Semantic rules

Semantic rules are rules for mapping UNL structures into natural language and vice-versa. They can be of two different types: relation rules, i.e., rules that map UNL relations into syntatic structures; and attribute rules, which are rules that map UNL attributes into morpho-syntactic structures.

Relation Rules

Relation rules are used for translating UNL relations into natural language syntactic structures. They form a special case of the S-Rule type, because:

• differently from other s-rules, the head of the syntactic relation may not be simplified; and
• differently from other s-rules, both arguments of the syntactic relation must be coindexed to the arguments of the semantic relation.

Templates

CASE	TEMPLATE	EXAMPLE	GLOSS
ADJUNCT (DIRECT)	XA(%01:%02);	mod(NOU;ADJ):=NA(%01:%02);	if "mod(NOU;ADJ)" then the ADJ (%02) is a direct adjunct to the NOU (%01) inside the noun phrase
ADJUNCT (INDIRECT)	XA(%01:YC(Y:%02));	tim(VER;NOU):=VA(%01:PC([in]:%02));	if "tim(VER;NOU)" then the NOU (%02) is the complement of the preposition "in" which is the head of the prepositional phrase adjunct to the VER (%01)
COMPLEMENT (DIRECT)	XC(%01:%02)	obj(VER;NOU):=VC(%01:%02);	if "mod(VER;NOU)" then the NOU (%02) is the direct complement of the VER (%01)
COMPLEMENT (INDIRECT)	XC(%01:YC(Y:%02));	gol(VER;NOU):=VC(%01:PC([to]:%02));	if "gol(VER;NOU)" then the NOU (%02) is the complement of the preposition "to" which is the head of the prepositional phrase complement to the VER (%01)
SPECIFIER	XS(%01:%02)	agt(VER;NOU):=VS(%01:%02);	if "agt(VER;NOU)" then the NOU (%02) is the specifier of the VER (%01)

Attribute Rules

Attribute rules are used for translating UNL attributes into natural language morpho-syntactic structures. Depending on their nature, they can follow either the s-rule or the m-rule type.

m-rule

m-rules are used when the attribute implies a morphological or an orthographical change. There are attributes, such as .@pl (= plural) and .@past (= past), that can be directly associated to inflections.