Summary of Link Types
This document gives brief descriptions of all the link-types used in "3.0.dict". Clicking on a link-name here will take you to the more extensive explanation of the link-type in the "Guide-to-Links".A connects pre-noun ("attributive") adjectives to following nouns: "The BIG DOG chased me", "The BIG BLACK UGLY DOG chased me".
AA is used in the construction "How [adj] a [noun] was it?". It connects the adjective to the following "a".
AF connects adjectives to verbs in cases where the adjective is fronted, such as questions and indirect questions: "How BIG IS it?"
AJ connects adjectives to conjunctions to form a modifier phrase: "The BLACK AND WHITE cat sleeps."
AL connects a few determiners like "all" or "both" to following determiners: "ALL THE people are here".
AM connects "as" to "much" or "many": "I don't go out AS MUCH now".
AN connects noun-modifiers to following nouns: "The TAX PROPOSAL was rejected".
AZ connects the word "as" back to certain verbs that can take "[obj] as [adj]" as a complement: "He VIEWED him AS stupid".
B serves various functions involving relative clauses and questions. It connects transitive verbs back to their objects in relative clauses, questions, and indirect questions ("The DOG we CHASED", "WHO did you SEE?"); it also connects the main noun to the finite verb in subject-type relative clauses ("The DOG who CHASED me was black").
BI connects forms of the verb "be" to certain idiomatic expressions: for example, cases like "He IS PRESIDENT of the company".
BW connects "what" to various verbs like "think", which are not really transitive but can connect back to "what" in questions: "WHAT do you THINK?"
C links conjunctions to subjects of subordinate clauses ("He left WHEN HE saw me"). it also links certain verbs to subjects of embedded clauses ("He SAID HE was sorry").
CO connects "openers" to subjects of clauses: "APPARENTLY / ON Tuesday , THEY went to a movie".
CP connects paraphrasing or quoting verbs to the wall (and, indirectly, to the paraphrased expression): "///// That is untrue, the spokesman SAID."
CQ connects to auxiliaries in comparative constructions involving s-v inversion: "SHE has more money THAN DOES Joe".
CV connects the verbs of subordinate clauses to the subordinating word.
CX is used in comparative constructions where the right half of the comparative contains only an auxiliary: "She has more money THAN he DOES".
D connects determiners to nouns: "THE DOG chased A CAT and SOME BIRDS".
DD connects definite determiners ("the", "his") to certain things like number expressions and adjectives acting as nouns: "THE POOR", "THE TWO he mentioned".
DG connects the word "The" with proper nouns: "the Riviera", "the Mississippi".
DP connects possessive determiners to gerunds: "YOUR TELLING John to leave was stupid".
DT connects determiners to nouns in idiomatic time expressions: "NEXT WEEK", "NEXT THURSDAY".
E is used for verb-modifying adverbs which precede the verb: "He is APPARENTLY LEAVING".
EA connects adverbs to adjectives: "She is a VERY GOOD player".
EB connects adverbs to forms of "be" before an object or prepositional phrase: "He IS APPARENTLY a good programmer".
EC connects adverbs to comparative adjectives: "It is MUCH BIGGER"
EE connects adverbs to other adverbs: "He ran VERY QUICKLY".
EF connects the word "enough" to preceding adjectives and adverbs: "He didn't run QUICKLY ENOUGH".
EI connects a few adverbs to "after" and "before": "I left SOON AFTER I saw you".
EL connects certain words to the word "else": something / everything / anything / nothing , somewhere (etc.), and someone (etc.).
EN connects certain adverbs to expressions of quantity: "The class has NEARLY FIFTY students".
EI connects "just" and "maybe" to prepositions: "MAYBE UNDER the sofa."
EQ connects parts of an equation together: "Phosphorylation was observed (P = 0.06)".
ER is used the expression "The x-er..., the y-er...". it connects the two halfs of the expression together, via the comparative words (e.g. "The FASTER it is, the MORE they will like it").
EZ connects certain adverbs to the word "as", like "just" and "almost": "You're JUST AS good as he is."
FL connects "for" to "long": "I didn't wait FOR LONG".
FM connects the preposition "from" to various other prepositions: "We heard a scream FROM INSIDE the house".
G connects proper noun words together in series: "GEORGE HERBERT WALKER BUSH is here."
GN (stage 2 only) connects a proper noun to a preceding common noun which introduces it: "The ACTOR Eddie MURPHY attended the event".
H connects "how" to "much" or "many": "HOW MUCH money do you have".
HA connects "how" to "a": "HOW big A dog was it?"
HM connects to hesitation markers (planners, fillers): "I think it's UH from Mars".
I connects infinitive verb forms to certain words such as modal verbs and "to": "You MUST DO it", "I want TO DO it".
_I is a special class of link-types generated by the parser, with arbitrary four-letter names (such as _IDBT), to connect together words of idiomatic expressions such as "at_hand" and "head_of_state".
ID is no longer used in the latest versions; it has been renamed to _I. This allows ID to be used in non-English dictionaries; autogenerated links will start with underscores and are reserved for internal use only.
IN connects the preposition "in" to certain time expressions: "We did it IN DECEMBER".
IV connects the infinitive verb to the clause that starts the infinitive.
J connects prepositions to their objects: "The man WITH the HAT is here".
JG connects certain prepositions to proper-noun objects: "The Emir OF KUWAIT is here".
JQ connects prepositions to question-word determiners in "prepositional questions": "IN WHICH room were you sleeping?"
JT connects certain conjunctions to time-expressions like "last week": "UNTIL last WEEK, I thought she liked me".
K connects certain verbs with particles like "in", "out", "up" and the like: "He STOOD UP and WALKED OUT".
L connects certain determiners to superlative adjectives: "He has THE BIGGEST room".
LE is used in comparative constructions to connect an adjective to the second half of the comparative expression beyond a complement phrase: "It is more LIKELY that Joe will go THAN that Fred will go".
LI connects certain verbs to the preposition "like": "I FEEL LIKE a fool."
M connects nouns to various kinds of post-noun modifiers: prepositional phrases ("The MAN WITH the hat"), participle modifiers ("The WOMAN CARRYING the box"), prepositional relatives ("The MAN TO whom I was speaking"), and other kinds.
MF is used in the expression "Many people were injured, SOME OF THEM children".
MG allows certain prepositions to modify proper nouns: "The EMIR OF Kuwait is here".
MJ connects prepositions and other post-nominal modifiers to conjunctions to form a prepositional or modifier phrase: "It is hidden somewhere IN OR NEAR the house."
MV connects verbs and adjectives to modifying phrases that follow, like adverbs ("The dog RAN QUICKLY"), prepositional phrases ("The dog RAN IN the yard"), subordinating conjunctions ("He LEFT WHEN he saw me"), comparatives, participle phrases with commas, and other things.
MX connects modifying phrases with commas to preceding nouns: "The DOG, a POODLE, was black". "JOHN, IN a black suit, looked great".
N connects the word "not" to preceding auxiliaries: "He DID NOT go".
NA connects numbers used in spelled-out dates: "The war started in NINETEEN FOURTEEN".
ND connects numbers with expressions that require numerical determiners: "I saw him THREE WEEKS ago".
NF is used with NJ in idiomatic number expressions involving "of": "He lives two THIRDS OF a mile from here".
NI is used in a few special idiomatic number phrases: "I have BETWEEN 5 AND 20 dogs".
NJ is used with NF in idiomatic number expressions involving "of": "He lives two thirds OF a MILE from here".
NM connects certain idiomatic numerical modifiers: "He is on FLIGHT 714", "That will cost $300".
NN connects number words together in series: "FOUR HUNDRED THOUSAND people live here".
NO is used on words which have no normal linkage requirement, but need to be included in the dictionary, such as "um" and "ah".
NR connects fraction words with superlatives: "It is the THIRD BIGGEST city in China".
NS connects singular numbers (one, 1, a) to idiomatic expressions requiring number determiners: "I saw him ONE WEEK ago".
NT connects "not" to "to": "I told you NOT TO come".
NW is used in idiomatic fraction expressions: "TWO THIRDS of the students were women".
O connects transitive verbs to their objects, direct or indirect: "She SAW ME", "I GAVE HIM the BOOK".
OD is used for verbs like "rise" and "fall" which can take expressions of distance as complements: "It FELL five FEET".
OF connects certain verbs and adjectives to the word "of": "She ACCUSED him OF the crime", "I'm PROUD OF you".
OH connects vocatives to proper nouns: "OH JOHN, is it so?"
ON connectors the word "on" to dates or days of the week in time expressions: "We saw her again ON TUESDAY".
OX is an object connector, analogous to SF, used for special "filler" words like "it" and "there" when used as objects: "That MAKES IT unlikely that she will come".
P connects forms of the verb "be" to various words that can be its complements: prepositions, adjectives, and passive and progressive participles: "He WAS [ ANGRY / IN the yard / CHOSEN / RUNNING ]".
PF is used for subject-verb inversion: "UNDER the tree SLEPT Jim." i.e. for preposition-fronted sentences.
PH is used to enforce phonetic agreement in the usage of "a" and "an" with words that begin with consonants and vowels. So: "I ate AN apple." "I ate A green apple."
PP connects forms of "have" with past participles: "He HAS GONE".
Q is used in questions. It connects the wall to the auxiliary in simple yes-no questions ("///// DID you go?"); it connects the question word to the auxiliary in where-when-how questions ("WHERE DID you go").
QI connects certain verbs and adjectives to question-words, forming indirect questions: "He WONDERED WHAT she would say".
QJ connects question words to conjunctions to form a question phrase: "WHEN AND WHERE is the party?"
QN connects most verbs to question-words in the inverted sense: "It HAPPENED WHEN?".
QU connects quotation marks to quoted sentences.
R connects nouns to relative clauses. In subject-type relatives, it connects to the relative pronoun ("The DOG WHO chased me was black"); in object-type relatives, it connects either to the relative pronoun or to the subject of the relative clause ("The DOG THAT we chased was black", "The DOG WE chased was black").
RJ provides support for conjoining adverbs and other miscellaneous phrases: "She handled it QUICKLY AND GRACEFULLY"
RS is used in subject-type relative clauses to connect the relative pronoun to the verb: "The dog WHO CHASED me was black".
RW connects the right-wall to the left-wall in cases where the right-wall is not needed for punctuation purposes.
S connects subject nouns to finite verbs: "The DOG CHASED the cat": "The DOG [ IS chasing / HAS chased / WILL chase ] the cat".
SF is a special connector used to connect "filler" subjects like "it" and "there" to finite verbs: "THERE IS a problem", "IT IS likely that he will go".
SFI connects "filler" subjects like "it" and "there" to verbs in cases with subject-verb inversion: "IS THERE a problem?", "IS IT likely that he will go?"
SI connects subject nouns to finite verbs in cases of subject-verb inversion: "IS JOHN coming?", "Who DID HE see?"
SJ connects nouns to conjunctions to form a noun phrase: "I have the BALL AND CHAIN with me tonight."
SX connects "I" to special first-person verbs lke "was" and "am".
SXI connects "I" to first-person verbs in cases of s-v inversion.
TA is used to connect adjectives like "late" to month names: "We did it in LATE DECEMBER".
TD connects day-of-the-week words to time expressions like "morning": "We'll do it MONDAY MORNING".
TH connects words that take "that [clause]" complements with the word "that". These include verbs ("She TOLD him THAT..."), nouns ("The IDEA THAT..."), and adjectives ("We are CERTAIN THAT").
TI is used for titles like "president", which can be used in certain cirumstances without a determiner: "AS PRESIDENT of the company, it is my decision".
TM is used to connect month names to day numbers: "It happened on JANUARY 21".
TO connects verbs and adjectives which take infinitival complements to the word "to": "We TRIED TO start the car", "We are EAGER TO do it".
TR connects determiners to comparatives: "The better the computer, the faster the program."
TS connects certain verbs that can take subjunctive clauses as complements - "suggest", "require" - to the word that: "We SUGGESTED THAT he go".
TW connects days of the week to dates in time expressions: "The meeting will be on MONDAY, JANUARY 21".
TY is used for certain idiomatic usages of year numbers: "I saw him on January 21 , 1990 ". (In this case it connects the day number to the year number.)
TZ is used for certain idiomatic usages of time zones: "The meeting starts at 1 p.m. EDT."
U is a special connector on nouns, which is disjoined with both the determiner and subject-object connectors. It is used in idiomatic expressions like "What KIND_OF DOG did you buy?"
UN connects the words "until" and "since" to certain time phrases like "after [clause]": "You should wait UNTIL AFTER you talk to me".
V connects various verbs to idiomatic expressions that may be non-adjacent: "We TOOK him FOR_GRANTED", "We HELD her RESPONSIBLE".
VC connects clauses to following coordinating and subordinating conjunctions ("Mike STAYED SO he could see her").
VJ connects verbs to conjunctions: "He RAN AND JUMPED".
W connects the subjects of main clauses to the wall, in ordinary declaratives, imperatives, and most questions (except yes-no questions). It also connects coordinating conjunctions to following clauses: "We left BUT SHE stayed".
WN connects the word "when" to time nouns like "year": "The YEAR WHEN we lived in England was wonderful".
WR connects the word "where" to a few verbs like "put" in questions like "WHERE did you PUT it?".
WV connects the verbs of main clauses to the wall.
X is used with punctuation, to connect punctuation symbols either to words or to each other. For example, in this case, POODLE connects to commas on either side: "The dog , a POODLE , was black."
XJ provides support for various idiomatic coordinating expressions, such as "... NOT ONLY x, BUT y": "You should NOT ONLY ask for your money back, BUT demand it."
Y is used in certain idiomatic time and place expressions, to connect quantity expressions to the head word of the expression: "He left three HOURS AGO", "She lives three MILES FROM the station".
YP connects plural noun forms ending in s to "'" in possessive constructions: "The STUDENTS ' rooms are large".
YS connects nouns to the possessive suffix "'s": "JOHN 'S dog is black".
Z connects the preposition "as" to certain verbs: "AS we EXPECTED, he was late".
ZZZ is a special trick connector, used to manage blank spaces during parsing. It is typically used only to handle complex morphology spliting. It should be invisible to the ordinary user.
Daniel Sleator Last modified: Sun Mar 22 22:24:56 EST 1998