Adjective-Adverb Interfaces in Romance Ontology
https://gams.uni-graz.at/o:aaif.ontology
Zentrum für Informationsmodellierung, Universität Graz
2019
AAIF Ontology
Christopher Pollin
Gerlinde Schneider
Katharina Gerhalter
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
1.2
Annotation Model: Criteria for Linguistic Categorization in the Database Adjective
Adverb Interfaces in Romance
coordinated
Coordination means the combination of two different adverbs. If two
or more different adverbs are coordinated, they usually share the same syntactic function and
syntactic scope. For example, two manner adverbs can be coordinated: Sp. volar alto y rápido.
In those cases, both adjective-adverbs has been lemmatized and tagged and their attribution
target (syntactic scope) is the same verb in the sentence: volar. For both alto and rápido,
the category modifications holds "true/yes". Coordination is possible between
different types of adverbs: periphrastic adverbs (prepositional phrases), adjective-adverbs
and mente-adverbs. Every adverbial involved has been tagged and lemmatized with the
corresponding categories. If one of the coordinated adverbs has a proper lexical form (Sp.,
Fr. bien, mal), it has not been tagged and only the other coordinated adjective-adverb or
prepositional phrase or mente-adverb has been tagged. The category Coordination holds for
coordinated verbs that may be modified by the same adverb. The adjective-adverb presto
modifies both verb forms cae and sube. Therefore, both verb forms has been lemmatized and
annotated regarding their syntactic construction (intransitive) and both have been tagged with
"coordination = yes / true".
volar alto y rápido
más presto cae que sube
feature
attribution target
Defines the attribute target of an adverb.
has Contraction
has Gender
Defines the gender of an article, possessive or a
subject.
has Adverb
Defines an adverb in a phrase.
has Article
Defines an article in a phrase.
morphosyntactic structure
Defines the morphosyntactic structure of an adverb.
has Phrase
A record in a corpus.
has Preposition
Defines a preposition in a phrase.
has Subject
Defines a subject in a phrase.
has Verb
Defines a verb in a phrase.
inflection
Defines the number of an article or subject.
number
semantic classification
Defines the semantic classification of an adverb.
syntactic construction
Defines the syntactic construction of a verb.
text
Defines a text node.
prepositional phrase
annotated text
Defines a text node, including the annotated words.
lemma
The lemmatization unifies orthographic variation –- especially
regarding historical data -– and enables the search via lemma. It further allows analysis of
type-token-frequencies. For the category adverb, we used the present-day, uninflected form,
which is identical to the masculine singular form: Spanish claro, cierto, French droit, juste,
etc. The basic lemma of derived adverbs (like Sp. ciertamente, Fr. justement) is also the
adjectival lemma (Sp. cierto, Fr. juste). Therefore, the lemmatization allows for searching
all adverbial variants of one lexeme. For example, the Spanish lemma seguro catches the
following adverbs: seguro, segura, seguramente, de seguro, etc. For the word-class verb, we
used the infinite form as a Lemma (Sp. caminar, Fr. aller). Regarding the variation of verb
forms in southern Italy, we chose a reconstructed lemma marked with an asterisk and in capital
letters (for example *COMMOGLIARE for the Neapolitan verb forms accumigliateva and commoglio).
Also the prepositions were lemmatized (de, a, por, etc.).
https://gams.uni-graz.at/o:aaif.lemma#rozzo
modification of the adverb
The category modification applies if the adverbial itself is
modified (mostly intensified) by another adverb like Sp. muy, tan, Fr. très, trop, etc. This
modifiers have not been tagged or llematized itself, since they are lexical adverbs that are
not tackeled in the aaif-project. Therefore, examples like Sp. volar muy alto are tagged for
the verb volar and the adjective-adverb alto, which is categorized as "modification:
true/yes".
volar muy alto
Lemma
has Overt Subject
Defines a Subject as an overt subject
Overt Subject
The category overt subject allows to annotate null-subjects in
pro-drop languages. In those cases, a placeholder has been annotated with Gender and Number
and allows to show the concordance of adjective-adverbs with the null-subject as in Sp.
[null-subject fem. pl.] vuelan altas, in case the reference of the null-subject is clear from
the wider context of the example. On the other hand, to show the uninflected use of
adjective-adverbs, possibly there is a null-subject that does not concord with the
adjective-adverb: Sp. [null-subject fem. pl.] vuelan alto.
vuelan altas
Morphosyntactic Feature
is part of text
Defines a verb as part of text.
Part of text
The category part of text allows to annotate those verbs that are
not explicitly mentioned in the annotated KWIC-Phase, but can be reconstructed from the larger
context. For example, if the verb modified by an adjective-adverb has been supressed
(ellipsis) to avoid repetition, a placeholder is annotated and lemmatized. For example, in the
sentence Sp. María canta bien […] Pero Pedro horrible the adjective-adverb horrible modifies
an elliptical verb form Pedro canta horrible. In order to be able to search for the lemma
combination cantar and horrible, a verb-placeholder has been annotated with the lemma cantar
and has been tagged with the category "part of text: no".
María canta bien […] Pero Pedro horrible
person
Defines the person of a possessive.
position
Defines the position of a word in a phrase.
reduplicated adverbs
The category reduplication refers to the repetition of the same
adverb. In case an adverb is reduplicated, only one form has been tagged as a single-word
adverb and annotated as reduplicated. In some dialects of Southern Italy, reduplication of
adjective-adverbs is especially productive and in some cases, the reduplicated form has been
lexicalized with a specific meaning: Neapolitan sano sano 'entirely': ma la diceno
tutta sana sana. In that case, sana has been tagged with the same categories as
single-word-adverbs, that is: lemmatized as sano and annotated as an adverb with
morphosyntactic structure adjective and its specific inflection features (fem. sg.).
Additionally, sana has been classified as "reduplication: yes". Also lexicalized
reduplications of a noun are used adverbially: Neapolitan miccia miccia 'weak'. In
those cases, one of the forms has been tagged with the same categories as single-word-adverbs,
that is: lemmatized as miccia and annotated as an adverb with morphosyntactic structure noun
and its specific inflection features (fem.sg.). Additionally, miccia has been classified as
"reduplication: yes". In other cases, adjective-adverbs are expressively
reduplicated, without a specific lexicalized meaning. Therefore, the morphosyntactic structure
of reduplicated adverbs is basically an adjective-adverb or a noun, and the feature of
reduplication is not found under the category "morphosyntactic structure", but as a
separate category / tag.
¡Paso, paso, Pármeno, no saltes!
source
Bibliographic reference of an entry.
Adverb
Every example in the corpus contains at least one annotated adverb.
Given the formal, syntactic and semantic complexity of the word-class adverb, several
categories were established.
Adjectival
Article
Subject
The subject is an optional category. In some examples, the subject
has been annotated, if the adverb refers to the subject of the sentence. For example, in the
sentence "las aves vuelan altas", the adjective-adverb altas is inflected and shows
concordance with the subject "las aves". Therefore, the attribution target of this
adverb is verb and subject.
las aves vuelan altas
Contraction
Derived
Audible Inflection
vivre saine
Entry
A record in a corpus
Feminine
Feminine Plural
las aves vuelan altas
Feminine Singular
con sola una palabra de tu boca
Inaudible Inflection
je m’en vais seule
Inflection
Masculine
Undefined Gender
Masculine Plural
Neuter
Neuter Plural
Neuter Singular
Annotatation Entity
Attribution Target
In the first place, the syntactic scope of the adverbial has been
tagged under the category Attribution target.
Adverb or adverbial Phrase
Adverbs may modify other adverbs. In those cases, the Attribution
target Adverb was chosen. This second adverb has not been tagged and lemmatized because there
aren't any examples of an adjective-adverb modifying another adjective-adverb, but always
a mente-Adverb or a lexical adverb.
harto in interpreter harto duramente
mal or bien
Verb Target
The syntactic scope may be the verb of the sentence, being the
adjective-adverb a modal adverb. In those cases, the verb form modified by the adverbial has
been tagged and lemmatized with the tag for Verb.
correr in correr rápido
Adjective Target
Adverbs also modify adjectives. In those cases, the Attribution
target Adjective was chosen. The adjective modified by the adverb has not been tagged.
Deverbal adjectives, that is: participles, in some cases has been classified as verbs, as this
allows for tagging and lemmatizing the verb form.
harto in hombres harto sabios modifies the adjective
sabios
vestir in the sentence con vna manta blanca como andan vestidos de
ordinario
Verb Object Target
The Attribution target Verb and Object holds for those adverbials
that modify both the (transitive) verb of the sentence and the object involved. In those
cases, the verb also has been annotated.
los martirios los paga caros
Verb Subject Target
In those cases where the adverb modifies both the action described
by the verb of the sentence and the subject involved (), the category Verb and Subject has
been chosen as the attribution target. In those cases, the verb also has been annotated. For
all corpora but the French ones, if the Subject appears in the same sentence, it also has been
annotated, since the inflection of the adjective-adverb shows frequently concordance in number
and gender with the Subject.
elle vivait saine
la mujer vive sana
Sentence Target
If the adverb does not modify a specific part of the sentence, but
the sentence as a whole, the Attribution Target Sentence has been chosen (Sp. Verdad sea que,
cierto, duele…). This also holds for discourse markers that are used as an utterance, for
example, affirmation markers (Sp. Justo. Claro.)
Verdad sea que, cierto, duele…
Justo. Claro.
Other Target
Noun or syntagma without verb-reference
The category Noun or syntagma without verb-reference as an
attribution target englobes all types of noun phrases and prepositional
phrases.
con sola una palabra de tu boca
justo después de tres días
Semantic Classification
In order to offer a rough semantic classification of the adverbials,
six general categories have been established.
Quantity / Intensity
Adverbs that quantify or intensify a denoted quality on a scale has
been tagged with the semantic classification of quantity / intensity.
hombres harto sabios
Manner
Manner-adverbs typically describe or characterize the action
expressed by the verb of the sentence, therefore most examples of manner adverbs have the verb
as their syntactic scope (attribution target) and also has been tagged for the
verb.
correr rápido
vive saine
Time
Adverbs expressing temporal circumstances of the verb action have
been tagged with the semantic classification of time.
más presto cae que sube
Location
Adverbs expressing local circumstances of the verb action have been
tagged with the semantic classification of location.
volar alto
Discourse
Adverbs that express metalinguistic or extra-propositional
characterizations (e.g. discourse markers and sentence adverbs) has been tagged with the
semantic classification of discourse.
Verdad sea que, cierto, duele… and ¡Claro!
Specification
Focus Adverbs has been tagged with the semantic classification of
specification.
con sola una palabra de tu boca
Undefined
All undefined semantic classifications.
Syntactic Construction
The syntactic construction takes into account transitivity and
reflexivity of the verb in every specific example annotated.
Reflexive
Reflexive verbs are used with a reflexive pronoun.
No se vestía rico
je m'en vais seule
Intransitive
Intransitive for those examples in which the verb does not select an
object.
María camina rápido
Transitive
As for the first feature, the category transitive holds for those
sentences in which the verb is used with an explicit object.
los martirios los paga caros
Phrase
Defines a phrase within an entry in which there are
annotations.
Plural
Preposition
Number
The category Number chooses Singular, Plural and undefined. For
example, "las aves in las aves vuelan altas" has been categorized as "Gender:
feminine" and "Number: Plural"
las aves in las aves vuelan altas
Singular
Undefined Number
Subject
The subject is an optional category. In some examples, the subject
has been annotated, if the adverb refers to the subject of the sentence. For example, in the
sentence "las aves vuelan altas", the adjective-adverb altas is inflected and shows
concordance with the subject "las aves". Therefore, the attribution target of this
adverb is verb and subject.
las aves vuelan altas
Uninflected
Verb
In some examples, the verb of the sentence has been tagged. It is,
therefore, an optional category. The verb of the sentence is of interest when the adverb
modifies the verb. In those cases, the verb has been lemmatized (see lemma), which allows for
analysing specific verb + adverb combinations and their type-token-frequencies. As for
periphrastic verb constructions, the verb carrying the main semantic information has been
tagged and lemmatized: for example, Sp. vestir in the sentence con vna manta blanca como andan
vestidos de ordinario. The tagged verbs has been annotated regarding three formal categories:
syntactic construction, coordination and part of text.
vender caro
parler fort, parler bas, etc.
Gender
The category Gender chooses masculine, feminine, neuter or
undefined.
Morphosyntactic Structure
The morphosyntactic structure takes into account the formal
structure of the adverbial as well as its possible inflection. The annotation model suits (i)
simple (one-word) adverbs (ii) reduplicated adverbs and (iii) phrasal (periphrastic)
adverbs.
Adjectival
If the morphosyntactic structure of the adverb is a simple
adjective, this means an adjective is used as an adverb, like alto in Sp. volar alto, and
droit in Fr. aller droit. Therefore, adjective-adverbs are adverbs that formally use an
adjective for expressing adverbial functions. The lemma of these adjective-adverbs is the
uninflected form (=masc.sg.), e.g. Sp. alto and Fr. droit. If the adjective-adverb is
inflected, like Sp. directos in vamos directos a casa, that information can be specified via
the category inflection. The database only contains adjectives with adverbial functions, but
not adjectives with adjectival syntax (e.g. el arbol es alto). The diverse adverbial functions
(e.g. verb-modification as modal adverb like in volar alto) are specified under the categories
attribution target and semantic classification. The database does not include lexical adverbs
like Sp. / Fr. bien, mal.
volar alto
aller droit
Noun MS
The category morphosyntacic structure / noun applies to nouns that
are used as adverbs. For example, in Spanish pasarlo bomba, the noun bomba is used adverbially
meaning 'well'. Nouns also appear in periphrastic or phrasal adverbs. The category
inflection allows for specifying number and gender of the adjective or noun used adverbially.
Most Adjective-Adverbs currently are used in their uninflected form, that is, the masculine
singular form: Sp. volar alto, Fr. aller droit use the masculine singular of the adjective as
unmarked adverbial form.
pasarlo bomba
volar alto
aller droit
derived -mente
Derived adverbs are formed by a derivational suffix like -mente that
adds to an adjectival base. The category –mente covers all variants of this suffix in several
Romance languages: Fr. –ment, and Sp. / Pt. / It. –mente, as well as historical variants like
Sp. –mientre, -miente or –mentre. The lemma of the derived adverb is the lemma of the base
adjective: for example, Sp. ciertamente can be found via the lemma search for cierto, and Fr.
justement via the lemma juste. Since the mente-Adverbs take systematically the feminine
singular form of the adjective, we consider that a fossilized form of the stem, but not an
inflectional process on the whole adverb. Therefore, mente-adverbs are categorized as
uninflected. We only consider mente-Adverbs inflected if the whole adverb takes a plural
suffix, like in Sp. los ríos meramentes flotables.
ciertamente
justement
los ríos meramentes flotables
derived -eşte
Romanian suffixes –eşte.
derived -iş
Romanian suffixes -iş.
iară româneşte
derived -ul
Romanian suffixes –ul.
dreptul
derived -one/-oni
The Italian suffix –oni/-one si used for actions that involve a body
part touching the ground.
ginocchione/i, bocconi
derived -ly
Romanian suffixes –ly.
to run quickly
Other morphosyntactic structure
Other morphosyntactic Structures
First Person
Second Person
Third Person
Person
Possessive
In case the phrasal or periphrastic adverb includes a possessive, it
is tagged for the categories Gender (masculine, feminine, neuter, undefined), number
(singular, plural, undefined), and person (1st, 2nd and 3rd person). For example, the Sp.
possessive mis in a mis solas has been categorized as "Number: plural, Gender: undefined,
person: 1st".
possessive mis in a mis solas
Syntactic Category
Annotatation Feature