Syntactic annotation – preposition phrases

Complements of preposition phrases

Prepositions can take the following categories as their complement:

  • an NP unmarked for function
  • a CP
  • an ADVP-LOC

Pronominal adverbs

Note that pronominal adverbs (e.g. darumme) are treated as PPs:

(PP (ADVP (PAVKO Dar))
    (PAVAP vmme)
)

Pronominal adverbs can also be discontinuous:

  • The d-element projects an ADVP which is treated as having been fronted out of the PP

  • The d-element is traced into the PP as the complement of the head preposition (PAVAP)

(IP-MAT (ADVP-1 (PAVD Daer)) 
        (NP-OB2 (PPER vns))
        (VAFIN is)
        (PP (ADVP *ICH*-1)
            (PAVAP van))
        (VVPP ghecomen)
        (NP-SBJ (ADJA manich)
                (leet))
)

Double prepositions

MLG has a range of `double prepositions’:

  • bet an
  • bet uppe
  • van an
  • wente an
  • wente to
  • wente uppe

In such cases, both prepositions are tagged APPR, are immediately dominated by the PP and are sisters to each other and the NP complement:

(PP (APPR wente)
    (APPR an)
    (NP (NP-POS (NA godes)
        (NA ghebort)))
)

Co-occuring prepositions and adpositions

(PP (APPR bet)
    (ADVP (AVD bauen))
    (APPO an)
)