Heuristics for efficient treebanking

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Choose the construction that spans the whole sentence
- Typically SUBJH
- Typically not one of the FRAG* rules

in general prefer the simpler choice
- e.g. for nominal seating prefer NP over intransitive V, rather than NP over transitive V with an optional complement.

treat as appositive
|Howard Mosher, president and CEO|
- First combine |Howard Mosher|
- Then combine it with |president and CEO| using APPOS_NBAR

Unknown names
- |Elianti.|
  - Choose PUNCT_PERIOD_ORULE (period is not part of name)
Name abbreviations containing periods
- |U.S.|
  - Choose PUNCT_PERIOD_ORULE if word is at end of sentence

Choose highest attachment point consistent with meaning
- |remain steady at 1,200 cars|
  - attach to VP, not to |steady|
- |reserve a room for Browne|
  - attach to VP, not to |room|
- but disprefer modifier attachment to semantically vacuous heads
  - e.g. attach modifiers to hiring …, not be hiring …
In copula constructions (with forms of verb “be”), attach PP inside
- |be payable Feb. 15|
  - First combine |payable| with |Feb. 15| with HADJ_I_UNS
Complement vs. modifier - choose complement when available
- |based in Los Angeles|
  - Choose HCOMP, not HADJ_I_UNS
PP modifier inserted between verb and its complement NP
- |publish in statements the names of insiders|
  - First combine |publish| with |in statements| using VMOD_I

When precede VP, attach to subject NP
- |the maker last year sold cars|
  - attach |last year| to |maker|
Treat as modifiers, pumping temporal NP to a PP
- |last year|
  - Choose NPADV, not ADJN
- |Feb. 15|
  - Combine with HSPECHC, then choose NPADV
Complex phrases
- |early next year|
  - Combine |early| with |next year| using NADJ_RR

Choose bracketing with intended sense
- |luxury auto maker|
  - first combine |luxury| with |auto|
When intended bracketing is not clear, group from right to left
- |airline ticket counter|
  - first combine |ticket| with |counter|

if you have a choice between XP CCONJ XPvs X CCONJ X choose the XP (or S), that is, the highest constituent
- e.g., for cats and dogs, prefer NP coordination over N coordination with a bare NP rule on top
Nominal phrases
- Choose N_COORD_TOP_2, not N_COORD_TOP_3 when given the choice
Sentence-initial conjunction - treat as incomplete coordination of clauses
- |But Abrams arrived early.|
  - Combine |But| with |Abrams arrived early.| with HMARK_CL

Choose verb if the meaning is agentive; otherwise choose adjective
- |A date hasn’t been set|
  - For |set|, choose v_np*_le, not aj_-_i_le

Attach punctuation to the preceding words
- except for some rare conjunctions
Paired commas marking off a modifier: choose “paired” rule (-PR suffix)
- |Bell, based in Los Angeles|
  - Choose NADJ_RC_PR to combine modifier phrase with |Bell|

Negation - always attach |not| to preceding auxiliary if possible
- |did not meet|
  - First combine |did| with |not| using HCOMP
Other adverbs between auxiliary and main VP - attach adverb to following VP
- |can really sing|
  - First combine |really| with |sing| using ADJH_S
Sentence-initial - Prefer attachment without extraction when possible
- |Apparently the commission met|
  - Choose ADJ_S, not FILLHEAD_NON_WH_IG

Degree modifiers - combine with the number word
- |about 25 % of them|
  - First combine |about| with |25| using HSPECHC
  - Combine |%| with |of them| using HCOMP
Dollar amounts - treat the symbol |$| as the head (the unit of measure)
- |$ 80 billion|
  - Combine |$| with |80 billion| using MEAS_NP_SYMB

treat as extraction from ‘saying’ verb
- |They arrived, Browne said.|
  - Combine |They arrived,| with |Browne said.| using FILLHEAD_NON_WH

First pump determiner to noun, and treat of-PP as complement
- |some of the books|
  - Combine |some| with |of the books| using HCOMP
For |all|, |not all|, |both|, and |half|, treat following NP as complement
- |not all those who wrote|
  - For |not all|, choose native entry n_np_mc-neg_le
  - Combine |not all| with |those who wrote| using HCOMP

Modifiers to the right of the head noun are always attached _before_
- any modifiers to the left
- |important changes by the SEC|
  - First combine |changes| with |by the SEC| using NADJ_RR

Where lexical ambiguity is hard to decide (e.g. even-deg vs even-conj), choose based on frequency in redwoods/deepbank
Disprefer modifier attachment to semantically vacuous heads e.g. attach adverbs to hiring…, not be hiring…
For there-copula:
1. Avoid double-object choice and avoid modification of there-cop
2. Also prefer low attachment of modifier after obj NP
3. Accept extraction of PP for there-cop as is
When choice of verb-particle or verb-mod as in go away, if you can modify the `particle’ as in go far away, it is not verb-particle.
When choice of spr-hd or mod-hd for Adv-Adj, choose mod-hd
Avoid adv-add except for not
When WH-Q of form NP-be-NP [EMB: guessing this is choose subj-head; Dan please confirm]
For complement of saying, if there’s a main clause option for the quoted material choose it:
- |“Who did Kim hire” asked Mary| not |*Who Kim hired, asked Mary|
No free relatives
Attach three-dot punct as low as possible
Reject ellipsis
For ndash between clauses, use run-on
For degree specifiers, when there’s a choice, take the shortest lexent type name
Attach subord clause high [EMB: subordinate clauses are understood as clauses with all arguments overt; do not include in+order+to purposives, etc.]

Last update: 2020-07-23 by AlexandreRademaker [edit]