| | | Assigning Grammatical Functions |
When we annotate an example sentence, we always do so from the point of view of one particular target word in the sentence. Grammatical functions (GFs) are assigned to parts of the sentence only with respect to the target word. The grammatical functions that are assigned do not describe surface-syntactic positions of the constituents to which we assign them. Rather, they describe the ways in which the constituents satisfy abstract grammatical requirements of the target word.
For example, suppose the following sentence is selected to exemplify grammatical properties of the target word treat:
Circumstances forced the doctor to treat her enemies.
The word circumstances is the subject of the sentence as a whole, but this fact is not of interest to us and is not marked in any way in the example sentence. Rather, the NP the doctor is tagged as the external argument (Ext) of treat, even though it is not the `surface subject' of the sentence, because it satisfies a valence requirement of the verb treat outside the phrase headed by treat (thus `external'). That is, it satisfies a semantic role, associated with treat, which would be realized in a simple declarative main clause by the subject of the clause.
The combinations of grammatical function labels which occur with particular lexical items provide both a way of encoding the syntactic constructions a lexical item occurs in, and also a way of retrieving certain narrower distinctions between grammatical functions than those covered by the set of GF labels used.
For example, the verb like can appear in sentences with `extraposed objects':
I like it [that you speak French].
A FrameNet description of the word like would encode this fact by specifying, as one of the valence options of like, that it may take a null object it followed by a complement clause.
At the same time, examples of extraposed objects may be retrieved from the database by searching for combinations of null object and complement clause.
External Argument (Ext)Object (Obj)
Complement (Comp)
External Argument (Ext)Head noun modified by attributive adjective (Head)
Complement (Comp)
External Argument (Ext)Object (Obj)
External Argument (Ext)Complement (Comp)
Genitive determiner (Gen)
Modifier (Mod)
Any normal subject of a target verb, e.g.
[Pat] loves Kim.
Also any constituent which controls the subject of a target verb. This constituent might be a subject, an object or a prepositional object in its local syntactic context, e.g.
[The doctor] tried to cure me.They persuaded [the doctor] to treat me.
They gestured to [us] to leave.
In the last example, note that it is just the NP us, and not the PP to us, which is tagged as the External Argument. This is because we are interested in the valence properties of leave in this case and not in the valence properties of gesture, which are responsible for the prepositional marking of this constituent.
Any normal object, any wh-extracted object, or any post-target-verb NP which controls the Subject of a Complement of the target verb is assigned the grammatical function Obj. For example,
Voters approved [the stadium measure].[What] did you cook for dinner?
They expect [us] to finish soon.
They made [us] eat our vegetables.
In some syntactic theories, the NP us in the last two examples would be treated as the Subjects of small clause complements, and not as Objects of the target words. We have decided to treat all post-verbal NPs of this type as Objects in order to simplify the task of tagging.
The GF Object is also assigned to any subject of a tough-predicate which satisfies the Object role of a verb or preposition in the complement of the tough-predicate, e.g.
[Artichokes] are hard to eat.
Complement is the general grammatical function assigned to PPs, VPs, Clauses (and a small number of NPs) which occur after their governing verbs, adjectives or nouns in normal declarative sentences. This grammatical function includes both what are usually referred to as complements and what are usually referred to as obliques. One reason we do not recognize Oblique as a distinct grammatical function is that it seems merely to be reserved for PPs which are complements--i.e., it redundantly encodes phrase type. For those who wish to maintain the distinction between complement and oblique, it need merely be kept in mind that any PP which is assigned the GF Complement can be considered an oblique.
Any particle or any PP, optional or obligatory, which expresses a semantic role belonging to the frame associated with the target word. This does not include setting adjuncts of Place or Time, purpose clauses, or other such expressions which can occur with very large classes of predicators. Here are some examples:
Give the gun [to the officer].Pat spoke [to me].
Pat lives [in Cleveland].
Note: A Locative expression may be a Complement if it expresses a role belonging to the frame of the target predicator. In the third example above, the PP in Cleveland is a Complement because the frame of the verb live (=`reside') includes a role for the place in which a person lives.
Some NPs are marked as Complements rather than as Objects. These NPs are not passivizable, and they often express Place, Time, and other meanings normally associated with adjuncts and PP complements (e.g. Measurement). Such NPs are often Complements in the same contexts in which comparable PPs might be used instead, e.g.,
I run [ten miles] every day.Come [this way]!
I expect your papers [the moment you walk into class].
They gave the children [candy].
The children were given [candy].
A note on particles: Even if a preposition seems to `go with' a verb to form a phrasal verb, if it can plausibly be considered the head of a post-verbal PP it is analyzed that way, and the PP is assigned the GF Comp. Separable verb particles, like up in pick up the package and pick the package up, cannot plausibly be treated as the heads of PPs. They are therefore marked with the GF Comp by themselves, and the NPs with which they occur are treated as GF Obj. In passive sentences, these NPs are treated as GF Subj.
Pat picked [up Comp] [the package Obj].Pat picked [the package Obj] [up Comp].
[The package Subj] was picked [up Comp] by Pat.
For more information on particles, see the apppropriate section in the chapter on Phrase Types.
Any verbal or sentential complement, regardless of whether or not it is passivizable, e.g.
They want [to stay home].They expect us [to stay home].
I believe [that you are the winner].
They think [you are the president].
You persuaded me [to finish early].
I wonder [who will finish first].
When an adjective appears in a clausal predication, one of its arguments is expressed as the subject of a support verb (indicated with underlining) and of the clause as a whole, e.g.
[The chair] is red.[My sister] seems more interesting than yours.
This argument is assigned the GF External Argument (Ext). Also, the noun in object-control constructions with adjectives is assigned the GF External Argument, e.g.
We consider [Pat] very intelligent.
In prenominal uses of adjectives, the modified head nouns are assigned the GF Head (Head).
the small [children Head]
Only some types of sentences in which a target adjective appears in prenominal position will actually be annotated and included in the database of corpus examples. These are the sentences in which the adjective has a qualitative as opposed to a relational use.
In a qualitative use, the modified noun expresses an element of the frame associated with the adjective, and this is the same frame element which is typically expressed by the subject of a copular or other clausal predication (in which the adjective occurs in predicate position):
The children are small.
In a relational use of an adjective, it is much more difficult to identify a specific frame element which is expressed by the modified noun. In fact, the semantic relation between the adjective and noun may be more strongly determined by the modified noun than by the adjective. In any event, the relation between modifier and head is much less tightly constrained than in cases of qualitative modification, resembling the relation between nouns in a noun compound. Very often relational uses of adjectives do not have corresponding predicative uses:
Pat had an immune response to the virus.*Pat's response to the virus was immune.
We do not annotate relational uses of target adjectives because doing so is unlikely to reveal much that is interesting about the frames associated with the adjectives.
Many cases of relational modification (like many noun compounds) are highly conventionalized. Such cases will be treated as idioms when they are relevant to a particular domain, and will be identified with respect to their head nouns rather than their adjectives. For example, immune response will be treated in the health care domain as a lexical unit headed by response, rather than as a particular use of immune.
In postnominal uses of adjectives, their arguments are treated as if the adjective were used with a copula. In particular, modified head nouns are assigned the GF External (Ext) and the PT Noun Phrase (NP) rather than the GF Modifier (Mod) and the PT Noun (N). Thus, in the following example, people has the grammatical function Ext and the phrase type NP.
The problem seems to affect [people] sensitive to primulas.
For most domains prepositions are not among the target words. However, in the domains of Space, Motion and Time they are, and in these cases we need to be concerned with assigning GFs to their complements.
Any constituent which occurs immediately after a preposition and which expresses an element of the frame associated with the preposition is tagged as an Object (Obj). Typically this constituent is an NP, but it can also be a gerund or a clause:
We had a glass of wine before [the meal].Wash your hands before [returning to work].
He left before [I had a chance to say anything].
A constituent which expresses an element of the frame associated with a preposition, but which is outside the PP, is tagged as an External Argument (Ext). The most easily identified prepositional External Arguments are those which occur with so-called `reduced relative clauses' (i.e. postnominal modifiers) and with copular predications:
the [day] before yesterdaythe [trail] to our campsite
the [ball] under the table
The [ball] is under the table.
The GF Comp is assigned to any post-nominal complement of a target noun, e.g.
the fact [that cats have fur]a letter [to the President]
a story [about a young entrepreneur]
your attempt [to scare me]
our arrival [at the station]
Sometimes complements of nouns are realized as the predicates of copular sentences, e.g.
The fact is [that cats have fur]The letter was [to the President]
The attempt was [to scare you]
Ultimately these will be assigned the GF Pred, and the same phrase type they have when they are complements. In order to assist the computer in this process it will be necessary to tag the copula which follows the target and introduces the `predicate complement' in expressions like these. For this purpose annotators will use the simple tag Copula (Cop).
The GF Gen is assigned to any possessive NP functioning as determiner of the target noun, e.g.
[your] book[your work's] influence on the field
The GF Mod is assigend to any prenominal modifier (whether a noun, adjective, gerund, or participle), e.g.
[allergy] treatment[monthly] stipend
[sleeping] cat
[broken] lamp
| | | Assigning Grammatical Functions |