Universal Relations
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(→Use of relations) |
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*Subject | *Subject | ||
**agt (unergative verbs: sleep, snore, cough, run, etc.) | **agt (unergative verbs: sleep, snore, cough, run, etc.) | ||
| − | ***John slept = agt(slept,John) | + | ***'''John''' slept = agt(slept,John) |
| − | ***John killed Mary = agt(killed,John) | + | ***'''John''' killed Mary = agt(killed,John) |
**obj (unaccusative verbs: die, fall, melt, etc.) | **obj (unaccusative verbs: die, fall, melt, etc.) | ||
| − | ***John died = obj(died,John) | + | ***'''John''' died = obj(died,John) |
| − | ***The snow melts = obj(melts,snow) | + | ***'''The snow''' melts = obj(melts,snow) |
**aoj (stative verbs: believe, understand, know, have, possess, dislike, love, like, contain, include, involve, etc.) | **aoj (stative verbs: believe, understand, know, have, possess, dislike, love, like, contain, include, involve, etc.) | ||
| − | ***John believes in Mary = aoj(believe,John) | + | ***'''John''' believes in Mary = aoj(believe,John) |
| − | ***John knows Mary = aoj(knows,John) | + | ***'''John''' knows Mary = aoj(knows,John) |
| − | ***John has two daughters = aoj(has,John) | + | ***'''John''' has two daughters = aoj(has,John) |
| − | ***John loves Mary = aoj(loves,John) | + | ***'''John''' loves Mary = aoj(loves,John) |
*Complement | *Complement | ||
**Verbal complement | **Verbal complement | ||
***obj (direct object) | ***obj (direct object) | ||
| − | ****John killed Mary = obj(killed,Mary) | + | ****John killed '''Mary''' = obj(killed,Mary) |
| − | ****John knows Mary = obj(knows,Mary) | + | ****John knows '''Mary''' = obj(knows,Mary) |
| − | ****John has two daughters = obj(has,daughters) | + | ****John has '''two daughters''' = obj(has,daughters) |
| − | ****John loves Mary = obj(loves,Mary) | + | ****John loves '''Mary''' = obj(loves,Mary) |
***obj (indirect object of monotransitive verbs: depend, believe, laugh, etc.) | ***obj (indirect object of monotransitive verbs: depend, believe, laugh, etc.) | ||
| − | ****John depends on Mary = obj(depend,Mary) | + | ****John depends '''on Mary''' = obj(depend,Mary) |
| − | ****John believes in Mary = obj(believe,Mary) | + | ****John believes '''in Mary''' = obj(believe,Mary) |
***gol (final state of verbs of change: give, send, etc.) | ***gol (final state of verbs of change: give, send, etc.) | ||
| − | ****John gave the book to Mary = gol(gave,Mary) | + | ****John gave the book '''to Mary''' = gol(gave,Mary) |
| − | ****John sent the book to Mary = gol(sent,Mary) | + | ****John sent the book '''to Mary''' = gol(sent,Mary) |
***src (initial state of verbs of change: take, retrieve, etc.) | ***src (initial state of verbs of change: take, retrieve, etc.) | ||
| − | ****John took the book from Peter = src(took,Peter) | + | ****John took the book '''from Peter''' = src(took,Peter) |
| − | ****John withdrew the money from the cashier = src(withdrew,cashier) | + | ****John withdrew the money '''from the cashier''' = src(withdrew,cashier) |
***plf (initial place of verbs of motion: go, travel, walk, come, etc.) | ***plf (initial place of verbs of motion: go, travel, walk, come, etc.) | ||
| − | ****John came from NY = plf(came,NY) | + | ****John came '''from NY''' = plf(came,NY) |
***plt (final place of verbs of motion: go, travel, walk, come, etc.) | ***plt (final place of verbs of motion: go, travel, walk, come, etc.) | ||
| − | ****John came to NY = plt(came,NY) | + | ****John came '''to NY''' = plt(came,NY) |
**Subject complement (predicative) | **Subject complement (predicative) | ||
***aoj (general attribute) | ***aoj (general attribute) | ||
| − | ****John is sad = aoj(sad,John) | + | ****John is '''sad''' = aoj(sad,John) |
| − | ****John looks sad = aoj(sad,John) | + | ****John looks '''sad''' = aoj(sad,John) |
***equ (identity) | ***equ (identity) | ||
| − | ****John is Peter = equ(John,Peter) | + | ****John is '''Peter''' = equ(John,Peter) |
***icl (a kind of) | ***icl (a kind of) | ||
| − | ****Dogs are mammals = icl(dog,mammal) | + | ****Dogs are '''mammals''' = icl(dog,mammal) |
***iof (instance of) | ***iof (instance of) | ||
| − | ***John is a human being = iof(John, human being) | + | ****John is a '''human being''' = iof(John, human being) |
***pof (part of) | ***pof (part of) | ||
| − | ****John is part of the family = pof(John,family) | + | ****John is '''part of the family''' = pof(John,family) |
| + | **Nominal complement | ||
| + | ***agt (agent) | ||
| + | ****arrival of John = agt(arrival,John) | ||
| + | ****play by Shakespeare = agt(book,Shakespeare) | ||
| + | ***obj (object) | ||
| + | ****construction of the building = obj(construction,building) | ||
| + | ****interest in Physics = obj(interest,Physics) | ||
| + | ****visit to London = obj(visit,London) | ||
| + | ***plc (place) | ||
| + | ****made in China = plc(made,China) | ||
| + | *Adjuncts | ||
| + | **Time | ||
| + | ***tim (when) | ||
| + | ****John came yesterday = tim(came,yesterday) | ||
| + | ***tmt (until when) | ||
| + | ****John worked until late = tmt(worked,late) | ||
| + | ***tmf (since when) | ||
| + | ****John worked since early = tmf(worked,early) | ||
| + | ***dur (during) | ||
| + | ****John worked during the meeting = dur(worked,meeting) | ||
| + | ***coo (while) | ||
| + | ****John worked while Peter talked = coo(worked,talked) | ||
| + | ***seq (after) | ||
| + | ****John worked and left = seq(left,worked) | ||
| + | **Location | ||
| + | ***plc (where) | ||
| + | ****John worked here = plc(worked,here) | ||
| + | **Manner | ||
| + | |||
| + | |||
| + | |||
| + | |||
| + | |||
| + | |||
}} | }} | ||
Revision as of 22:09, 13 July 2010
Relations, formerly known as "links", are labelled arcs connecting a node to another node in a UNL graph. They correspond to two-place semantic predicates holding between two Universal Words. In UNL, relations have been normally used to represent semantic cases or thematic roles (such as agent, object, instrument, etc.) between UWs. The repertoire of relations is defined in the UNL Specs and it is not open to frequent additions.
Contents |
Syntax
Relations are represented as two-character or three-character lower-case strings.
Semantics
In the UNL framework, relations describe semantic functions between two UWs. These functions are binary and directed (from a source to a target) and are claimed to be universal. Because of their similarity in name and function to syntactic relations, it may seem that the labels used for relations are different names for special grammatical functions. This is emphatically not the case. The intention is that the labels used denote specific ideas rather than grammatical structures: the idea of “something that initiates an event,” or “agent” for example, is quite different from “grammatical subject of a sentence”, even though many times the subject of a sentence will indicate the agent of the event. The agent of an event may also appear as an adjective or noun modifier, with the preposition “by” or embedded in nouns with “er” suffixes. The whole point of the conceptual relations is to have a name for these very different grammatical structures which are conceptually quite the same. Thus, the conceptual relations used in UNL are much more abstract than the grammatical relations found in sentences.
Hierarchy of Relations
Relations are organized in a hierarchy where lower nodes subsume upper nodes. The topmost level is the relation "rel", which simply indicates that there is a relation between two elements. The following level brings four general relations: participant (ptp), for the necessary arguments (subject and complements) of verbal predicates; attribute (aoj), for the necessary arguments (subject and complement) of nominal predicates; specifier (mod), for general specifiers; and adjunct (adj), for general adjuncts, including time, location and manner.
Use of relations
Relations are always used to describe semantic dependencies between syntactic constituents. In general, the following applies:
Set of relations
The set of relations has been undergoing some changes throughout the history of UNL. The table below presents the list of relations according to the several UNL Specs.
| RELATION | DEFINITION | 1996 | 1.0 | 1.5 | 2.0 | 1998 | 3.0 | 3.1 | 3.2 | 3.3 | 2005 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| agt | agent | ||||||||||
| and | conjunction | ||||||||||
| ant | antonym | ||||||||||
| aoj | attributive object | ||||||||||
| bas | basis | ||||||||||
| ben | beneficiary | ||||||||||
| cag | co-agent | ||||||||||
| cao | co-thing with attribute | ||||||||||
| cau | cause | ||||||||||
| cnt | content | ||||||||||
| cob | co-object | ||||||||||
| con | condition | ||||||||||
| coo | co-occurrence | ||||||||||
| dur | duration | ||||||||||
| equ | synonym | ||||||||||
| exp | experiencer | ||||||||||
| fld | semantic field | ||||||||||
| fmt | from-to | ||||||||||
| frm | origin | ||||||||||
| gol | goal | ||||||||||
| icl | inclusion | ||||||||||
| ins | instrument | ||||||||||
| iof | an instance of | ||||||||||
| lpl | logical place | ||||||||||
| man | manner | ||||||||||
| mat | material | ||||||||||
| met | method | ||||||||||
| mod | modifier | ||||||||||
| nam | name | ||||||||||
| num | number | ||||||||||
| obj | object | ||||||||||
| opl | objective place | ||||||||||
| or | disjunction | ||||||||||
| per | unit to measure object | ||||||||||
| plc | place | ||||||||||
| plf | initial place | ||||||||||
| plt | final place | ||||||||||
| pof | part-of | ||||||||||
| pos | possessor | ||||||||||
| ppl | physical place | ||||||||||
| ptn | partner | ||||||||||
| pur | purpose | ||||||||||
| qua | quantity | ||||||||||
| rsn | reason | ||||||||||
| scn | scene | ||||||||||
| seq | sequential order | ||||||||||
| shd | sentence head | ||||||||||
| smd | not semantically related | ||||||||||
| soj | stative object | ||||||||||
| src | source | ||||||||||
| tim | time | ||||||||||
| tmf | time-from | ||||||||||
| tmt | time-to | ||||||||||
| to | destination | ||||||||||
| via | intermediate place |
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