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157 lines
4.6 KiB
HTML
157 lines
4.6 KiB
HTML
<html>
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<body>
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<i> Produced by
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gfdoc - a rudimentary GF document generator.
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(c) Aarne Ranta (aarne@cs.chalmers.se) 2002 under GNU GPL.
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</i>
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<p>
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<h1> Noun: Nouns, noun phrases, and determiners</h1>
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<pre>
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abstract Noun = Cat ** {
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</pre>
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<h2> Noun phrases</h2>
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The three main types of noun phrases are
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- common nouns with determiners
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- proper names
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- pronouns
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<p>
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<p>
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<pre>
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fun
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DetCN : Det -> CN -> NP ; -- the man
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UsePN : PN -> NP ; -- John
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UsePron : Pron -> NP ; -- he
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</pre>
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Pronouns are defined in the module [``Structural`` Structural.html].
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A noun phrase already formed can be modified by a <tt>Predet</tt>erminer.
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<pre>
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PredetNP : Predet -> NP -> NP; -- only the man
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</pre>
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A noun phrase can also be postmodified by the past participle of a
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verb, by an adverb, or by a relative clause
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<pre>
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PPartNP : NP -> V2 -> NP ; -- the man seen
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AdvNP : NP -> Adv -> NP ; -- Paris today
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RelNP : NP -> RS -> NP ; -- Paris, which is here
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</pre>
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Determiners can form noun phrases directly.
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<pre>
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DetNP : Det -> NP ; -- these five
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</pre>
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<h2> Determiners</h2>
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The determiner has a fine-grained structure, in which a 'nucleus'
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quantifier and an optional numeral can be discerned.
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<pre>
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DetQuant : Quant -> Num -> Det ; -- these five
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DetQuantOrd : Quant -> Num -> Ord -> Det ; -- these five best
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</pre>
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Whether the resulting determiner is singular or plural depends on the
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cardinal.
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All parts of the determiner can be empty, except <tt>Quant</tt>, which is
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the <i>kernel</i> of a determiner. It is, however, the <tt>Num</tt> that determines
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the inherent number.
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<pre>
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NumSg : Num ;
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NumPl : Num ;
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NumCard : Card -> Num ;
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</pre>
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<tt>Card</tt> consists of either digits or numeral words.
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<pre>
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data
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NumDigits : Digits -> Card ; -- 51
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NumNumeral : Numeral -> Card ; -- fifty-one
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</pre>
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The construction of numerals is defined in [Numeral Numeral.html].
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A <tt>Card</tt> can be modified by certain adverbs.
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<pre>
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fun
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AdNum : AdN -> Card -> Card ; -- almost 51
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</pre>
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An <tt>Ord</tt> consists of either digits or numeral words.
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Also superlative forms of adjectives behave syntactically like ordinals.
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<pre>
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OrdDigits : Digits -> Ord ; -- 51st
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OrdNumeral : Numeral -> Ord ; -- fifty-first
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OrdSuperl : A -> Ord ; -- warmest
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</pre>
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Definite and indefinite noun phrases are sometimes realized as
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neatly distinct words (Spanish <i>un, unos ; el, los</i>) but also without
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any particular word (Finnish; Swedish definites).
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<pre>
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IndefArt : Quant ;
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DefArt : Quant ;
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</pre>
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Nouns can be used without an article as mass nouns. The resource does
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not distinguish mass nouns from other common nouns, which can result
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in semantically odd expressions.
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<pre>
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MassNP : CN -> NP ; -- (beer)
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</pre>
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Pronouns have possessive forms. Genitives of other kinds
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of noun phrases are not given here, since they are not possible
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in e.g. Romance languages. They can be found in <tt>Extra</tt> modules.
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<pre>
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PossPron : Pron -> Quant ; -- my (house)
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</pre>
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Other determiners are defined in [Structural Structural.html].
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<h2> Common nouns</h2>
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Simple nouns can be used as nouns outright.
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<pre>
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UseN : N -> CN ; -- house
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</pre>
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Relational nouns take one or two arguments.
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<pre>
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ComplN2 : N2 -> NP -> CN ; -- mother of the king
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ComplN3 : N3 -> NP -> N2 ; -- distance from this city (to Paris)
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</pre>
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Relational nouns can also be used without their arguments.
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The semantics is typically derivative of the relational meaning.
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<pre>
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UseN2 : N2 -> CN ; -- mother
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Use2N3 : N3 -> N2 ; -- distance (from this city)
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Use3N3 : N3 -> N2 ; -- distance (to Paris)
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</pre>
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Nouns can be modified by adjectives, relative clauses, and adverbs
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(the last rule will give rise to many 'PP attachment' ambiguities
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when used in connection with verb phrases).
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<pre>
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AdjCN : AP -> CN -> CN ; -- big house
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RelCN : CN -> RS -> CN ; -- house that John bought
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AdvCN : CN -> Adv -> CN ; -- house on the hill
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</pre>
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Nouns can also be modified by embedded sentences and questions.
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For some nouns this makes little sense, but we leave this for applications
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to decide. Sentential complements are defined in [Verb Verb.html].
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<pre>
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SentCN : CN -> SC -> CN ; -- question where she sleeps
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</pre>
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<h2> Apposition</h2>
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This is certainly overgenerating.
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<pre>
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ApposCN : CN -> NP -> CN ; -- city Paris (, numbers x and y)
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}
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</pre>
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</body>
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</html>
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