GermaNet - Verb Frames

In contrast to nouns and adjectives, verbs in GermaNet provide information on their actual language use by giving at least one example sentence per lexical unit. In order to link lexical semantic and syntactic information, details on syntactic subcategorisation are indicated for each lexical item.

This information can be used to distinguish between different readings of ambiguous verbs. These different readings can be related to distinct frames, providing useful information for disambiguation of verbs in textual contexts. Thus, frames denote subcategorisation patterns for verbs.

Note that the subcategorisation frames for verbs provide additional information for the discrimination of a verb's senses. 

ausgehen(1): Wir gehen heute abend aus. Frame: NN
ausgehen(2): Er ging von seiner Unschuld aus. Frame: NN.PP
ausgehen(3): Die Geschichte ging gut aus. Frame: NN.BM

The frames used in GermaNet are based on the Complementation Codes provided with the German Version 2.5 of Release 2 of the CELEX Lexical database (1995). The notation in GermaNet differs from what is given in the CELEX database in that it provides an easily readable compact notation including a notation for the subject. Additionally, a complementation code for obligatory reflexive phrases has been added, abbreviated by "R". Note that GermaNet provides frames for verb senses, rather than for base forms (lemmas). This implies a full disambiguation of CELEX Complementation Codes for GermaNet.

Structure of the Frames

• All verb senses in Germanet have frames, denoting possible syntactic patterns for the verb in question.
• The distinction between obligatory arguments and optional arguments is expressed by using capitals, respectivly lower case letters. Note, however, that the obligatoriness or optionality/facultativity of an argument is - perhaps somewhat counterintuitively - indicated by the case of the second letter (i.e. the one for the syntactic category), whereas the first letter (the one for the grammatical function) is always upper case.
• If a frame consists of more than one complement, the complements are separated by a dot ".".
• A verb sense can have more than one syntactic frame, for example: vermieten,  vgl. Er vermietet ihr ein Zimmer. Er vermietet ein Zimmer an Feriengäste.
• Reflexive complements, such as in ich setze mich and in ich bilde mir ein  are coded as AR/Ar for reflexives in the accusative case, or DR/Dr for reflexives in the dative case. Reflexives which can be used interchangeably with non-reflexives such as in ich gönne mir/ihm etwas are only coded as (non-reflexive) nominals.  Furthermore we do not distinguish between reflexives with reciprocal and reflexive function. Instead, we treat reciprocals that can be replaced by a proper noun as nominal complements. Example: Die Tatsachen widersprechen sich. Die Tatsachen widersprechen allen  bisherigen Ergebnissen.

Notation in GermaNet

The frame labels in GermaNet are based on the grammatical functions of the item they correspond to. The following introduces the labels for subjects, complements and  different types of adverbials.

Subject

• NN: grammatical subject that is realised as a noun phrase in the nominative case

                  Der Student arbeitet. --> NN
                  The student works.

• NE: expletive subject, realised as „es“ (it)

                  Es regnet. --> NE
                  It’s raining.

Subject complement (coreferential with subject)

• NG

                  Er ist ein Gentleman. --> NN.NG
                  He is a gentleman.

Accusative Complement

• AN (obligatory), An (optional)

                 Das Mädchen betrachtete das Gemälde. --> NN.AN
                 The girl was looking at the painting.

                 Tom gewinnt (das Spiel). --> NN.An
                 Tom wins the game.

• AR (reflexive, obligatory), Ar (reflexive, optional):

                  Der Schüler setzte sich. --> NN.AR
                  The pupil sat down.

                  Der Experte irrt (sich). --> NN.Ar
                  The expert is mistaken.

Dative Complement

• DN (obligatory), Dn (optional):

                  Sie gleicht ihrer Großmutter. --> NN.DN
                  She resembles her grandmother.

                  Der Verkäufer erstattet (dir) den Preis. --> NN.Dn.AN
                  The salesman reimburses the price to you.

• DR (reflexive, obligatory), Dr (reflexive, optional):

                  Ich habe mir viel Wissen angeeignet. --> NN.DR.AN
                  I aquired a lot of knowledge.

                  Er hat (sich) eine Beförderung verdient. --> NN.Dr.AN
                  He deserved a promotion.

Genitive Complement

• GN (obligatory), Gn (optional):

                  Der Professor gedenkt der Tragödie. --> NN.GN
                  The professor commemorates the tragedy.

                  Die Professorin beschuldigt ihren Mann (der Untreue). --> NN.AN.Gn
                  The professor accuses her husband of infidelity.

Prepositional Complement

• PP (obligatory), Pp (optional):

                  Meine Meinung beruht auf Tatsachen. --> NN.PP
                  My opinion is based on facts.

                  Sie wundert sich (über die Antwort). --> NN.AR.Pp
                  She is surprised at the response.

Adverbials

• BL, Bl (locative adverb or prepositional phrase)

                  Ich wohne in Tübingen. --> NN.BL
                  I live in Tübingen.

                  Stundenlang sind sie in der Stadt herumgelaufen. --> NN.Bl
                  They were walking around in the town for hours.

• BD, Bd (directional adverb or prepositional phrase)

                  Sie blickte in die Ferne. --> NN.BD
                  She looked into the distance.

                  Die Familie ist (nach Schweden) ausgewandert. --> NN.Bd
                  The family has emigrated to Sweden.

• BT, Bt (temporal adverb or prepositional phrase)

                  Das Gemälde datiert aus dem 19. Jahrhundert. --> NN.BT
                  The painting dates back to the 19th century.

                  Das Gericht vertagte die Sitzung (auf die nächste Woche). --> NN.AN.Bt
                  The court has adjourned the meeting until the next week.

• BM, Bm (manner adverb or prepositional phrase)

                  Das Treffen verlief unerfreulich. --> NN.BM
                  The meeting took a disagreeable course.

                  Sie kamen (gut) miteinander aus. --> NN.Bm
                  They got along well with each other.

• BS, Bs (instrumental adverb or prepositional phrase)

                 Er beglückte sie mit einem großen Blumenstrauß. --> NN.AN.BS
                 He delighted her with a large bouquet of flowers.

                  Der Mann bedrohte den Wirt (mit einem Messer).  --> NN.Bs
                  The man threatened the host with a knife.                      

• BC, Bc (causative adverb or prepositional phrase)

                  Die Party fällt (wegen Krankheit) aus. --> NN.Bc
                  The party is canceled due to illness.

• BR, Br (role phrase)

                 Er fungiert als Berater. --> NN.BR
                 He acts as adviser.

                 Er hat (als Vater) versagt. --> NN.Br
                 He failed to be a good father.

• BO, Bo  (comitative preposition phrase)

                 Sie spielt mit ihren Enkelkindern im Garten. --> NN.Bo
                 She is playing with her grandchildren in the garden.

Infinitival and clausal complements

• AI, Ai (infinitival complement without zu)

                  Er wollte tanzen. --> NN.AI
                  He wanted to dance.

                  Sie hilft ihm (aufräumen). --> NN.DN.Ai
                  She helps him to tidy up.

• AZ, Az (infinival complement with zu)

                   Er beliebt zu scherzen. --> NN.AZ
                   He likes to joke around.

                  Er weigerte sich, den Befehl auszuführen. NN.AR.Az
                  He refused to carry out the command.

• DS (dass-phrase)

                  Sabrina weiß, dass es im Büro sehr kalt ist. --> NN.DS
                  Sabrina knows that it is very cold in the office.

• FS (interrogative clause)

                   Ich frage mich, wen er gesehen hat. --> NN.AR.FS
                   I ask myself, whom he has seen.