PARSEME Shared Task 1.3 - Annotation guidelines

Annotation guidelines
corpora annotated for multiword expressions

Light verb constructions (LVC)

Light verb constructions (LVC) constitute a universal category. We retain the following key characteristics:

They are formed by a verb v and a (single or compound) noun n, which either directly depends on v (and possibly contains a case marker or a postposition), or is introduced by a preposition.
In case of Hindi, the noun can be replaced by an adjective which is morphologically identical to an eventive noun. If you annotate Hindi, everywhere is this page when the noun is referred to, you should read the noun or the adjective.
The (single or compound) noun n is predicative and refers to an event (e.g. decision, visit) or a state (e.g. fear, courage). Predicative nouns are nouns that have semantic arguments, that is, they express predicates whose meaning is only fully specified by their semantic arguments:
We retain two sub-categories of verbs, which define two sub-categories of LVCs:
- The verb v is "light" in that it contributes to the meaning of the whole only by bearing morphological features: person, number, tense, mood, as well as morphological aspect. This implies that v's syntactic subject is n's semantic argument. In this case, we annotate the construction as LVC.full.
- The verb v is "causative" in that it indicates that the subject of v is the cause or source of the event or state expressed by n. In other words, the noun has semantic arguments expressed as non-subject elements in the sentence, and the subject of the verb brings an additional information, indicating the cause of source of the event/state. In this case, we annotate the construction as LVC.cause. These constructions are expected to be less idiomatic than other VMWEs and can be understood as complex predicates with a causal support verb.

The following decision tree should be applied to decide whether a candidate should be annotated as a LVC.full, LVC.cause or none.

LVC-specific decision tree:

Apply test LVC.0 - [N-ABS: Is the noun abstract?]
- It is not an LVC, exit
- Apply test LVC.1 - [N-PRED: Is the noun predicative?]
  - It is not an LVC, exit
  - Apply test LVC.2 - [V-SUBJ-N-ARG: Is the subject of the verb a semantic argument of the noun?]
    - Apply test LVC.3 - [V-LIGHT: The verb only adds meaning expressed as morphological features?]
      - It is not an LVC, exit
      - Apply test LVC.4 - [V-REDUC: Can a verbless NP-reduction refer to the same event/state?]
        
        It is not an LVC, exit
        
        It is an LVC.full
    - Apply test LVC.5 - [V-SUBJ-N-CAUSE: Is the subject of the verb the cause of the noun?]
      - It is not an LVC, exit
      - It is an LVC.cause

Note: test 10 [N-SEM] from the previous version of the guidelines (1.0) was considered unnecessary and has been abandoned in the current version of the guidelines.

Note: LVC tests are often hard to apply. If you hesitate at some intermediary test, continue to the next one, since the last tests of LVC.full and LVC.cause will help you reach your final decision.

Test LVC.0 - [N-ABS] Noun is abstract

Is the noun n abstract?

continue to next test
it is not an LVC

Some concrete nouns may be predicative (test LVC.1). For instance, a relational noun such as daughter is semantically incomplete without its argument: daughter of X, so daughter is predicative. However, concrete predicative nouns should not pass test LVC.0.

Some nouns may have both concrete and abstract interpretations. For instance, money is concrete when it refers to banknotes (paper money, bills): I didn't have money so I paid by credit card. However, money is abstract when referring to a conventional value used in transactions between people: He spent a lot of money in the mall. If one cannot be sure that the noun is used in its concrete interpretation, test LVC.0 passes.

Test LVC.1 - [N-PRED] Noun is predicative

Does the noun n have at least one semantic argument, implying that it is a predicative noun?

continue to next test
it is not an LVC

We only retain nouns n that have at least one semantic argument, which we define as a semantically mandatory and specific participant of the event or state expressed by the predicative noun.

Sometimes, it might be useful to consider verbs and adjectives derivationally related to the noun to reason about its semantic arguments.

Test LVC.2 - [N-SUBJ-N-ARG] Verb's subject is noun's semantic argument

Is the subject of the verb a semantic argument of the noun? In other words, is the verb linking the predicative noun to one of its semantic arguments that occurs as the subject of the verb?

continue to next test

لصديقه نصيحة أحمد قدم gave Ahmed an advice to his friend Ahmed gave an advice to his friend → أحمد Ahmed is the subject of the verb and a semantic argument (Advicer ) of the noun

Иван изнесе доклад Ivan presented a report → Иван is the subject of the verb and a semantic argument (agent) of the activity
Президентът получи покана за посещение в Германия The president received an invitation to visit Germany → Президентът president is the subject of the verb and a semantic argument (the receiver) of the invitation
Президентът получи награда Тhe president received an award→ Президентътpresident is the subject of the verb and a semantic argument (the receiver) of наградаaward

ο Γιάννης έκανε μία παρουσίαση στο αφεντικό τουO Yanis ekane mia parusiasi sto afentiko tu The John made a presentation to-the boss his John made a presentation to his boss ο Γιάννης is the subject of the verb and a semantic argument (the presenter) of the noun παρουσίαση
Ο Γιάννης πρόβαλε αντίσταση στις αρχέςo γianis provale antistasi stis arches The John presented resistance to the authorities John resisted to the authorities

John made a presentation to his boss → John is the subject of the verb and a semantic argument (the presenter) of the noun

María dio un paseo María went for a walk → María is the subject of the verb and a semantic argument (the walker) of the noun

Max fait une promenade Max takes a walk → Max is the subject of the verb and a semantic argument (the walker) of the noun

Κῦρος ἐξέτασιν ποιεῖται τῶν Ἑλλήνων καὶ τῶν βαρβάρωνKuros exetasin poieitai tо̄n Hellēnо̄n kai tо̄n barbarо̄n Cyrus inspection.ACC do.1SG the.GEN Greeks.GEN and the.GEN barbarians.GEN Cyrus inspected the Greeks and the barbarians

Helena je otišla u posjet prijateljici Helena payed a visit to a friend → Helena is the subject of the verb and a semantic argument (the visitor) of the visit
Susjed jedobio dozvolu za gradnju Neighbour received a permission for construction → Neighbour is the subject of the verb and a semantic argument (the receiver) of the permission

Max maakte een wandeling Max takes a walk → Max is the subject of the verb and a semantic argument (the walker) of the noun

Jan złożył wizytę Marii Jan payed a visit to Maria → Jan is the subject of the verb and a semantic argument (the visitor) of the visit
Piotr dostał pozwolenie and budowę Piotr received a permission for construction → Piotr is the subject of the verb and a semantic argument (the receiver) of the permission
Beata ma marzenia o spokoju Beata has dreams about peace → Beata is the subject of the verb and a semantic argument (the possessor) of the dreams
wyborcy ponoszą za to winę the electorate bears the responsibility for this→ wyborcy electorate is the subject of the verb and a semantic argument (the agent) of the guilt
ustawa budzi zastrzeżenia the law wakes-up reservationsthe law raises reservations→ ustawalaw is the subject of the verb and a semantic argument (the theme) of zatrzeżeniareservations

Felipe tomou dois banhos Felipe took two showers → Felipe is the subject of the verb and a semantic argument (the person taking a shower) of the noun

Ion i-a făcut o prezentare șefului său Ion made a presentation to his boss→ Ion is the subject of the verb and a semantic argument (the presenter) of the noun

In Janezovo predavanje o slovenski kulturi za študente prevajalstva, the 3 syntactic arguments are expressed as a modifier with a possessive marker (Janezovo Janez's) and prepositional phrases (o slovenski kulturi on Slovene culture and za študente prevajalstva for students of translating )

Бранко је добио постављење Branko je dobio postavljenje Branko was appointed to a position → Branko is the subject of the verb and a semantic argument of the appointment (receiver)
Јелена је Бранку узвратила посету Jelena je Branku uzvratila posetu Jelena returned Branko's visit. → Jelena is the subject of the verb and a semantic argument of the visit (visitor)

Go to test LVC.5

خطاب المراسل ال قاطع The journalist has interrupted the speech → المراسل The journalist that is , the subject of the verb, is not a semantic argument of خطاب the speech , since a speech does not necessarily have an interrupter

Приятелят на Мария прекъсна нейния доклад Maria's friend interrupted her report→ Maria's friend, that is, the subject of the verb, is not a semantic argument of the report, since a report does not necessarily have an interrupter

το αφεντικό του Γιάννη διέκοψε την παρουσίασή του John's boss interrupted his presentation → το αφεντικό του Γιάννη (John's boss), that is, the subject of the verb διέκοψε, is not a semantic argument of the noun predicate παρουσίαση presentation, since a presentation does not necessarily have an interrupter

John's boss interrupted his presentation → John's boss, that is, the subject of the verb, is not a semantic argument of the presentation, since a presentation does not necessarily have an interrupter
The report provides information about the economy → information only has one argument, which is its topic. The provider/source of an information is not one of its semantic arguments.

El periodista interrumpió el discurso The journalist interrupted the speech → The journalist, that is, the subject of the verb, is not a semantic argument of the speech, since a speech does not necessarily have an interrupter
El informe facilita información clave the report provides crucial information → information only has one argument, which is its topic. The provider/source of an information is not one of its semantic arguments.

Le journaliste a interrompu le discours The journalist has interrupted the speech → The journalist, that is, the subject of the verb, is not a semantic argument of the speech, since a speech does not necessarily have an interrupter
Le rapport fournit des informations cruciales the report provides crucial information → information only has one argument, which is its topic. The provider/source of an information is not one of its semantic arguments.

ὁ δὲ ἐμπιμπλὰς ἁπάντων τὴν γνώμην ho de empimplas hapantо̄n tēn gnо̄mēn he satisfy.PTC all.GEN the.ACC expectation.ACC he, having satisfied everyone’s expectation → the subject of the verb (he) is not the subject of the noun (all)

Učenici su prekinuli le predavanjeStudents have interrupted the lecture → Students, that is, the subject of the verb, is not a semantic argument of the speech, since a speech does not necessarily have an interrupter

De journalist heeft de toespraak onderbroken The journalist has interrupted the speech → The journalist, that is, the subject of the verb, is not a semantic argument of the speech, since a speech does not necessarily have an interrupter

Marek dał mi prawo wyboru Marek gave me the right to choose→ Marek is the subject of the verb and but not a semantic argument of the right (a right usually does not need to be grated)
Incydent ten podważył zaufanie wyborców do kandydata This fact undermined the electorate's confidence in the candidate→ Incydent event is the subject of the verb and but not a semantic argument of the confidence
komisja przeprowadziła wybory the committee carried out the vote→ komisja committee is the subject of the verb but not a semantic argument of wybory vote, which only requires the voters and the matter of the vote

O jornalista interrompeu a inauguração The journalist has interrupted the inauguration → The journalist, that is, the subject of the verb, is not a semantic argument of an inauguration, since an inauguration does not necessarily have an interrupter
O relatório traz informações polêmicas the report provides polemic information → information only has one argument, which is its topic. The provider/source of an information is not one of its semantic arguments.

To define a predavanje lecture one needs to mention three participants: the presenter, the audience and the topic of the presentation. In other words, the existence of a lecture implies the existence of its arguments.

Демонстранти су прекинули говор Demonstranti su prekinuli говор Protesters interrupted the speech→ Protesters are the subject of the verb but not a semantic argument of the speech (a speech does not necessarily have an interrupter)
комисија је спровела гласање komisija je sprovela glasanje the committee carried out the vote→ комисија komisija committee is the subject of the verb but not a semantic argument of гласање glasanje vote, which only requires the voters and the matter of the vote

It is not always easy to determine if the verb's subject is an argument of the noun. You can use the former syntactic version of this test to verify your intuitions.

Test LVC.3 - [V-LIGHT] Verb with light semantics

Is v semantically light, that is, is the semantics that v adds to n restricted to: (i) what stems from its morphological features (e.g. future, plural, perfective aspect, etc.), (ii) pointing at the semantic role of n played by v's subject?

continue to next test

قرار أخذ take a decision → أخذ makeadds no meaning to قرار decision besides that of performing an activity
معروف قدم present a favor to give a favor → قدم to give adds no meaning to معروف favorbesides that of performing activity
زيارةبقام to do a visit to pay a visit → قام to do adds no meaning to visit زيارة besides that of performing an activity

вземам решение make a decision → вземам adds no meaning to решение decision besides that of performing an act
държа реч to make a speech → държа adds no meaning to реч besides that of performing an act
поемам отговорност to take responsibility → поемам adds no meaning to отговорност besides that of having a property

eine Entscheidung treffen a decision meet to make a decision → treffen adds no meaning to Entscheidung besides that of performing an activity
Angst haben to have fear → haben adds no meaning to Angst besides that of having a property.

κάνω μία βόλτα take a walk→ κάνωmake adds no meaning to βόλτα walkbesides that of performing an activity
παίρνω μία απόφαση → παίρνω take adds no meaning to απόφαση decision besides that of performing an activity
δίνω μία απάντηση → δίνω give adds no meaning to the noun απάντηση besides that of performing an activity
διενεργώ έλεγχο perform a check → διενεργώ perform is a pure syntactic operator: in any context, it only bears tense and mood and never adds any sense to the noun
διαπράττω ένα έγκλημα → διαπράττω commit is a pure syntactic operator: in any context,it only bears tense and mood and never adds any sense to the noun
ασκώ δριμεία κριτική → ασκώ commit adds no meaning to the noun κριτική besides that of performing a cognitive activity
νιώθω πολύ άγχος → νιώθω feel adds no meaning to άγχος besides that of being in a mental state
έχω άγχος have anxiety → έχω have adds no meaning to άγχος anxiety besides that of being in a mental state
προβαίνω σε καταγγελία to make a complaint, to complaint → προβαίνω make adds no meaning to καταγγελία complaint besides that of performing an activity

take a walk → take adds no meaning to walk besides that of performing an activity
make a decision → make adds no meaning to decision besides that of performing an activity
have fear → have adds no meaning to fear besides that of having a property
perform a check → perform is a pure syntactic operator: in any context, it only bears tense and mood and never adds any sense to the noun
commit a crime → commit is a pure syntactic operator: in any context,it only bears tense and mood and never adds any sense to the noun
pay a visit → the verb in its usual sense means 'to spend some money on a visit', but here it is not used in this sense and does not add any semantics to the "visiting" event
deliver a speech → the verb in its usual sense means 'to move from one place to another', but here it is not used in this sense and does not add any semantics to the "speech" event
undergo a surgery → undergo adds no meaning to surgery besides indicating that the subject is the patient of the surgery

dar un paseo to take a walk → dar adds no meaning to paseo besides that of performing an activity
tomar una decisión to make a decision→ tomar adds no meaning to decisión besides that of performing an activity
tener miedo to have fear → tener adds no meaning to miedo besides that of having a property

usain egin smell do to smell, to sniff → the verb egin adds no meaning to the noun usain besides that of performing an activity
lo egin sleep do to sleep → the verb egin adds no meaning to the noun lo besides that of performing an activity

ils ont du courage they have some courage → have adds no meaning to courage besides that of having a property
ils reçoivent l’ordre de partir they receive the order of leavingthey are ordered to leave → receive adds no meaning to order besides indicating that the subject is the recepient of the order
il a subi une intervention chirurgicale he has undergone an intervention surgery he underwent surgery → undergo adds no meaning to surgery besides indicating that the subject is the patient of the surgery

γνώμην ἔχεινgnо̄mēn ekhein opinion.ACC have.INF to have an opinion → ἔχειν adds no meaning to γνώμην besides that of having a property.
τιμωρίαν ποιέομαιtimо̄rian poieomai punishment.ACC do.1SG I punish → ποιέομαι adds no meaning to τιμωρίαν besides that of performing an activity

imati hrabrost to have courage → imati have adds no meaning to hrabrost courage besides that of having a property
donijeti odluku to make a decision → donijeti in its usual sense means 'to bring', but here it is not used in this sense and does not add any semantics to event

fareuna passeggiata → fare adds no meaning to passeggiata besides that of performing an activity
prendere una decisione → prendere adds no meaning to decisione besides that of performing an activity
avere paura → avere adds no meaning to paura besides that of having a property
eseguire un controllo → eseguire is a pure syntactic operator: in any context, it only bears tense and mood and never adds any sense to the noun
commettere un crimine → commettere is a pure syntactic operator: in any context,it only bears tense and mood and never adds any sense to the noun
fare una visita → the verb in its usual sense means 'make', but here it is not used in this sense and does not add any semantics to the "visiting" event
fare un discorso → the verb in its usual sense means 'to make', but here it is not used in this sense and does not add any semantics to the "speech" event

een beslissing nemen a decision take to make a decision → nemen adds no meaning to beslissing besides that of performing an activity
een wandeling maken to take a walk → maken adds no meaning to wandeling besides that of performing an activity
schrik hebben to have fear → hebben adds no meaning to schrik besides that of having a property

oddać hołd to give-back tributeto pay tribute → oddać give-back adds no meaning to hołdtribute besides that of performing an activity
wystąpić z wnioskiem to stand out with a proposal to put forward a motion → wystąpić z stand out with adds no meaning to wniosekmotion besides that of performing an activity

mover uma ação judicial to move a lawsuit to sue → to move adds no meaning to lawsuit besides that of performing an activity
apresentar uma lesão present a lesion to have a lesion → to present adds no meaning to lesion besides that of having a property
estar com medo be with fear to be afraid → to be with adds no meaning to fear besides that of being in a state

a avea curaj to have courage → avea adds no meaning to curaj besides that of thaving a property
a lua o decizieto make a decision → lua adds no meaning to decizie besides that of performing an activity

Janez ima predavanje Janez lectures → Janez is the subject of the verb and a semantic argument of the noun (the lecturer)

одати почаст odati počast give away tributeto commemorate/pay tribute → одати odati give away adds no meaning to почаст počast tribute besides that of performing an activity
изрећи казну izreći kaznu to pronounce a sentence → изрећи izreći to pronounce adds no meaning to казну kaznu sentence besides that of performing an activity

it is not an LVC

إنتباه شد grab attention to get attention → شد to grab / to attract indicates that the attention starts

започвам играта start the game, start playing → започвам start adds an aspectual meaning to the noun

eine Rede beginnen to begin a speech → beginnen adds an aspectual meaning to the noun Rede

ξεκινάω μία προσπάθειαxekinao mia prospaθια start a trial → ξεκινάω adds an aspectual meaning to the noun

to start a walk → start adds an aspectual meaning to the noun

comenzar un discurso to begin a speech → comenzar adds an aspectual meaning to the noun discurso

oinez hasi foot-by start to start walking → the verb hasi adds an aspectual meaning to the noun

donner du courage to give courage → donner indicates the source of the courage (this would not pass test LVC.2)
donner son avis to give one's opinion→ donner adds the information that the opinion is communicated
Ce fait attire l'attention de la justice This fact attracts the attention of the justice → attirer indicates the attention starts

ἄρχειν τοῦ λόγουarkhein tou logou start the speech to begin speaking → ἄρχειν adds an aspectual meaning to the noun λόγου
πολέμου παύσασθαιpolemou pausasthai war end to stop fighting → παύσασθαι adds an aspectual meaning to the noun πολέμου

početi igru start the game → početi start adds an aspectual meaning to the noun

cominciare un ballo to start a dance → cominciare adds an aspectual meaning to the noun ballo

een toespraak beginnen to begin a speech → beginnen adds an aspectual meaning to the noun toespraak

wymierzyć sprawiedliwośćto measure justiceto do justice→ wymierzyćmeasure adds an aspectual meaning to sprawiedliwośćjustice, this expression still passes VID tests
przejść na emeryturęto cross to retirementto take retirement→ przejść adds an inchoative (change-of-state) meaning to the noun
dopełnić obowiązkuto fulfill one's duty→ dopełnićfulfill adds a fulfillment meaning to obowiązekduty

entrar com uma ação judicial to enter with a lawsuit to file a lawsuit → to enter adds an aspectual meaning to the noun
dar uma opinião to give an opinion → to giveadds the meaning of communication which is not present in the name itself (one can ter uma opinião to have an opinion without ccommunicating it).

a începe muncato start work the to start working → începe adds an aspectual meaning to the noun

Študent je prekinil njegovo predavanje The student has interrupted his lecture → The student, that is, the subject of the verb, is not a semantic argument of the lecture, since a lecture does not necessarily have an interrupter

отићи у пензију otići u penziju to leave to retirement to take retirement → отићи otići adds an inchoative (change-of-state) meaning to the noun
испунити дужност ispuniti dužnost to fulfill one's duty → испунити ispuniti fulfill adds a fulfillment meaning to дужност dužnost duty

Note that this light semantics of the verb is either usual for that verb (i.e. the verb is a pure syntactic operator, like commit, perform), or occurs in the context of the particular noun (e.g. for pay in to pay a visit). Both types of verbs pass the test.

In our view of LVCs, we do not require a light verb to be "bleached", as it is sometimes described in the literature. We simply do not take into account the relation between the verb's use as a light verb and its other uses. While the specific meaning added by light verbs to the predicative nouns have been extensively studied and described (e.g. by Miriam Butt and Tafseer Ahmed), we do not adopt any fine-grained classification here. If you have a doubt about a verb's "lightness", proceed to the next test: if you can evoke the same event/state without using the verb, then it is considered light.

Test LVC.4 - [V-REDUC] - Verb reduction

Try to build an NP without the verb, in which v's subject s becomes n's dependent. You might need to test several prepositions (of, by, for, from), possessives (my, her, somebody's), postpositions, case markers, as long as you use no verb. Can this verbless NP refer to the same event or state as the candidate v+n construction does?

annotate as LVC.full
it is not an LVC

This test has a simple formulation but its application has some important subtleties which are central to our definition of the LVC.full category. The goal of this test is to keep only constructions in which the predicative noun is an event or state, excluding "gray-zone" predicates.

First, if it is not possible to build an acceptable NP where the verb v's subject s becomes a dependent of the noun n, e.g. using any preposition, postposition and/or case marker, this means that the verb is not light, and the construction cannot be annotated as LVC.full. This may remove constructions in which there is control, that is, both the noun and the verb share the same subject. However, control is not sufficient to characterize an LVC.full. In other words, LVC.4 fails, the verb is not completely light, and you cannot annotate the construction as LVC.full, even if intuitively it resembles an LVC.full due to control:

العمل قرار أحمد أخذ Ahmed a pris une decision de travail → قرار أحمد بالعمل the decision of Ahmed for work is unacceptable

Paul a l'air de dormir Paul has the air of to-sleep Paul seems to be sleeping → *l'air de dormir de Paul is unacceptable
Paul a eu l'occasion de dormir Paul has had the oportunity to sleep Paul had the oportunity to sleep → *l'occasion de Paul de dormir is unacceptable

Zdravnik je postavil diagnozo The doctor made a diagnosis → njegova diagnoza His diagnosis both refer to the same event
Politik jedal napoved The politician made a forecast → njegova napoved his forecast both refer to the same event

Second, the fact that the NP is acceptable does not suffice to characterise an LVC.full. Furthermore, the NP version in which the verb was omitted, if acceptable, must evoke the same event or state as the LVC. Here are some tricky examples and some recommendations about how to interpret them:

جديدة اجراءت الشركة أخذت the company took new procedures → the NP الاجراءت الجديدة new procedures is ok, the "الاجراءت " "procedures " seem to refer to new procedures, so ok to annotated as LVC.full

Имам по-голям брат I have an elder brother → моят брат my brother refers to one member of the relation, and not to the state of brotherhood between both actants
отправих покана към приятелите си I sent an invitation to my friends→ покана invitation can be interpreted both as the act of inviting and as its contents; for the first reason we count this candidate as LVC.full

Η Μαρία έχει έναν αδελφό I Maria echi enan aδelfo Maria have.3SG a brother → Ο αδελφός της Μαρίας is a concrete NP referring to one member of the relation (does not pass LVC.0), and not to the state of brotherhood between both actants
Η Μαρία έστειλε ένα γράμμα Maria send.03.SG a letter → Το γράμμα της Μαρίας refers to a concrete object participating in the event (does not pass LVC.0), but not to the sending event itself
Η Μαρία έχει την άποψηi maria echi tin apopsi Maria has the opinion Maria believes and more generally, cases of έχω + a noun refering to the state of having a mental content (άποψη, γνώμη, πεποίθηση) → η άποψη της Μαρίας is ambiguous between the fact that she has an opinion and the content of her opinion. We recommend that these cases should be annotated as LVC.full
Η Μαρία έδωσε την υπόσχεσηi maria eδose tin iposchesi the maria give.3.PST the promise Maria promised and more generally, cases of δίνω + a noun refering to a speech act (υπόσχεση, διαταγή, απάντηση, κατάθεση) → Η υπόσχεση της Μαρίας refers to the informational content produced or communicated during the speech act, but can also refer to the act itself. We recommend that these cases should be annotated as LVC.full
Η Μαρία πήρε μία απόφαση I maria pire mia apofasi The Maria take.03.PR a decision Maria decided → απόφαση can refer to the deciding event (μία δύσκολη απόφαση) and/or to what is decided. We recommend that these cases should be annotated as LVC.full

Mary has a brother → Mary's brother is a concrete NP referring to one member of the relation (does not pass LVC.0), and not to the state of brotherhood between both actants
Mary sent a letter → Mary's letter refers to a concrete object participating in the event (does not pass LVC.0), but not to the sending event itself
Mary has an opinion and more generally, cases of have + a noun refering to the state of having a mental content (opinion, belief) → Mary's opinion is ambiguous between the fact that she has an opinion and the content of her opinion. We recommend that these cases should be annotated as LVC.full
Mary made a speech and more generally, cases of make + a noun refering to a speech act → Mary's speech refers to the informational content produced or communicated during the speech act, but can also refer to the act itself. We recommend that these cases should be annotated as LVC.full
Mary made a decision → decision can refer to the deciding event (a quick decision) and/or to what is decided. We recommend that these cases should be annotated as LVC.full

María tiene un hermano María has a brother → el hermano de María María's brother is a concrete NP referring to one member of the relation (does not pass LVC.0), and not to the state of brotherhood between both actants
María envió una carta María sent a letter → La carta de María María's letter refers to a concrete object participating in the event (does not pass LVC.0), but not to the sending event itself
María dio un discurso María made a speech and more generally, cases of dar + a noun refering to a speech act → el discurso de María refers to the informational content produced or communicated during the speech act, but can also refer to the act itself. We recommend that these cases should be annotated as LVC.full
María tomó una decisión María made a decision → decisión decision can refer to the deciding event (a quick decision) and/or to what is decided. We recommend that these cases should be annotated as LVC.full

la compagnie a pris des mesures d'économie the company took some measures of savingthe company took cost-saving measures → the NP les mesures d'écononmie de la compagnie is ok, the semantic equivalence is difficult to judge, the "measures" seem to refer to cost-saving actions, so ok to annotated as LVC.full

εἶχε τὴν ἀδελφὴν Σιτάλκηςeikhe tēn adelphēn Sitalkēs have.3SG the sister.ACC Sitalkes Sitalkes had a sister → ἀδελφὴν is a concrete NP referring to one member of the relation (does not pass LVC.0), and not to the state of brotherhood between both actants
οὐκ ἂν ἐπιστολὴν ἔπεμπονouk an epistolēn epempon not PRT letter.ACC send.3pl they would not have sent a letter → ἐπιστολήν refers to a concrete object participating in the event (does not pass LVC.0), but not to the sending event itself
τὴν γὰρ γνώμην εἶχεtēn gnо̄mēn eikhe the thus opinion have.3SG he thus held the opinion and more generally, cases of have + a noun referring to the state of having a mental content → γνώμην is ambiguous between the fact that she has an opinion and the content of her opinion. We recommend that these cases should be annotated as LVC.full
ὁ δὲ Σιτάλκης πρός τε τὸν Περδίκκαν λόγους ἐποιεῖτοho de Sitalkēs pros te ton Perdikkan logous epoieito the Sitalkes to also the Perdikkas speech.ACC do.3SG Sitalkes spoke to Perdikkas and more generally, cases of make + a noun refering to a speech act → λόγους refers to the informational content produced or communicated during the speech act, but can also refer to the act itself. We recommend that these cases should be annotated as LVC.full

Marie neemt een beslissing → decision can refer to the deciding event (a quick decision) and/or to what is decided. We recommend that these cases should be annotated as LVC.full

mam starszego brata I have an elder brother → mój brat my brother refers to one member of the relation, and not to the state of brotherhood between both actants
Maria wysłała wiadomość Maria sent a message→ wiadomość Marii Maria's message refers to the contants of the message sent by Maria, rather than to the sending event itself
Maria jest zdania, że Mary has the opinon that... → zdanie Marii Mary's opinion refers to the content of the opinion, and not to the state of having an opinion
miał na celu awans He had promotion on the aim His aim was a promotion→ jego cel refers to the aim inself, and not to the state of having a aimta partia w wyborach miała większość this party had a majority in the elections→ #większość tej partii the majority of the party provokes a considerable shift in meaning
złożył zeznania na policji he gave testimony on the police office→ jego zeznania can be interpreted both as the act of testimony and as its contents; for the first reason we count this candidate as LVC.full

Mojca jedala Tini priložnost Mojca gave Tina an opportunity → #Mojčina priložnost Mojca's opportunity has a different meaning; if the verb is removed, the original meaning is lost, so the verb is not light.

Марија је послала поруку Marija je poslala poruku Marija sent a message→ Маријина порука Marijina poruka Mariјa's message refers to the contants of the message sent by Maria, rather than to the sending event itself

Finally, some nouns, especially nominalisations, are ambiguous between events and their participants. For instance, a costruction may be an event (the construction of the bridge took 2 years) or its result (this bridge is a spectacular construction). In that case, if the verbless NP can refer to the event, then you should prefer this reading over the "participant" interpretation. For example, in John made a construction, you may ask if John's construction refers to the construction event or to its result. In this case, it can refer to the event, so it should be annotated as LVC.full.

Test LVC.5 - [V-SUBJ-N-CAUSE] Verb's subject is noun's cause

Is the subject of the verb expressing the cause of the predicate expressed by the noun? In other words, does the verb bring an additional participant to the scene, representing the source or cause of the event or state referred to by the noun?

annotate as LVC.cause

حقوق أعطى to give rights → X has the right to Y, the granter is not a semantic argument of rights, but it causes somebody to have the right to do someting

Иван даде възможност на Мария да представи картините си Ivan gave Maria the opportunity to present her paintings→ Ivan is not a semantic argument of възможност opportunity but he is the cause of the opportunity

δίνω ικανοποίησηδino ikanopiisi give satisfaction to satisfy → the subject of the verb δίνω is the cause for the emotion denoted by the predicative noun ικανοποίηση and experienced by its complement

to grant rights → X has the right to Y, the granter is not a semantic argument of rights, but it causes somebody to have the right to do someting
to give a headache → X has a headache, the cause of the headache, indicated as the subject of give is not a semantic argument
the new law provoked the destruction of the building → the destruction of X by Y, the reason for the destruction is indicated by the verb provoke, which is a prototypical causative verb. Here, the subject is not the agent of destruction, but its cause. Notice that if the sentence was the explosion provoked the destruction of the building, then the construction would be an LVC.full
residents seek to build consensus on the development of the territory → the semantic argument of consensus is the topic on which everybody agrees, the subject of build consensus expresses an external participant responsible for the consensus to exist.

otorgar derechos to grant rights → X has the right to Y, the granter is not a semantic argument of rights, but it causes somebody to have the right to do someting
dar dolor de cabeza → X has a headache, the cause of the headache, indicated as the subject of dar is not a semantic argument
la nueva ley provocó la destrucción del edificio the new law provoked the destruction of the building → the destruction of X by Y, the reason for the destruction is indicated by the verb provocar to provoke, which is a prototypical causative verb. Here, the subject is not the agent of destrucción destruction, but its cause. Notice that if the sentence was la explosión provocó la destrucción del edificio the explosion provoked the destruction of the building, then the construction would be an LVC.full

τιμωρίαν ποιέωtimо̄rian poieо̄ punishment.ACC do.1SG I inflict punishment → the subject of the verb is the cause of the event referred to by the noun

zadati glavobolju to give a headache→ X has a headache, the cause of the headache, indicated as the subject of give is not a semantic argument

hoofdpijn geven → X has a headache, the cause of the headache, indicated as the subject of give is not a semantic argument

Marek dał mi prawo wyboru Marek gave me the right to choose→ Marek is not a semantic argument of prawo right but he is the cause of the right
dać podstawy prawne to give legal foundation
nakładać na kogoś powinność to put a duty on sb.
narazić kogoś na straty to expose someone to losses
stawiać komuś cel to set an aim to someone
ślady krwi wzbudziły podejrzenia policji the traces of blood raised suspicion to the police

Bombardamentul a provocat moartea multor civili. The bombing provoked the death of many civilians.→ Many civilians (mulți civili) died and their death (moarte) was provoked by the bombing (bombardamentul)

Борко је Марији задао бриге Borko je Mariji zadao brige Borko gave to Marija worries Borko worried Marija → Marija has a headache, the cause of the headache, indicated as the subject of задао zadao give is not a semantic argument of бриге brige worries

it is not an LVC

إنطباع أعطى → the subject of أعطى to give is not what is causing إنطباع the impression

Този инцидент подрони авторитета на кандидата This incident undermined the authority of the candidate→ Инцидентът incident is neither a semantic argument of the authority nor its cause

παίρνω απάντησηperno apantisi to take an answer to receive an answer → the subject of παίρνω is not what is causing a reply

to relieve a headache → the subject of relieve is not what is causing a headache
to give birth → tricky case, since the subject of give actually is a semantic argument of birth, so it cannot be its cause. This construction must be annotated as VID (it does not pass test VPC.4 either).
excessive heat provokes fire → even though provoke prototypically expresses a cause, in this case fire is not predicative and should not pass test LVC.1, so the construction cannot be annotated as LVC.cause

calmar un dolor de cabeza to relieve a headache → the subject of calmar to relieve is not what is causing a headache
dar a luz to give birth→ tricky case, since the subject of dar to give actually is a semantic argument of a luz, so it cannot be its cause. This construction must be annotated as VID (it does not pass test VPC.4 either).
un calor excesivo provoca incendios excessive heat provokes fires→ even though provocar prototypically expresses a cause, in this case incendios is not predicative and should not pass test LVC.1, so the construction cannot be annotated as LVC.cause

συγγνώμης τυγχάνειsuggnо̄mēs tugkhanei pardon.GEN get.3SG he gets pardoned → the subject of the verb is not the cause of the event referred to by the noun

de hoofdpijn verlichten → the subject of verlichten is not what is causing a headache

Incydent ten podważył zaufanie wyborców do kandydata This fact undermined the electorate's confidence in the candidate→ Incydent event is neither a semantic argument of the confidence nor its cause (it is the opposite of the cause)
komisja przeprowadziła wybory the committee carried out the vote→ komisja committee is neither a semantic argument of wybory vote not its cause
mocny zapach uśpił czujność psów the strong scent lulled the vigilance of the dogs → the scent is the opposite of the cause of vigilance

căldura excesivă provoacă incendii → even though provocaprovoke prototypically expresses a cause, in this case incendiufire is not a predicate and should not pass test LVC.1, so the construction cannot be annotated as LVC.cause

Marija ima brata Marija has a brother → Marijin brat Marija's brother is a concrete NP referring to one member of the relation (does not pass LVC.0), and not to the state of brotherhood between both actants
Marija je poslala pismo Marija sent a letter → Marijino pismo Marija's letter refers to a concrete object participating in the event (does not pass LVC.0), but not to the sending event itself
Marija ima mnenje Marija has an opinion and more generally, cases of imeti to have + a noun refering to the state of having a mental content (mnenje, predstava, dvom opinion, idea, doubt ) → Marijino mnenje Marija's opinion is ambiguous between the fact that she has an opinion and the content of her opinion. We recommend that these cases should be annotated as LVC.full
Marija je postavila vprašanje/trditev Marija posed a question/statement and more generally, cases of postaviti make + a noun refering to a speech act → Marijino vprašanje Mary's question refers to the informational content produced or communicated during the speech act, but can also refer to the act itself. We recommend that these cases should be annotated as LVC.full

Борко ће Марију ослободити брига Borko će Mariju osloboditi briga Borko freed Marija of her worries. → Borko, the subject of ослободити osloboditi relieve is not what is causing бриге brige worries

Constructions annotated as LVC.cause involve:

verbs that are typically used to express the cause of predicative nouns in general (e.g. cause, provoke), or
verbs that are only used to express the cause of particular predicative nouns (e.g. grant in to grant a right).

When the construction involves a typically causative verb (e.g. cause, provoke), it might seem counter-intuitive to annotate it as VMWE because it looks perfectly regular, not presenting any VMWE idiosyncrasy. However, it turned out difficult to distinguish idiosyncratic from regular LVC.cause, so both should be annotated, like for LVC.full. In other words, some LVC.cause constructions are compositional and can be understood as complex predicates with a causal support verb, regardless of their compositionality.

Typically causative verbs (e.g. cause, provoke) can sometimes be light. In this case, according to the LVC decision tree, LVC.full has priority over LVC.cause. For instance, the announcement provoked an unexpected reaction should be annotated as LVC.full and not LVC.cause, although provoke is a typically causative verb. Indeed, reaction has two arguments (reaction of X to Y), one of which is the subject of the verb (test LVC.2 passes). In other words, typically causative verbs may be used in either LVC.full or LVC.cause, depending upon whether the cause subject of the verb is a normal, canonical argument to the predicative noun (LVC.full) or an "external" non-canonical cause (LVC.cause).

Some verbs could be considered causative, but their interpretation goes beyond purely indicating the cause of the event/state. Therefore, you should NOT annotate as LVC.cause constructions involving:

verbs which encode a manner of causation:
verbs which encode modality:
aspectual verbs whose subject is a semantic argument of the noun:

Problematic cases and remarks

Syntactic variants

The (single or compound) noun n functions as a regular syntactic dependent, so LVCs exhibit regular syntactic variants.

قرار أخذ make a decision → المدير أخذه الذي القرار the decision that made by the director

взема решение → решението, което президентът взе the decision that the president made

eine Entscheidung treffen → die Entscheidung die der Direktor zu treffen hatte.

παίρνω μία απόφαση → η απόφαση που πρέπει κάποιος να πάρει.perno mia apofasi → i apofasi pu prepi kapios na pari take a decision → the decision one has to take to make a decision, the decision I have to make

make a decision → the decision that the director has to make.

tomar una decisión → la decisión tomada por la directora.

erabaki bat hartu decision one take to make a decision→ zuzendariak hartutako erabakia director taken decision the decision (which was) made by the director

prendre une décision → la décision prise par la directrice.

δόξαν ἣν ἔνιοι ἔχουσι περὶ τῆς Νικοφήμου οὐσίαςdoxan hēn enioi ekhousi peri tēs Nikophēmou ousias opinion which some have.3PL about the Nicophemos’ property the opinion which some hold about Nicophemus' property is a syntactic variant
δόξαν ἔχουσιdoxan ekhousi opinion.ACC have.3PL they hold an opinion is the canonical form

donijeti odluku to make a decision → odluka koju je morao donijeti direktor the decison that the director had to make

prendere una decisione → la decisione che il direttore ha dovuto prendere.

een beslissing nemen → de beslissing die de directeur moet nemen.

wziąć udział to take participation.ACCto take part → wzięcie udziału taking.GER participation.GENtaking part, biorący udział taking.PART participation.ACCtaking part

tomar banho take shower → o banho que eu tomei estava bom the shower which I took was good

a lua o decizieto make a decision → decizia pe care directorul trebuie să o ia the decison that the director has to make.

dati ime nekomu to give (somebody) a name to name (somebody) → the object receives a name and this action implies that as a result he/she is named. Therefore person who gives a name causes that something is named. The subject of the verb is not its semantic argument.
narediti konec nečemu to make an end (to something) to end (something) → the result of this action is that something is finished, which is caused by the subject of narediti to make

задати некоме бриге zadati nekome brige to give worries to sb. to worry sb. → бриге које је Борко задао Марији brige koje je Borko zadao Mariji The worries Borko gave to Marija

As explained in the section on syntactic variants of VMWEs, all LVC tests should be applied to the canonical form, that is, one in which the verb is in active voice and in finite form. If there is no canonical form, this is an indication that the target construction might not be an LVC, but a verbal idiom instead.

Selection of the verb

In many cases of LVCs, it can be said that there is some degree of selection of the verb by the noun.

جولة ب قام make a walk vs سباق ب قام make a race

вземам решение to make a decision vs *вземам отговорност to take responsibility
имам право to be right vs *притежавам право

eine Entscheidung treffen a decision meet make a decisionvs.*eine Entscheidung machen a decision make vs. *einen Beschluss treffen a resolution meet

κάνω διάλειμμα vs. #παίρνω διάλειμμα
παίρνω απόφαση vs.#κάνω απόφαση

have a walk vs *have a race
run a race vs *run a walk

tomar una decisión take a decision make a walk vs *dar una decisión give a decision but darse/tomar una ducha give.self/take a shower

pauso eman step give to take a step vs. ?pauso egin step do
bisita egin visit do to pay a visit vs. bisita eman visit give

faire une marche make a walk take a walk vs *procéder à une promenade perform a walk but faire/procéder à une enquête make/perform an inquiry

χάριν δίδωμιkharin didо̄mi gratitude.ACC give.1SG I show gratitude #χάριν ποιέομαι

postaviti pitanje to put a question to pose a question vs *postaviti odgovor

prendere una decisione take a decision make a decisionvs.*fareuna decisione make a decision vs. *prendere una conclusione take a conclusion

een wandeling maken a walk make to take a walk vs.*een race maken a race make

wziąć udział to take participation vs. *pobrać udział
mieć rację to have rightto be right vs. *posiadać rację to possess right

fazer uma prece to make a prayer vs. *dar uma prece to give a prayer but fazer/dar uma caminhada to make/give a walk

a da divorț to give divorce to divorce vs. *a oferi divorț

dati nasvet to give an advice → the subject of dati give cannot cause an advice

имати право imati pravo to have right to be right vs. *поседовати право *posedovati pravo to possess right

Yet some regularities exist. For example, large classes of nouns function with have (e.g. +property) or commit (+negative achievement). Therefore, we chose not to retain the selection of the verb as a criterion for LVC categorization. Instead, the decision tree should be applied to decide whether a candidate should be annotated as LVC.

Scope of annotation vs. literature on LVCs

Many authors distinguish support verbs from light verbs, still others differentiate between true light verbs and vague action verbs.

On the one hand, we take a narrower scope than what is usually considered in the literature by ignoring aspectual support verbs (except when aspect is morphological). We believe that aspectual verbs do contribute an additional (change of state) meaning to the expression, and most of the time they are completely productive, not forming interesting VMWEs. For instance, for the predicative noun walk, we will consider the light verb to have, but not the aspectual verbs to start, to pursue, to stop a walk. Thus, to have a walk is an LVC.full. Note that for some nouns such as bloom, which are in itself inchoative, we do consider to come into bloom as LVC.full, as both the verb and the noun are inchoative, so the verb does not add any semantics to the noun.

On the other hand we take a broader scope than what is usually considered in the literature by taking in cases in which the verb has light semantics per se (it only bears morphology, such as the tense and mood, in any case), which hence cannot be described as "bleached" as is usually said of support verbs. For instance, whereas to pay does not have its usual meaning in to pay a visit, it cannot really be said that commit does not have one of its meanings in commit a crime (note that commit can be used with any negatively charged achievement noun, e.g. suicide, crime, fraud, felony...). Nonetheless, we annotate to commit a crime as LVC.full since it passes all tests.

Verb and adjective paraphrase

One test often used in the literature is the existence of a morphologically related verb or adjective that means the same as the LVC. For instance, to make a visit is equivalent to to visit, to have an illness is equivalent to to be ill. Note however that it is neither sufficient nor compulsory:

some LVCs have no derivationally-related equivalents, such as to have a flu, to have faith and to commit a crime;
some constructions that are not LVCs do have a derivationally-related equivalent such as to write an email and to email;
some LVCs have derivationally-related equivalents that do not mean the same as the LVC, such as to make a face and to face, or that have different argumental structure from the LVC, such as to have a problem and to be problematic.

Nonetheless, it might be useful to reason about the derivationally-related equivalents to decide whether a noun is predicative in test LVC.1. Therefore, here are some useful questions that might help deciding about the predicative nature of the noun in the LVC candidate

Verb paraphrase Is the abstract noun derivationally related to a verb with the same semantics? Then, there is probably a semantic argument, which coincides with the subject of the verb, so test LVC.1 passes:

القرار أحمد أخذ Ahmed made a decision = أحمد قرر Ahmed decided

вземам решение to make a decision = решавам to decide
правя грешка to make a mistake = греша/сгрешавам to make a mistake

ο Γιάννης παίρνει μία απόφαση John makes a decision = ο Γιάννης αποφασίζει John decides
ο Γιάννης κάνει ένα ταξίδι John makes a trip = o Γιάννης ταξιδεύει
ο Γιάννης έχει θάρρος John has courage = ο Γιάννης είναι θαρραλέος John is courageous → and, more generally, characteristics and attributes
ο Γιάννης έχει πείνα/δίψα John has hunger/thirst = ο Γιάννης πεινάει/διψάει John is hungry/thirsty → and, more generally, physical sensations
ο Γιάννης έχει πάθος/φόβο/θυμό John has passion/fear/anger = ο Γιάννης παθιάζεται/φοβάται/θυμώνει John is passionate/afraid/angry → and, more generally, feelings, emotions, states

John makes a decision = John decides
John has a walk = John walks

Juan toma una decisión Juan makes a decision = Juan decide Juan decides
Juan da un paseo Juan takes a walk = Juan pasea Juan walks

Jonek erabakia hartu du = Johen erabaki du John decision-the taken has = John decided has John has made a decision = John has decided

πορείαν ποιέομαιporeian poieomai march.ACC do.1SG I march = πορεύομαι

Ivan donosi odluku Ivan takes decision = Ivan odlučujeIvan decides
Janica jeodnijela pobjedu Janica carried away a win = Janica je pobijedila Janica won

John neemt een beslissing John makes a decision = John beslist John decides

Jan podejmuje decyzję John takes decision = Jan decyduje John decides
Ewa odniosła zwycięstwo Eva carried away a victory = Ewa zwyciężyła Eva won

Ion ia o decizie John makes a decision = Ion decide John decides

postaviti vprašanje to pose a question → vprašanje, ki ga je moral postaviti the question that he had to pose

Марко је донео одлуку Marko je doneo odluku Marko brought a decision Marko made a decision = Марко је одлучио Marko je odlučio Marko decided
Марко је узео учешће Marko je uzeo učešće Marko took participation = Марко је учествовао Marko je učestvovao Marko participated

Adjective paraphrase: Is the abstract noun derivationally related to an adjective with the same semantics? Then, there is probably a semantic argument, which coincides with the noun that is modified by the adjective, so test LVC.1 passes.

شجاعة أحمد ال يملك Ahmed has the courage = شجاع أحمد Ahmed is courageous

имам смелост to have courage = съм смел to be courageous
нямам търпение to not have patience = съм нетърпелив to be impatient
нося отговорност to carry responsibility = съм отговорен to be responsible

ο Γιάννης έχει θάρρος = ο Γιάννης είναι θαρραλέοςo Yanis echi θaros = o Yanis ine θaraleos → and, more generally, characteristics and attributes
Ο Γιάννης έχει δύναμη = Ο Γιάννης είναι δυνατόςO Γianis echi δinami = O Γianis ine δinatos → and, more generally, characteristics and attributes

John has courage = John is courageous → and, more generally, characteristics and attributes
John has hunger/thirst = John is hungry/thirsty → and, more generally, physical sensations
John has passion/fear/anger = John is passionate/afraid/angry → and, more generally, feelings and emotions
John has problems/difficulties = Something is problematic/difficult for John → and, more generally, states

Juan tiene miedo Juan has fear = Juan es miedoso Juan is easily scared → and, more generally, characteristics and attributes
Juan tiene hambre Juan has hunger = Juan está hambriento Juan is hangry → and, more generally, physical sensations

Anek itxaropena du = Ane itxaropentsu dago Ane hope has = Ane hopeful is Ane has hope = Ane is hopeful → and, more generally, characteristics and attributes
Anek = Ane gosetuta Ane hunger has = Ane hungry is Ane has hunger = Ane is hungry→ and, more generally, physical sensations

νοῦν ἔχωnoun ekhо̄ sense.ACC have.1SG I am sensible = ἔννοος

imati strpljenja to have patience = biti strpljiv to be patient
nositi odgovornost to carry responsibility = biti odgovoran to be responsible

John heeft moed John has courage = John is moedig → and, more generally, characteristics and attributes

mieć odwagę to have courage = być odważnym to be courageous
mieć straty to have losses = być stratnym to have lost sth
mieć sens to have a sense to make sense = być sensownym to be reasonable

avea curaj to have courage = fi curajosto be courageous

имати храбрости imati hrabrosti to have courage = бити храбар biti hrabar to be courageous

Synonym verb/adjective paraphrase: Does the abstract noun have a synonym/hypernym derivationally related to a verb or adjective with the same semantics? Then, the questions above can be applied to the synmonym verb/adjective.

Иван и Мария постигнаха консенсус Ivan and Maria reached a consensus = Ivan and Maria agreed → consensus has no corresponding verb or adjective, but agreement is a synonym

έχω τη γνώμη echo ti gnomi I have the opinion I think = πιστεύω → γνώμη has no corresponding verb or adjective, but πίστη,άποψη are synonyms

John and Mary reach a consensus = John and Mary agree → consensus has no corresponding verb or adjective, but agreement is a synonym
John has a chance to do something = John is likely to do something → chance has no corresponding verb or adjective, but likelihood is a synonym

Anek min eman dio Joni = Anek Jon mindu du Ane pain given has to-Jon = Ane Jon hurt has Ane has hurt Jon

Radnici i uprava postigli su konsenzus workers and managment reached consensus = Radnici i uprava su se dogovorili workers and managment agreed→ konsenzus consensus has no corresponding verb or adjective, but dogovor agreement is a synonym

mieć 190 cm wzrostu to have 190 cm of height to be 190 cm tall = mierzyć 190 cm tp measure 190 cm to be 190 cm tall
dokonać inwazji to perform an invasion = wtargnąć to invade

da voie=permite

Маја има шансе да нешто уради Maja ima šanse da nešto uradi = Маја може нешто да уради Maja može nešto da uradi → шанса šasna has no corresponding verb or adjective, but моћи/могућност moći/mogućnost is a synonym

The existence of a related verb is not a definitive tests, but a hint that the noun is probably predicative. Since determining whether a noun is predicative is tricky, we advise language teams to provide additional documentation and examples for borderline cases.

Checking if the subject is an argument with syntactic tests

The previous version of the guidelines had a syntactic test which you can still use to verify if the verb's subject is an argument of the noun. However, this test was considered hard to apply in the previous guidelines, and is not mandatory anymore.

The syntactic test consists in trying to add the semantic argument as a complement of the noun in the presence of the verb. In other words, does the noun n, in the presence of v, prohibit at least one syntactic argument a which it normally licensed in the absence of v?

An alternative formulation for this test is the following: Let s be the subject of v, and let r be the semantic role that s plays with respect to the noun n. Is it prohibited for r to be realized both by s and by a syntactic argument a of n, except when a is in the whole–part relation with s?

الميزانية قرار الوزير أخذ + قرار الحكومة في الميزانية → في الميزانية قرارالحكومة أخذ الوزير — الوزير the decider cannot be a modifier of decision قرار

Петър Стоянов взе решението да подпише договора Ivan made the decision to sign the contract + решението на президента да подпише договора → *Петър Стоянов взе решението на президента да подпише договора — the noun cannot be modified by the person performing the act/event (which is the subject)

Die Königin hat dem Premierminister einen Besuch abgestattet the Queen has paid a visit to the Prime Minister + ein Besuch der Dame beim Premierminister a visit of the Lady to the Prime Minister *Die Königin hat einen Besuch der Dame beim Premierminister abgestattet*The Queen paid a visit of the Lady to the Prime Minister — the visitor cannot be a modifier of visit
Paul hat eine Entscheidung über das Budget getroffen Paul made a decision on the budget + die Entscheidung des Rates über das Budget the council's decision on the budget → *Paul traf die Entscheidung des Rates über das Budget *Paul made the committee's decision on the budget — the decision maker cannot modify decision

ο πρωθυπουργός έκανε επίσημη επίσκεψη στον Αμερικανό πρόεδροo proθypurgos ekane episimi episkepsi ston amerikano proedro + η επίσκεψη του πρωθυπουργού στον Αμερικανό πρόεδρο
ο πρωθυπουργός έκανε επίσημη επίσκεψη του υπουργού στον Αμερικανό πρόεδρo proθypurgos ekane episimi episkepsi tu ypurgu ston amerikano proedro — the visitor cannot be a modifier of επίσκεψη

The Queen paid a visit to the Prime Minister + a visit of the Lady to the Prime Minister → *The Queen paid a visit of the Lady to the Prime Minister — the visitor cannot be a modifier of visit
Paul made a decision on the budget + the committee's decision on the budget → *Paul made the committee's decision on the budget — the decision maker cannot modify decision
Paul had a discussion with Mary+ Peter's discussion → *Paul had Peter's discussion with Mary
Bjarnson scored a goal + Arnason's goal → *Paul scored Arnason's goal but Paul scored the goal of Iceland — the scoring entity can only modify goal in the last case, when they are part of the Iceland team

La reina hizo una visita al primer ministro The Queen paid a visit to the prime minister + una visita de la primera dama al primer ministro a visit of the first Lady to the prime minister→ *La reina hizo una visita de la primera dama al primer ministro The Queen paid a visit of the first lady to the first minister— the visitor cannot be a modifier of visita
Pablo tomó una decisión con respecto al presupuesto Pablo made a decision on the budget + la decisión del comité con respecto al presupuesto the committee's decision on the budget→ *Pablo tomó la decisión del comité con respecto al presupuesto Pablo made the committee's decision on the budget— the decision maker cannot modify decisión

Ikasleek arreta jarri zioten irakasleari +lagunen arreta The-students attention put to-the-teacher + friends' attention The students paid attention to the teacher + their friends' attention → *Ikasleek lagunen arreta jarri zioten irakasleari The students paid their friends' attention to the teacher — the person paying attention cannot be a modifier of arreta

La ministre a rendu une visite aux victimes + la visite de la ministre aux victimes → *La ministre a rendu une visite du président aux victimes — the visitor cannot be a modifier of visite
Bjarnson a marqué un but + le but d'Arnason → *Paul a marqué le but d'Arnason but Paul a marqué le but de l'Islande — the scoring entity can only modify but (goal) in the last case, when they are part of the Iceland team

Učiteljica je donijela odluku u vezi s izletom The teacher made a decision regarding the excursion + učenikova odluka u vezi s izletom pupil's decision regarding the excursion → *učiteljica je donijela učenikovu odluku u vezi s izletom — the decision maker cannot modify decision

Il primo ministro ha preso la decisione di dimettersi the Prime Minister decided to resign + le dimissioni del governo the resignation of the government → *Il primo ministro ha preso la decisione del governo di dimettersi — the resigner cannot be a modifier of resignation

De koningin heeft de premier een bezoek gebracht the Queen has paid a visit to the Prime Minister + een bezoek van de dame aan de premier a visit of the Lady to the Prime Minister *De koningin heeft een bezoek van de dame aan de premier gebracht*The Queen paid a visit of the Lady to the Prime Minister — the visitor cannot be a modifier of visit

Paweł złożył rezygnację ze stanowiska dyrektora Paweł submitted a resignation from the position of the director Paweł tendered his resignation from the director position + rezygnacja Piotra→ *Paweł złożył rezygnację Piotra ze stanowiska dyrektora Paweł tendered Piotr's resignation from the director position - the resignation cannot be modified by the resigning person
Paweł prowadzi rozmowy → *Paweł prowadzi rozmowy Piotra Paweł leads Piotr's talks , Paweł prowadzi rozmowy komisji Paweł leads the talks of the commission - the discussing entity komisjacommission can only modify rozmowytalks if Paweł belongs to the commission.
Jan otrzymał wymówienieJan received a dismissal + wymówienie dla Pawła dismissal for Paweł → *Jan otrzymał wymówienie dla Piotra

João está tomando banho John is taking shower + o banho do Pedro Pedro's shower → *João está tomando o banho do Pedro — the bath cannot be modified by a bath taker
Pedro sofreu prejuízo com a compra Pedro suffered finantial loss with the purchase + o prejuízo do José José's finantial loss → *Pedro sofreu o prejuízo do José com a compra — the financial loss cannot be modified by the affected entity
A Maria fez um aborto Maria made an abortion + o aborto da Joana Joana's abortion → #A Maria fez o aborto da Joana — the noun cannot be modified by another patient
O médico realizou o parto com sucesso The doctor performed the childbirth with success + o parto do Dr. Pedro Dr. Smith's childbirth → *O médico realizou o parto do Dr. Pedro com sucesso — the childbirth could be modified by the mother (patient) but not by another doctor (agent).

Paul a dat sfaturi surorii salePaul gave advice to his sister + sfatul lui Petre Peter's advice → Paul a dat sfatul lui Petre surorii sale Paul gave Peter's advice to his sister — sfatul the advice cannot be modified by its author

Aleš si dela skrbi Aleš makes worries Aleš has worries = Aleš je zaskrbljen Aleš is worried → and, more generally, feelings and emotions

Борко је водио расправу с Маријом Borko je vodio raspravu s Marijom Borko led a discussion with Marija Borko had a discussion with Marija + Петрова расправа +Petrova rasprava Borko's discussion → *Борко је водио Петрову расправу с Маријом *Borko je vodio Petrovu raspravu s Marijom Borko had Peter's discussion with Marija

The rationale for this tests is that a semantic argument n cannot be realized as its syntactic dependent, since it is already realized as v's syntactic dependent instead (usually as v's subject). For instance the noun visit takes two semantic arguments, the visitor and the visited entity, as in the visit of the Queen to the Prime Minister. When used in to pay a visit, the visitor semantic argument is realized as the subject of to pay (The Queen paid a visit to the Prime Minister), and cannot be realized at the same time within the NP headed by visit (*The Queen paid a visit of the Lady to the Prime Minister).

Note that the syntactic formulation may be tricky to apply. It is sometimes possible to add the semantic argument as a complement of the noun in the presence of the verb, if we change the interpretation of the argument (and thus its thematic role). For instance, even though the construction John took Luke's decision may be acceptable, the interpretation would be comparative (John took a decision that Luke should have taken). Therefore, the test passes since the verb is still connecting a predicate (decision) to its argument (John, the decider).

An error has occured !

Annotation guidelines corpora annotated for multiword expressions