Syntactic Parsing - Dependency Structures

Question 1

What 2 ways can syntactic ambiguity be brought about?

Answer 1

• Multiple interpretations due to multiple meanings
• preposition attached to more than one token
  “I saw the man on the hill [with] a telescope”

Question 2

What is a dependency?

Answer 2

an asymmetric binary linking two tokens.

One is the head and the other is the dependent

Question 3

What is the head and what is the dependent?

Answer 3

Head- is the main verb in a verb phrase or the main noun in a noun phrase

Question 4

What are the other words for the head-dependent relationship?

Answer 4

superior-inferior
governor-modified
regent-subordinate

Question 5

How do we know if something is a head or a dependent?

Answer 5

The dependents modify the head

Question 6

What is a dependency graph?

Answer 6

nodes are the tokens and edges are the relation type labels

Question 7

What are the different notation structures for dependency relationships?

Answer 7

horizontal (arrows one way or the other)
tree of tokens
tree of POS tagged tokens
machine readable (inline annotation)

Question 8

nmod/amod

Answer 8

phrase that modifies a noun phrase

Question 9

where is the nmod relationship in “sam eats red meat”

Answer 9

nmod(red, meat)

Question 10

aux

Answer 10

non-main verb of a clause

Question 11

where is the aux relationship in “he should leave”

Answer 11

aux(leave, should)

Question 12

cc

Answer 12

coordination- connects element of a conjunct and coordinating word

Question 13

where is the cc relationship in “they should either ski or snowboard”

Answer 13

cc(ski,or)

Question 14

det

Answer 14

between the head of a np and its determiner

Question 15

where is the det relationship in “the man is here”

Answer 15

det(man, the)

Question 16

obj/dobj

Answer 16

between a verb and a np denoting the entity acted upon

Question 17

where is the obj relationship in “she gave me a raise”

Answer 17

obj(gave,raise)

Question 18

iobj

Answer 18

between a verb and a np acting as an indirect object

Question 19

where is the iobj relationship in “she gave me a raise”

Answer 19

iobj(gave, me)

Question 20

vmod

Answer 20

phrase that modifies a verb phrase

Question 21

where is the vmod relationship in “genetically modified food”

Answer 21

vmod(modified, genetically)

Question 22

sbj/nsubj

Answer 22

between a verb and a np denoting the entity that serves as subject or agent

Question 23

where is the sbj relationship in “clinton defeated cole”

Answer 23

sbj(defeated, clinton)

Question 24

pobj/pc

Answer 24

object of preposition

head of np following a proposition

Question 25

where is the pobj relationship in “I sat on the chair”

Answer 25

pobj(on, chair)

Question 26

p/punct

Answer 26

punctuation. between the head of the sentence (the root) and punctuation

Question 27

where is the punct relationship in “go home!”

Answer 27

punct(go, !)

Question 28

A dependency structure is endocentric if…

Answer 28

it fulfils the same linguistic function as one of its parts.

These are not required

Question 29

A dependency structure is exocentric if…

Answer 29

it does not fulfil the same linguistic function as one of its parts.
These are required

Question 30

Endocentric dependency structures? (2)

Answer 30

vmod amod

Question 31

Exocentric dependency structures? (2)

Answer 31

subj, obj

Question 32

What is verb valency?

Answer 32

Certain verbs require certain types of dependents

Question 33

what is univalent, give an example

Answer 33

1 subject e.g. “dance”, danced(she)

Question 34

what is divalent, give an example

Answer 34

1 subject, 1 object e.g. “ate”, ate(he,chocolates)

Question 35

what is trivalent, give an example

Answer 35

1 subject, 2 objects e.g. “gave”, gave(he, document, her)

Question 36

what is avalent, give an example

Answer 36

no subjects e.g. “rains”, it rains, rains()

Question 37

What is a predicate argument structure (PAS)?

Answer 37

A generalisation of verb valency

Question 38

How is predicate argument structure (PAS) different to verb valency?

Answer 38

predicates can be any POS, with arguments specified using an argument number.