Download - VISL

As in most analytical systems, sentence analysis involves two basic
procedures: SEGMENTATION and CLASSIFICATION:
o
o
Segmentation deals with the breaking up of the object under
analysis into its relevant parts. In syntactic analysis, the object is
typically the sentence, and the parts are called CONSTITUENTS.
Classification deals with the labelling of each of the parts. In
syntactic analysis, this means labelling each of the constituents.
4.2.2. Four basic types of constituent (P1)
In the VISL system, there are four basic types of constituent:
o
o
o
o
the individual word
the group
the compound unit (also called the paratagm)
the clause
Here are examples of each:
o
o
o
o
I saw Peter.
I saw my former roommate.
I saw Peter and Alfred.
I saw that the house needed new windows.
4.2.3. Two labels – form and function (P2)
In the VISL system, each constituent receives two labels:
o
o
a function label (written in capital letters, followed by small
letters if needed to denote a subcategory)
a form label (written in small letters)
Function and form labels are separated by a colon. Thus the underlined
constituents in the 4 examples above can be labelled as follows:
o
o
o
o
I saw Peter. (Od:n)
I saw my former roommate. (Od:g)
I saw Peter and Alfred. (Od:par)
I saw that the house needed new windows. (Od:cl)
Note that while each of these constituents’ functions as a direct object (Od),
the forms are respectively noun (n), group (g), paratagm (par), and clause (cl).
4.2.4. VISL's “cafeteria” of word classes with fixed color scheme (P3)
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John M. Dienhart