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This page pertains to UD version 2.

UD for Coptic

Introduction

These guidelines describe the application of the Stanford Universal Dependency scheme (de Marneffe et al. 2014) to Sahidic Coptic sentences. Where cases are left unspecified, the principles governing the Universal Dependency guidelines for languages other than Coptic may be consulted (see http://universaldependencies.org/).

In general, the attempt has been made to remain ‘lexico-centric’ in preferring lexical items as the heads of sub-trees, i.e. Coptic prepositions are analyzed as ‘case markers’, and the lexical infinitive is seen as the verbal root, with conjugation bases forming auxiliaries.

Some functions from the Universal Dependencies are not used, most notably labels for passives. Although Coptic has some form of passive constructions, they are not easily distinguishable and often ambiguous (actional passive identical with third person active sentence in the absence of a singular agent phrase; stative passive depending on transitivity of the verb for interpretation; see the nsubj label below). In these, and other cases, the realistic demands that accurate automatic parsing must satisfy have played a role in the decision in favor of a simpler analysis.

The dependency guidelines assume part of speech tagging based on the Coptic Scriptorium Guidelines (Zeldes & Schroeder 2016), but a mapping to UPOS is also provided. Please consult the tagging guidelines for background on tagging, as well as tokenization decisions (e.g. portmanteau tokens and tags, such as fused ⲉⲣⲉ for 2nd person feminine singular, etc.). In general, these guidelines have been formed to complement the POS tags’ expressivity, e.g. favoring distinctions that cannot be easily obtained from the POS tags (for example the label amod for the archaic attributive adjectives, which have no distinct POS tag).

Individual topics

Overview list of dependency labels

Label Example
acl – adjunct clause ⲡⲣⲱⲙⲉ ⲉⲧⲥⲱⲧⲙ
advcl – adverbial clause ⲉϥϫⲱ, ϫⲉⲕⲁⲁⲥ ϥⲟⲩⲱϣ
advmod – adverbial modifier ⲟⲛ, ⲕⲁⲗⲱⲥ, ⲁⲛ
amod – adjective modifier ϣⲏⲣⲉ ϣⲏⲙ
appos – appositions ⲡⲉⲕⲉⲓⲱⲧ ⲙⲁⲙⲙⲱⲛⲁⲥ
aux – auxiliary ⲁ, ⲙⲡⲁⲧ, ϣⲁⲣⲉ
case – case marking/preposition ⲥⲱⲧⲡ ⲙⲡⲣⲱⲙⲉ, ⲙⲙⲟϥ, ϩⲙⲡⲏⲓ
cc – coordination ⲁⲩⲱ, ⲙⲛ, ϩⲓ, ⲏ
ccomp – complement clause ⲡⲉϫⲁ ϥ ϫⲉ ⲁ ⲓ ⲥⲱⲧⲙ
compound – nominal or verbal ϣⲃⲣ ⲣϩⲱⲃ
conj – conjunct in coordination ϣⲏⲣⲉ ⲙⲛϣⲉⲉⲣⲉ, ⲁϥⲛⲁⲩ ⲁⲩⲱ ⲁϥⲥⲱⲧⲙ
cop – the copula ⲡⲉ, ⲧⲉ, ⲛⲉ
csubj – clausal subject (fin./inf.) ⲡ ⲉⲧ ϣϣⲉ ⲉ ⲁⲛⲉⲭⲉ ⲙⲙⲟ ⲕ
det – article or other determiner ⲡⲣⲱⲙⲉ, ⲕⲉⲥⲟⲡ, ⲥⲟⲛ ⲛⲓⲙ
discourse – interjections etc. ⲉϩⲉ, ⲟⲩⲟⲉⲓ!
dislocated – extraposed argument ϥ … ⲛϭⲓⲡϩⲗⲗⲟ, ⲡⲣⲱⲙⲉ ⲁϥⲥⲱⲧⲙ
obj – direct object ⲥⲱⲧⲡ ⲙⲡⲣⲱⲙⲉ, ϯⲛⲁϩⲟⲧⲃⲉⲕ
obl - oblique verb modifier ⲟⲩⲏϩ ϩⲙⲡⲏⲓ
iobj – indirect object (possessor) ⲟⲩⲛⲧⲁⲩ ⲁⲡⲟⲧ
mark – clause marker or converter ⲡⲉϫⲁ ϥ ϫⲉ ⲉⲧⲃⲉ ⲟⲩ, ⲉ ⲓ ⲥⲱⲧⲙ ⲉⲣⲟ ⲕ
fixed – multiword expression ⲉⲃⲟⲗ ϩⲛ
flat – multi-word name ⲁⲡⲁ ⲡⲁⲡⲛⲟⲩⲧⲉ
nmod – nominal modifier ⲟⲩ ⲣⲱⲙⲉ ⲛ ⲁⲡⲓⲥⲧⲟⲥ
nummod – number modifier ϩⲙⲉ ⲛ ϩⲟⲟⲩ
nsubj – nominal subject ⲡⲣⲱⲙⲉ ⲥⲱⲧⲙ, ⲁⲓⲣⲛⲟⲃⲉ
parataxis – loose clausal joint ⲛⲁ ⲉⲡⲓⲥⲧⲟⲗⲏ ⲛⲉ ⲏ ϯ ⲥⲟⲟⲩⲛ ⲁⲛ ϫⲉ ⲕ ⲛⲁ ⲡⲁϩ ⲟⲩ
punct – punctuation · . ,
orphan – dependent of elliptical word ⲙⲡⲓⲥⲱⲧⲙ, ⲁⲗⲗⲁ ⲛⲧⲟϥ
root – root/predicate of utterance ⲥⲱⲧⲙ, ⲛⲁⲛⲟⲩ ϥ, ⲡ ⲣⲣⲟ ⲡⲉ
vocative – appellation ⲡ ⲡⲟⲛⲏⲣⲟⲥ!
xcomp – subjectless clause ⲙⲡ ϥ ⲟⲩⲱϣ ⲉ ⲱⲛϩ

dep – undefined dependency – used when no other definition applies