctuation

SBAR

and pseudoattach

SBARADV

basic guidelines

SBARQ

nal

SBJ

paired

scores

unpaired

semiauxiliaries

purp ose clauses

serial verbs

PUT

shared traces

QP SINV

quantier phrases small clauses

quasiconjunctions adjectival

questions adverbial

indirect co ordination

tag nominal

yesno particle

quotations passive

direct verbal

indirect so as in do so

quotation marks so as

so that

rangesendp oints

sothat

rather than

spendwaste timemoney Xing

RCB

SQ

reason clauses

sub ject

reference index

logical

referential it

surface

regardless of

sub ordinate clauses

relative clauses

substantive adjectives

comparative

such as

co ordination of reduced relatives

such that

free headless

symbols

passive

functioning as words

reduced relatives

mathematical

vs oating participles

syntactic lab els

wsub jaux inversion

T T

zero relatives T

resultatives wh questions

INDEX

fronted elements

must have reference index

relative clauses

take

thethe

though

though clefts

through

times

titles

as premo diers

premo died

TMP

in nancialsp eak

vs LOC

too

tough movement

TPC

TTL

U unit

UCP

use

using

VOC

VP

shared premo diers

weather it

wh clauses

relative clauses

wh clefts

wh movement

wh phrases

ICHattaching to

co ordination of

in relative clauses

wh questions

T

bracketing

WHADJP

WHADVP

what if

whether or not

WHNP

WHPP

why not

with

absolute with

worth

X null complementizer