[Corpora-List] Phrasal Verbs

[Brett Reynolds]

On 10-Dec-08, at 9:14 AM, J Washtell wrote:

> Well, yes, the (rather well hidden) subtext of my message did not  
> really concern phrasal verbs and propositions (for which I care  
> very little), but rather, the consistency and dependability of  
> tagged/parser corpora.

My point was simply that any discussion regarding phrasal verbs,  
whether one is asking for a list of them or questioning whether  
"abseiling down" does or does not qualify, needs to have a clear  
reference point. For example: does anyone have a list of phrasal  
verbs as defined by Quirk's _A Comprehensive Grammar of the English  
Language_?

Personally, I feel that too often tagging is based on current  
traditional grammar rather than on a thoroughly modern analysis such  
as Huddleston & Pullum's. A simple example would be the choice of  
many POS taggers to break off the inflectional negation of English  
auxiliary verbs (i.e., "n't") rather than leave the word intact. This  
makes no more sense than breaking off a plural '-s' or an '-ing'.

I don't think everyone must come up with their own grammar, and by  
all means, question the grammars which are embodied in the tools they  
are using, but let's be clear what we're talking about.

Best,
Brett

<http://english-jack.blogspot.com>

-----------------------
Brett Reynolds
English Language Centre
Humber College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
brett.reynolds at humber.ca




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