Parts of Speech

Parts of Speech in Language Technologies

Part of Speech Tagging

• Input: string of words
• Output: string of words with a part of speech associated with each word.
• Example:
• This:det boy:N likes:V that:det girl:N
• Use statistical or rule-based knowledge about distribution.
• Usually use a long list of parts of speech, e.g., around 40.

Part of speech tags used in the Penn Treebank

• Coordinating conjunction
• Cardinal number
• Determiner
• Existential-there
• Foreign word
• Preposition/subordinating conjunction
• Adjective
• Comparative adjective
• Superlative adjective
• List item marker
• Modal

Part of speech tags used in the Penn Treebank

• Singular noun or mass noun
• Plural noun
• Singular proper noun
• Plural proper noun
• Predeterminer
• Possessive ending
• Personal pronoun
• Possessive pronoun
• Adverb
• Comparative adverb
• Superlative adverb
• Particle

Part of speech tags used in the Penn Treebank

• Symbol
• To
• Interjection
• Base form verb
• Past tense verb
• Gerund or present participle verb
• Past participle verb
• Verb not 3rd person singular present
• Verb 3rd singular present
• Wh-determiner
• Wh-pronoun
• Possessive wh-pronoun
• Wh-adverb

A different theory of Parts of Speech

Theory of Propositional Acts and Parts of Speech (William Croft, Radical Construction Grammar, Chapter 2)

• Refer
• Modify
• Predicate
• Nouns are words that refer without additional marking.
• Adjectives and adverbs modify without additional marking.
• Verbs predicate without additional marking.

Additional Marking

• Predication > reference
• Destroy > destruction
• The destruction of the city
• Predication > modification
• Destroy > that destroyed
• The hurricane that destroyed New Orleans
• Modification > predication
• Red > is red
• The book is red
• Modification > reference
• red > the red one
• The red one is on the shelf
• Reference > predication
• Teacher > is a teacher
• He is a teacher

Problems with propositional acts and additional marking

• Modification > reference without additional marking
• Robin Hood stole from the rich and gave to the poor.
• Reference > modification without marking
• Toy house

Variation across languages

• World Atlas of Language Structures

Things that are marked on verbs in other languages

• Aspect
• Perfect and imperfect
• Mood
• Subjunctive
• Voice
• Passive