GrammarSoft ApS

• accusative or direct object (Od, Oacc), which is in the accusative case, if pronominal, and has to occupy the second object slot if combined with an indirect (dative) object.
• dative or 'indirect' object (Oi, Odat), which is expressed by a pronoun in the dative case, and has to occupy the first object slot if combined with a direct (accusative) object. Since non-pronominal dative objects in French are prepositionalized, they will here, as a matter of mere convention, be tagged as prepositional-indirect objects (Op, Opiv).
• prepositional object (Op, Opiv), which has the form of a prepositional phrase (pp) that cannot be substituted by a pronominal adverb - which would make it an adverbial (A). Op-pronouns are 'en' and 'y', or oblique case pronouns within pp's.

• subject predicative/complement (Cs), which refers to and has gender/number agreement with the subject. Subject predicatives are valency bound by copula verbs ('être', 'devenir', 'sembler').  The prototypical form of predicatives is adjectival or nominal. In the FRAG system, adverbial predicatives get their own tag (As).
• object predicative/complement (Co), which refers to and has gender/number agreement with an obligatory direct (accusative) object. Object predicatives are valency bound by verbs like 'rendre', 'considerer comme'. Object predicatives may have pp or acl from (with 'comme' or 'de'). After passivized verbs from this class, object complements will turn into subject complements (Cs).
• subject adverbial (As) is an adverbial argument which predicates the subject. It can be regarded as a non-prototypical form of the subject predicative (Cs) with adverb- or pp-form, and can be form-tested by substitution with a pronominal adverb ('ici/là', 'ainsi', 'tant'). Subject adverbials are based on the valency of certain verbs ('être', 'habiter', 'aller', 'durer').
• object adverbial (Ao) is an adverbial argument which predicates an obligatory direct (accusative) object. It can be regarded as a non-prototypical form of the object predicative (Co), with adverb- or pp-form. Object adverbials are based on the valency of verbs like ('envoyer', 'mettre'). One way of describing ACI and causative constructions is by assigning the accusative Od-function, and the infinitve(-clause) Ao-function ('voir qn danser ...', 'faire qn travailler ...'.

Clause level adjuncts (not valency governed)    ^TOP^

These are predicatives (complements) and adverbials not valency bound by the predicator. The basic distinction between free adverbials and free (subject) predicatives is that the former (fA) have adverb- or pp- or clause-form and can be substituted by pronominal adverbs, while the latter (fC) have adjective- or participle-form and can be moved into the subject np. Another distinction is semantic - adverbials (fA) add location, direction, intensity, modality etc. to a given state of affairs, while predicatives attribute features to a subject (or object).

Agent of passive constituents are here termed passive adjuncts (fApass). They are an optional semantic representation of what would be the subject in the active sentence, and not valency bound like objects normally are. Statement predicatives (fCsta) and vocatives (fCvoc) are not really syntactic dependents of the predicator, and thus not clause constituents in the same way as other adjuncts, but for the sake of notational coherence, they are here accepted into the free predicative group. Likewise, some extrasentential adverbs ('naturellement', 'probablement') and interjections have been forced into the free adverbial group (fA).
 

symbol	category	examples
fA ADVL	adjunct adverbial  adverbialadjunkt complément adverbial non-essentiel	Lentement, l'oiseau se rapprochait. Les amis allaient à la plage (As) tous les jours (fA). Elle n'aime pas les chiens. Pour un professeur (1), il parle beaucoup trop vite (2).
fC (fCs) PRED	adjunct predicative  prædikativadjunkt attribut non-essentiel (du sujet) epithète détachée du sujet	Quand il fait nuit, elle nage nue. Fatigués et desillusionés, ils s'en vont. Petit Pierre l'a construit lui-même.
fApass [PASS]	passive adjunct  passivadjunkt complément du passif	La ville a été détruite par des avions ennemis.
fCsta S<	statement predicative  sætningsprædikativ attribut de proposition	La terre est ronde, - fait qui n'est pas étonnant  pour ceux qui ont vu les lunes de Jupiter.
fCvoc VOK	vocative adjunct  vokativadjunkt vocatif	Soyez plus précis, Peter!  Oh Dieu, sauvez-moi de ces gens!
fAtop TOP	topic constituent topic-konstituent constituent de thème	Maria, elle est sympatique. (subject topic) Peter, je le connais bien. (object topic)

Subordination and coordination (function)    ^TOP^

Subordinators (SUB), like relatives and interrogatives, head finite (rarely, averbal) subclauses, the difference being, that relatives and interrogatives (also) have real constituent functions in the subclause (the ones that they would also have in a main clause), while the subordinator function tag (SUB) is used, where no other function applies, as is the case for subordinating conjunctions.

A similar "dummy" function is needed for the clause body of averbal clauses (verb-less clauses), which in French only can be headed by very few subordinating conjunctions ('bien_que'), relative adverbs ('où') and conjunctions with predicative usage ('que', 'comme'). The symbol SUB< may be used for the clause body of an averbal clause (i.e. all but the clause header), unless, of course, one decides to assign a "real" clause function based on ellipsis ("imagining" what it would be if there were a predicator), like Cs (subject predicative) for 'possible' in 'où possible, ...'.

Coordinated units (cu), or paratagmata (par), consist of a coordinator (CO) binding together 2 or more conjuncts (CJT). Prototypical coordinators are coordinating conjunctions, but they can also be expressed as punctuation (, / -). Conjuncts within the same paratagma usually have matching form and function, i.e. noun groups are co-ordinated with noun groups, direct objects with direct objects etc., but - in principle - everything goes. Consider, for instance, the form mismatch in 'elle est jeune (adj) et sans scrupules (pp)', and the crossed/combined function-match in 'il a acheté un chien pour son fils et un chat pour sa fille.'
 

symbol		category	examples
SUB SUB		subordinator  subordinator, subjunktional subordinateur	S'il ya une fête, nous y allons. Cette semaine, nous avons appris qu'on ne peut pas relâcher, quand on a peur de quelque chose. Le directeur a menacé dimanche après-midi de claquer la porte.
(SUB<) AS<		[averbal] clause body  sætningsstamme tronc de proposition	Où possible, nous aiderons. (Cs) Il y avait autant d'opinions que de délégués. (Od?)
CO CO		coordinator  koordinator, konjunktional coordinateur	Nous avons acheté 10 pommes et 20 oranges. Ou vous m'aidez, ou nous ne finirons jamais.
CJT		conjunct konjunkt conjoint	Ni Grammy ni Michael parlent français. Est-ce que tu prefères ton thé avec du sucre ou sans?

Group level constituent function    ^TOP^

The VISL system uses three form levels: clause (cl) , group (g) and word form (w). The first two are complex forms with more than one constituent. Clauses have usually a verbal constituent (predicator), or - where not - at least a clause header (subordinator or relative), while groups don't.

At the group level, two main categories are distinguished, heads (H) and dependents (D), inspired by a dependency grammar perspective. Dependents can be modifiers (not valency bound) or arguments (valency bound). According to the type of heads and dependents involved, 4 structurally different group types can be distinguished:

• nominal group (np), which allows articles as modifier dependents ('les', 'une', 'des'). This is a hypotactic group with the prototypical head being a noun. However, almost all word forms can head an np, given the right premodifier ('les riches', 'chacun d'entre nous').
• adjectival groups (adjp) and adverbial groups (advp), two structurally indistinguishable group types, that can be defined as groups allowing intensifiers as modifier dependents ('très'). These groups are hypotactic, with the typical head being an adjective, a participle or an adverb. However, other heads (even complex heads) are allowed, given the right premodifier ('il se sentent très contre la guerre', 'au_moins 5').
• prepositional group (pp), which is syntacticallt headed (and valency-represented) by a preposition, but semantically represented by the prepositions argument. This group type is often categorized as katatactic (without a head), since neither the preposition nor its argument can replace the whole group.
• verb group (vp), which consists of a chain of dependency-linked verbs, of which the last - in French - is the main verb (Vm), and the first may be finite (tense or mode inflected). All but the last verb are called auxiliaries (Vaux). Infinitives can have an infinitive marker (INFM) to the left. In French, this function is used for 'à' and 'de' where they appear with auxiliaries ('aller à', 'venir de'), while prepositions before infinitives outside auxiliary constructions are tagged as clause subordinators (SUB). Verb groups may be discontinuous, with interfering adverbs or pronouns ('il ne l'a pas dit', 'nous avons dû tout construire de nouveau'). In questions, the subject may split a verb chain ('a-t-il fait des achats?'). In a simplified analysis, the idiosyncracies of verb chain structure may be circumvented by treating its elements as clause level constituents.

The first three, non-verbal group types can also be premodified by certain focus or operator adverbs ('surtout', 'seulement', 'même', 'ikke'), that are not typical of a specific group, and do not really attach to the group's head, but rather to the group as a whole, forming a kind of meta-group (np', ap', pp'). At present, this distinction is not yet fully integrated in the open corpus Danish VISL system.
 

symbol		category	examples
H - D		head <-> dependent  kerne <-> dependent tête <-> dependent	un(D) petit (D) chien (H) sans (H) argent (D) dimanche (H) après-midi (D)
D	DN DNmod DNarg >N, N<	adnominal adject  adnominaladjekt dependent adnominal (H: noun or pronoun)	tous (D) les (D) jours (modifiers) le monsieur de Paris (pp-modifier) une position bien difficile (adjp-modifier) le premier ministre Mr Moutalibov (prop-modifier) la guerre contre la faim (argument) La chasse aux castors est interdit au Danemark. (argument)
	DNapp APP	(adnominal) apposition  (nominal-) apposition apposition	Le président du CSA, Mr Jacques Boutet, ...
	DNc N<PRED	predicative adject  prædikativadjekt prédicat adnominal	La femme, jeune et bronzée, paraissait ... un quartier à l'est de la ville, aéré par trois espaces verts, ... 3,7 milliards de yens (148 milliards de francs) Jacques a visité l'imprimerie, qui lui avait envoyé un devis. Michel Dubois (UDF) ...
	DA DAmod DAarg >A, A<	adverbial adject  adverbialadjekt dependent adverbial (H: adjective, adverb or determiner)	très heureux (modifier) trop de gens (argument) fort comme un ours (modifier) un pays riche en pétrole (argument)
	DAcom KOMP<	argument of comparative  komparativkomplement complément (du) comparatif	une politique aussi soutenue qu'insidieuse il est plus grand que son frère
	DP DParg DPmod P<, >P	argument of preposition  præpositionsargument régime (complément de préposition)	à la maison (argument) par ici (argument) sans hésiter une seconde (argument) même en Italie, il fait froid ce printemps. (modifier, focus marker)

The verb group (verb chain)    ^TOP^
 

symbol	category	examples
Vm [FMV (1)] [IMV (2)]	main verb  hovedverbum verbe principal	Que vous-avez fait hier? Le chaînes publiques risquent (1) d'être (2) les premières victimes.
Vaux [FAUX (1)] [IAUX (2)]	auxiliary  hjælpeverbum verbe auxiliar	Nous avons (1) dû (2) tout construire de nouveau.
INFM INFM	infinitive marker infinitivsmærke marque de l'infinitif	Pierre vient de voir son amie.
AUX<	argument of auxiliary auksiliarkomplement complément auxiliar	La maison a été (1) vendue (2).

Group forms    ^TOP^
 

symbol		category	examples
np	np propp pronp	noun phrase  nominalgruppe, nominalsyntagme groupe nominal (D-test: article +)	Il boit un bon vin blanc. (np) La France construit des trains de grande vitesse. (np) Nous autres du Québec n'aimons pas ça. (pronp)
adjp	adjp detp	adjective group adjektivsyntagme groupe adjectival (D-test: très +)	Tout le monde paraissait très heureux. (adjp)
advp		adverbial group adverbialsyntagme groupe adverbial (D-test: très +)	Il parle trop vite. (advp)
vp		verb phrase  verbalsyntagme groupe verbal (H: main verb [semantically] or 1. auxiliary [dependency grammar])	Nous sommes descendus à la bonne station. Grammy a toujours voulu se baigner dans un lac danois.
pp		prepositional phrase  præpositionssyntagme groupe prépositionel (H: preposition)	Dans la forêt, il y a un menhir. une place pour quatre nuits.

Clause forms and parataxis    ^TOP^

Clauses are complex constituents that feature at least one verb or - where not - a clause header particle (subordinating conjunction or relative). According to the type of verbal constituent - or its absence - , three clause types are distinguished:

• finite clause (fcl), with a finite verb predicator, or a predicator verb chain headed by a finite auxiliary. In French, finite subclauses are introduced by a subordinator or a relative/interrogative constituent, if they function as a constituent of another clause.
• non-finite clause (icl), with a non-finite verb predicator, or a predicator verb chain headed by a non-finite auxiliary. Infinitive clauses (unless co-ordinated) have an infinitive marker or prepositional subordinator before the leading infinitive, and possibly also light adverbial or pronominal material (e.g. 'pour ainsi le transformer ....'). French participal clauses have no leading subordinator, but may otherwise integrate ordinary clause constituents. With the exception of passivised absolute participle constructions, French non-finite clause do not feature subjects.
• averbal clause (acl), which lacks a verbal constituent, and consists of a subordinator ('bien_que') or relative adverb ('où') and a clause body or subordinator argument (SUB<). The latter may be assigned a more specific function (Cs, S, fA) by "reading" the clause as a regular deep structure "verbal" clause.

+ = inflects (word form category), +* = lexeme category
nG = no/underspecified gender, nN = no/underspecified number, nD = no/underspecified definiteness

Utterance function
 

symbol		category	examples
UTT	STA QUE COM EXC	utterance ytring énonciation	Ça ne fait rien. [statement] Avez-vous peur de ce brute? [question] Attends! [command] pauvre de moi! [exclamation]
STA		statement  udsagn phrase déclarative	La terre est ronde comme une orange. Merci.
QUE		question  spørgsmål phrase interrogative	Y a-t-il une boulangerie par ici?
COM		command ordre phrase impérative/injonctive	Arrête! Pourriez-vous m'aider, s'il vous plaît?
EXC		exclamation  udråb phrase exclamative	Mon Dieu! Vive le roi!

Valency tags for verbs (Eckhard Bick)

Verbal valency potential is marked in CG-output as secondary tags, for instance:

vt = transitive verb
vi = intransitive verb
ve = ergative verb
vdt = ditransitive verb with dative
PRP^vp = verb with prepositional valency (PRP marking the preposition in question)
PRP^vtp = ditransitive verb with prepositional valency
vk = kopula verb
vtk = transitive kopula verb
x = auxiliary with infinitive
xt = ACI- or causative verb
va+LOC/DIR/QUANT = transitive verb with adverbial valency
vta+LOC/DIR = ditransitive verb with adverbial valency