Naija on SUD Guidelines

Cleft constructions

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Cleft sentences and questions #

Cleft sentences are an extremely common construction in Naija, making the comp:cleft relation a particularly important for the annotation of this language. The basic cleft construction in Naija includes the phrase na im (it’s him), followed by a verb phrase, though a number of variants exist. The following provides several such examples.

The comp:cleft relation is also used in questions containing interrogative words such as who or where. In such cases, the wh-word is annotated as the root, and is connected to the verb via a comp:cleft relation.

Compounds and phrasal verbs

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Compounds and phrasal verbs #

Our annotation of Naija makes frequent use of the compound relation. In our annotation system, this relation is systematically applied to relationships between two nouns in which one of them acts as a form of modifier. In this sense, compound functions much like the mod relation, except that it links two nouns together rather than a noun to an adjective.

The compound relation is also used in some relations between nouns and adjectives, such as dry cleaner, which are considered fixed expressions whose meaning cannot be directly understood from its constituent parts

Multi-word placenames and organizations

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Multi-word placenames and organizations #

In Naija, multi-word placenames and organizations are currently annotated with a simple flat relation, though their constituents retain their typical parts of speech.

Naija Copulas

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

dey, be, na and the zero copula #

dey #

The term dey in Naija performs two primary roles. The first is that of a copula. In these instances, dey is annotated as a verb and is connected to its complement with a comp:pred relation, as in the examples below.

This word is also used as an auxiliary verb which marks the imperfective aspect. In these cases, dey is annotated as an auxiliary and is connected to the following verb with a comp:aux relation.

Numbers and dates

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Numbers and dates #

If the number contains a decimal, the point is marked as a noun and is integrated into the number with a simple flat relation.

If numerals are listed a sequence, such as in telephone numbers, the constituents are chained together with the conj:coord relation.

Titles and honorifics

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Titles and honorifics #

Honorifics such as Mister or President are connected to the names they precede with a simple flat relation.

However, this is not the case when a title is connected to a determiner or otherwise modified in some way. In these cases, a mod:appos relation is used.