LxGrTagger Annotation Guidelines

  • This project is under the LCR-ADS lab at the University of Oregon's Linguistics Department, led by Dr. Kristopher Kyle. This documentation page is contributed by Hakyung Sung and Augustus Paddock.

  • We are currently developing tag descriptions and detailed annotation guidelines for complexity features for LxGrTagger. For some of the more complex examples, we have added a Discussions section below the corresponding tags based on the discussions between the team at the University of Oregon and scholars from Northern Arizona University (Many thanks to Douglas Biber, Jesse Egbert, and Randi Reppen for providing valuable insights!).

  • In the process of constructing the guidelines, we primarily refer to the Longman Grammar of Spoken and Written English by Biber et al. (1999), paraphrasing the contents and specifying the referred pages. When citing other works, we include both the references and the specific page numbers.

  • Last updated: October 2024

Tagging scheme

The tagging scheme is organized into hierarchical structures:

  • Structural type: The highest level of linguistic structure categorization.
    • Syntactic function: Classifies elements based on their function within the structural type.
      • Complexity feature: The focus of tagging, which includes:
        1. Descriptions: Detailed explanations of the complexity features.
        2. Tag: Guidelines on where to apply the tag (TAG NAME) within the structure.
        3. Examples: Examples, where the target complexity feature is underlined and the tagging location is highlighted in bold.
        4. Discussions

Quick examples overview

Structural Type Syntactic Function Complexity Feature (Tag) Examples
Finite Clause Adverbial finitecls+advl She finished her work before the deadline arrived.
Finite Clause Verb Complement thatcls+vcomp That the team won the championship was unexpected.
Finite Clause Verb Complement whcls+vcomp I wonder what that could be about.
Finite Clause Noun Phrase Modifier finitecls+rel The idea which comes up with great frequency involves several steps.
Finite Clause Noun Phrase Complement thatcls+ncomp The conclusion that global temperatures are rising is alarming.
Finite Clause Adjective Complement thatcls+jcomp We're happy that the hunger strike has ended.
Finite Clause Adjective Complement xtrapos+thatcls+jcomp It's horrible that he put up with Claire's nagging.
Finite Clause Preposition Complement whcls+incomp She is interested in what you believe.
Non-finite Clause Adverbial tocls+advl To verify this hypothesis, sections of fixed cells were examined.
Non-finite Clause Adverbial ingcls+advl Running along the beach, she found a rare shell.
Non-finite Clause Adverbial edcls+advl The sky had grown leaden-grey, tinged with a glow somewhere between orange and violet.
Non-finite Clause Verb Complement tocls+vcomp I want to hold your hand.
Non-finite Clause Verb Complement ingcls+vcomp I like running south Amazon running trail.
Non-finite Clause Noun Phrase Modifier tocls+rel Where is the best place to eat dinner near me?
Non-finite Clause Noun Phrase Modifier ingcls+rel The person sitting on the chair is my colleague.
Non-finite Clause Noun Phrase Modifier edcls+rel The book published last year won several awards.
Non-finite Clause Noun Phrase Complement tocls+ncomp His decision to leave early surprised everyone.
Non-finite Clause Adjective Complement tocls+jcomp He was determined to find out the truth.
Non-finite Clause Adjective Complement xtrapos+tocls+jcomp It is possible to get things back on track.
Non-finite Clause Preposition Complement ingcls+incomp The process for washing dishes by hand is attached.
Dependent Phrase Adverbial Phrase rb+advl The car entered a curved road slowly.
Dependent Phrase Prepositional Phrase in+advl He spoke with enthusiasm.
Dependent Phrase Noun Phrase Modifier attr+npremod She had a really cute idea.
Dependent Phrase Noun Phrase Modifier nn+npremod I'm not into coffee cake.
Dependent Phrase Noun Phrase Modifier of+npostmod Do you know the name of this flower?
Dependent Phrase Noun Phrase Modifier in+npostmod The competition is open to young people under the age of 18.
Dependent Phrase Noun Phrase Modifier appos+npostmod The boss, John Harris is a passionate figure.
Dependent Phrase Adjective Complement in+jcomp She was thrilled with her completion of the PhD program.
Dependent Phrase Adjective/Adverb Modifier rb+jjrbmod The movie was surprisingly good.