Tagset

Revision as of 17:50, 16 November 2009

The set of features in a UNL-driven dictionary depends on the structure of the natural language and may vary a lot. However, in order to better standardize lexical resources inside the UNL framework, the UNDL Foundation recommends the adoption of the following tags for some specific and pervasive grammatical phenomena. Several of those linguistic constants have been already proposed to the Data Category Registry (ISO 12620), and represent widely accepted linguistic concepts. Our main intention here is just to provide a harmonized system to be shared by the UNL community so as to make dictionaries as easily understandable as possible.

General Guidelines

In order to define the tags to be used in the UNL Tagset, the following premises were adopted:

• Tags should be as few as possible
• Tags should be as short as possible
• Tags should be as mnemonic as possible

These assumptions led us to the following general guidelines:

• Tags should be made of a three-character upper-case string (except for negative values, which should be preceded by "N", such as NPFC = non-perfect);
• Tags should be labelled out of English words;
• Tags should be provided in a attribute-value structure, along with definitions and examples.

The resulting set of tags, which is still subject to additions and revisions, is presented below. For the time being, the definitions and examples have been extracted out of the Glossary of Linguistic Terms (Loos et alii), available at SIL International, and are expected to migrate to an online environment, still under construction, where accredited linguists will have the opportunity of improving this repertoire.

== List of tags (in alphabetical order)

1PP

First person plural Deictic reference that refers to both the speaker and referents grouped with the speaker. we

1PS

First person singular Deictic reference that refers to the speaker. I

2PP

Second person plural Deictic reference to more than one referent identified as addressee. you

2PS

Second person singular Deictic reference to a single referent identified as addressee. you

3PP

Third person plural Deictic reference to more than one referent not identified as the speaker or addressee. they

3PS

Third person singular Deictic reference to a single referent not identified as the speaker or addressee. he

AA

Adjunct to an adverb An optional constituent of an adverbial phrase.

AB

Adverbial Phrase (Intermediate Projection)

ABB

Abbreviation

Dr.

ABE

Abessive A case that expresses the lack or absence of the referent of the noun it marks

ABL

Ablative A case that indicates movement from something, and/or cause

ABS

Abstract A noun that denotes something viewed as a nonmaterial referent

AC

Complement of an adverb A phrasal or clausal category which is selected (subcategorized) by the head of a phrase.

ACAS

Assigns Case Used to indicate case agreement

ACC

Accusative A case that indicates the direct object of a verb him (in I saw him)

ACR

Acronym

UNL

ACT

Acts or actions Nouns denoting acts or actions

ACV

Active voice When the subject is the agent or actor of the verb.

ADJ

Adjective Modifiers of nouns. beautiful

ADV

Adverb Modifiers of verbs and other constituent classes. beautifully

AGEN

Assigns Gender Used to indicate gender agreement

ALL

Allative A case that expresses motion to or toward the referent of the noun it marks.

ANL

Animal Nouns denoting animals

ANM

Animate Indicates an animate reference he, she

ANUM

Assigns Number Used to indicate number agreement

AP

Adverbial Phrase (Maximal Projection)

APER

Assigns Person Used to indicate person agreement

ARF

Artifact Nouns denoting man-made objects

ART

Article Determiner that identifies a noun's definite or indefinite reference, and new or given status. the

AS

Specifier of an adverb

ASL

Absolutive Case of nouns in ergative-absolutive languages that would generally be the subjects of intransitive verbs or the objects of transitive verbs in the translational equivalents of nominative-accusative languages such as English.

ASP

ASPECT The grammatical aspect (sometimes called viewpoint aspect) of a verb defines the temporal flow (or lack thereof) in the described event or state. In English, for example, the past-tense sentences "I swam" and "I was swimming" differ in aspect (the first sentence is in what is called the perfective or completive aspect, and the second in what is called the imperfective or durative aspect).

ATST

Ambitransitive A verb that can be used both as intransitive or as transitive without requiring a morphological change read

ATT

Attribute Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

AUX

Auxiliary verb A verb which accompanies the lexical verb of a verb phrase, and expresses grammatical distinctions not carried by the lexical verb. will

BEN

Benefactive A case that expresses that the referent of the noun it marks receives the benefit of the situation expressed by the clause

BON

Body parts Nouns denoting body parts

BOV

Body actions Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

CA

Adjunct to a conjunction An optional constituent of a complementizer phrase.

CAS

CASE The case of a noun or pronoun indicates its grammatical function in a greater phrase or clause such as the role of subject or of direct object.

CAU

Causative A case which expresses that the referent of the noun it marks is the cause of the situation expressed by the clause.

CB

Conjunctional Phrase (Intermediate Projection)

CC

Complement of a conjunction A phrasal or clausal category which is selected (subcategorized) by the head of a phrase.

CDN

Cardinal numeral A numeral of the class whose members are considered basic in form, are used in counting, and in expressing how many objects are referred to. two

CGN

Cognition nouns Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

CGV

Cognition verbs Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

CHA

Change Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

CIR

Circumposition

CMN

Communication nouns Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

CMP

Comparative An adjective that compares the quality with that of another of its kind better

CMT

Comitative A case expressing accompaniment.

CMV

Communication verbs Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

CON

Conditional mood The form of the verb used in conditional sentences to refer to a hypothetical state of affairs, or an uncertain event that is contingent on another set of circumstances.

COO

Coordinating conjunction A conjunction that links constituents without syntactically subordinating one to the other. and

COP

Copula An intransitive verb which links a subject to a noun phrase adjective, or other constituent which expresses the predicate. be (to be)

CP

Conjunctional Phrase (Maximal Projection)

CPR

Reciprocal pronoun A reciprocal pronoun is a pronoun that expresses a mutual feeling or action among the referents of a plural subject. They hit [each other].

CPT

Competition Verbs of fighting, athletic activities

CRE

Creation Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing

CS

Specifier of a conjunction

CSP

Consumption Verbs of eating and drinking

CTC

Contact Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

CTN

Continuative

I am still eating.

CTT

Contraction

don't

DA

Adjunct of a determiner An optional constituent of a determiner phrase.

DAT

Dative case A case that indicates the indirect object of a verb us (in He gave us the book)

DB

Determiner Phrase (Intermediate Projection)

DC

Complement of a determiner A phrasal or clausal category which is selected (subcategorized) by the head of a phrase.

DEF

Definite Specific and identifiable in a given context the

DEG

DEGREE Describes the relational value of one thing with something in another clause of a sentence.

DEL

Delative A case which expresses motion downward from the referent of the noun it marks.

DEM

Demonstrative A determiner that is used deictically to indicate a referent's spatial, temporal, or discourse location. this

DP

Determiner Phrase (Maximal Projection)

DS

Specifier of a determiner

DTST

Ditransitive A verb which takes a subject and two objects. give

DUA

Dual Number which refers to two members of the class identified by the noun.

ELA

Elative A case expressing motion out of or away from the referent of the noun it marks.

EMO

Emotion Verbs of feeling

EPR

Emphatic pronoun An emphatic pronoun is a personal pronoun that is used to emphasize its referent. [Moi], je suis Français.

EQU

Equative A case that expresses likeness or identity to the referent of the noun it marks.

ERG

Ergative The case of nouns in ergative-absolutive languages that would generally be the subjects of transitive verbs in the translation equivalents of nominative-accusative languages such as English.

ESS

Essive A case that expresses the temporary state of the referent specified by a noun.

ET0

Past event tense An absolute tense that refers to a time before the moment of utterance. was (I was here)

ET1

Present event tense Absolute tense that refers to the moment of utterance am (I am here)

ET2

Future event tense An absolute tense that refers to a time after the moment of utterance. will be (I will be here)

EVT

EVENT TENSE A temporal linguistic quality expressing the time at, during, or over which a state or action denoted by a verb occurs with reference to the speaker.

FEE

Feelings Nouns denoting feelings and emotions

FEM

Feminine A grammatical gender that marks nouns that have human or animal female referents, and often marks nouns that have referents that do not carry distinctions of sex. she

FOO

Food Nouns denoting foods and drinks

FPR

Reflexive pronoun A reflexive pronoun is a pronoun that has coreference with the subject. He prides [himself] on his appearance.

FRA

Fraction numeral

two thirds

GEN

GENDER

GER

Gerund

sleeping

GNT

Genitive A case in which the referent of the marked noun is the possessor of the referent of another noun. my

GRO

Group Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

HAB

Habitual An imperfective aspect that expresses the occurrence of an event or state as characteristic of a period of time. I used to walk.

IA

Adjunct of an inflection An optional constituent of an inflectional phrase.

IB

Inflectional Phrase (Intermediate Projection)

IC

Complement of an inflection A phrasal or clausal category which is selected (subcategorized) by the head of a phrase.

ICP

Inceptive

I started eating.

ILL

Illative A case that expresses motion into or direction toward the referent of the noun it marks.

IMP

Imperative A grammatical mood that expresses direct commands or requests. It is also used to signal a prohibition, permission or any other kind of exhortation.

IND

Indicative

INE

Inessive A case that expresses a location within the referent of the noun it marks.

INF

Infinitive The base form of a verb generally unmarked for inflectional categories. be (to be)

INJ

Injunctive

INS

Instrumental A case indicating that the referent of the noun it marks is the means of the accomplishment of the action expressed by the clause.

INX

Infix Affix that is inserted within a root or stem.

IP

Inflectional Phrase (Maximal Projection)

IPR

Interrogative pronoun A pro-form that is used in questions to stand for the item questioned. who

IS

Specifier of an inflection

ITE

Iterative Aspect that expresses the repetition of an event or state. I ate it again and again.

ITJ

Interjection

hello

ITST

Indirect transitive A verb which takes a subject and a single indirect object

JA

Adjunct of an adjective An optional constituent of an adjective phrase.

JB

Adjective Phrase (Intermediate Projection)

JC

Complement of an adjective A phrasal or clausal category which is selected (subcategorized) by the head of a phrase.

JP

Adjective Phrase (Maximal Projection)

JS

Specifier of an adjective

LAT

Lative A case that expresses motion up to the location of, or as far as the referent of the noun it marks.

LCT

Location Nouns denoting spatial position

LEX

LEXICAL STATUS

LOC

Locative A case that expresses location at the referent of the noun it marks.

MAF

Masculine and feminine Variable gender un après-midi = une après-midi

MCL

Masculine Includes most words that refer to males. he

MID

Middle voice A voice that indicates that the subject is the actor and acts upon himself or herself reflexively, or for his or her own benefit.

MOF

Masculine or feminine Common gender le pianiste x la pianiste

MOO

MOOD A verb mood typically used in dependent clauses to express wishes, commands, emotion, possibility, judgment, opinion, necessity, or statements that are contrary to fact at present.

MOT

Motion Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

MOV

Modal verb

can

MTV

Motive Nouns denoting goals

MTW

Multiword expression Any string comprising more than a word United States of America

MUL

Multiplicative numeral A numeral that expresses how many fold or how many times.

NA

Adjunct of a noun An optional constituent of a noun phrase.

NABS

Non-abstract (concrete)

NANM

Inanimate Indicates an inanimate reference it

NB

Nominal Phrase (Intermediate Projection)

NC

Complement of a noun A phrasal or clausal category which is selected (subcategorized) by the head of a phrase.

NEU

Neuter Includes mostly words that do not refer to males or females. it

NEV

Natural events Nouns denoting natural events

NOB

Natural objects Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

NOM

Nominative Indicates the subject of a finite verb. I (in I saw him)

NOU

Noun

beauty

NP

Nominal Phrase (Maximal Projection)

NPFC

Imperfective An event in the process of unfolding (often a repeated or habitual event) I was swimming.

NPR

Indefinite pronoun An indefinite pronoun is a pronoun that belongs to a class whose members indicate indefinite reference. anybody, one, somebody

NS

Specifier of a noun

NTST

Intransitive A verb that does not take an object fall

NUM

NUMBER A grammatical category of nouns, pronouns, and adjective and verb agreement that expresses count distinctions.

ONB

Ordinal numeral A numeral belonging to a class whose members designate positions in a sequence. second

OPT

Optative A grammatical mood that indicates a wish or hope.

PA

Adjunct of a preposition An optional constituent of a prepositional phrase.

PAR

Partitive A case that expresses the partial nature of the referent of the noun it marks, as opposed to expressing the whole unit or class of which the referent is a part.

PAU

Paucal

PAV

Passive voice When the subject is the patient, target or undergoer of the action.

PB

Prepositional Phrase (Intermediate Projection)

PC

Complement of a preposition A phrasal or clausal category which is selected (subcategorized) by the head of a phrase.

PCP

Perception Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

PER

PERSON A deictic reference to a participant in an event, such as the speaker, the addressee, or others.

PFC

Perfective A single event conceived as a unit I swam.

PFX

Prefix Affix that is joined before a root or stem. un

PGS

Progressive Continuous aspect that expresses processes, not states. I am eating.

PHE 

Natural phenomena Nouns denoting natural phenomena

PLA

Plant Nouns denoting plants

PLR

Plural Number that expresses reference to a quantity greater than that expressed by the largest specific number category in a language, such as "more than one" in English, and "more than two" in some other languages. they

PLT

Prolative A case that expresses motion along or by the referent of the noun it marks.

PON

Possession Nouns denoting possession and transfer of possession

POS

PART OF SPEECH

POV

Possession Verbs of buying, selling, owning

PP

Prepositional Phrase (Maximal Projection)

PPL

Prepositional

PPN

Proper noun Noun that is the name of a specific individual, place, or object. Geneva

PPR

Personal pronoun A personal pronoun is a pronoun that expresses a distinction of person deixis. I, he, she, it, we

PPS

Postposition Adposition that occurs after its complement.

PPT

Prospective

I am about to eat.

PRE

Preposition Adposition that occurs before its complement. against

PRO

Natural processes Nouns denoting natural processes

PRS

Person Nouns denoting people

PS

Specififer in Prepositional Phrase

PST

Positive

PTC

Particle A word that does not belong to one of the main classes of words is invariable in form, and typically has grammatical or pragmatic meaning. to

PTP

Participle A lexical item, derived from a verb, that has some of the characteristics and functions of both verbs and adjectives. done

QDR

Quadrual

QTT

Quantity Nouns denoting quantities and units of measure

QUA

Quantifier A determiner that expresses a referent's definite or indefinite number or amount. every

RCAS

Receives Case Used in case agreement.

REL

Relation Nouns denoting relations between people or things or ideas

RGEN

Receives Gender Used in gender agreement.

RNUM

Receives Number Used in number agreement.

RPER

Receives Person Used in person agreement.

RPR

Relative pronoun A relative pronoun is a pronoun that marks a relative clause, functions grammatically within the relative clause, and is coreferential to the word modified by the relative clause. The man [who] comes next

RT0

Past reference tense

had been (I had been here)

RT1

Present reference tense

RT2

Future reference tense A relative tense tense that refers to a temporal reference point located in the future. would had been (I would had been there)

RTE

REFERENCE TENSE A temporal linguistic quality expressing the time at, during, or over which a state or action denoted by a verb occurs with reference to another state or action.

SBS

Substance Nouns denoting substances

SBW

Subword (bound morpheme) Any string smaller than a word (a root, a stem, etc) bab (baby)

SCJ

Subordinanting conjunction A conjunction that links constructions by making one of them a constituent of another. if

SEM

SEMANTIC FEATURES

SFX

Suffix Affix that is attached to the end of a root or stem. s

SHA

Shape Nouns denoting two and three dimensional shapes

SNG

Singular Number that refers to one member of a designated class. he

SOC

Social Verbs of political and social activities and events

SP

Sentence Phrase (Maximal Projection)

SPE

Superessive A case that expresses location on the referent of the noun it marks.

SPR

Posessive pronoun A possessive pronoun is a pronoun that expresses ownership and relationships like ownership, such as kinship, and other forms of association. my, mine

STA

State Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

STT

Stative Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

SUB

Subjunctive A verb mood typically used in dependent clauses to express wishes, commands, emotion, possibility, judgment, opinion, necessity, or statements that are contrary to fact at present

SUP

Superlative An adjective that compares the quality with many or all others of its kind best

SYN

SYNTACTIC ROLES

TER

Terminative

I finished eating.

TIM

Time Nouns denoting time and temporal relations

TLT

Translative A case indicating that the referent of the noun, or the quality of the adjective, that it marks is the result of a process of change.

TRA

TRANSITIVITY A property of verbs that relates to whether a verb can take direct objects.

TRI

Trial A number that refers to three members of the designated class.

TST

Direct transitive A verb which takes a subject and a single direct object kiss

TTST

Tritransitive A verb which takes a subject and three objects. trade

VA

Adjunct of a verb An optional constituent of a verbal phrase.

VAL

VALENCY Verb valency or valence refers to the number of arguments controlled by a verbal predicate.

VAL0

Avalent An avalent verb takes no arguments rain

VAL1

Monovalent A monovalent verb takes one argument sleep

VAL2

Divalent A verb which takes two arguments eat

VAL3

Trivalent A trivalent verb takes three arguments give

VAL4

Tetravalent A trivalent verb takes four arguments

VB

Verbal Phrase (Intermediate Projection)

VC

Complement of a verb A phrasal or clausal category which is selected (subcategorized) by the head of a phrase.

VER

Verb

buy

VOC

Vocative A case that marks a noun whose referent is being addressed.

VOI

VOICE The voice (also called diathesis) of a verb describes the relationship between the action (or state) that the verb expresses and the participants identified by its arguments (subject, object, etc.).

VP

Verbal phrase

VS

Specifier of a verb

WEA

Weather Verbs of raining, snowing, thawing, thundering

WRD

Regular word