Naija SUD Guidelines

This page outlines various features specific to Naija.

Annotation of dey

The term dey in Naija performs two primary roles. The first is that of a copula. In these instances, dey is annotated as a verb and is connected to its complement with a comp:pred relation, as in the examples below.

# text_en = It's sweet. 1 e im PRON _ Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 2 subj _ AlignBegin=204377|AlignEnd=204666|Gloss=it 2 dey dey VERB _ VerbType=Cop 0 root _ AlignBegin=204666|AlignEnd=204954|Gloss=be 3 sweet sweet ADJ _ _ 2 comp:pred _ AlignBegin=204954|AlignEnd=205243|Gloss=sweet
# text_en = I'm fine. 1 I I PRON _ Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs 2 subj _ AlignBegin=5030|AlignEnd=5260|Gloss=I 2 dey dey VERB _ VerbType=Cop 0 root _ AlignBegin=5260|AlignEnd=5490|Gloss=be 3 fine fine ADJ _ _ 2 comp:pred _ AlignBegin=5490|AlignEnd=5720|Gloss=fine

This term is also used as an auxiliary verb which marks the imperfective aspect. In these cases, dey is annotated as an auxiliary and is connected to the following verb with a comp:aux relation.

# text_en = So she was eating, sleeping, and everything. 1 so so ADV _ _ 3 discourse _ AlignBegin=117700|AlignEnd=118140|Gloss=so 2 she she PRON _ Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 3 subj _ AlignBegin=118418|AlignEnd=118571|Gloss=she 3 dey dey AUX _ Aspect=Imp 0 root _ AlignBegin=118601|AlignEnd=118811|Gloss=IPFV 4 chop chop VERB _ _ 3 comp:aux _ AlignBegin=118811|AlignEnd=119421|Gloss=eat 5 , , PUNCT _ _ 6 punct _ AlignBegin=119421|AlignEnd=119451|Gloss=, 6 dey dey AUX _ Aspect=Imp 3 conj:coord _ AlignBegin=119451|AlignEnd=119581|Gloss=IPFV 7 sleep sleep VERB _ _ 6 comp:aux _ AlignBegin=119581|AlignEnd=119861|Gloss=sleep 8 , , PUNCT _ _ 9 punct _ AlignBegin=119861|AlignEnd=119891|Gloss=, 9 everyting everyting PRON _ _ 6 conj:coord _ AlignBegin=119891|AlignEnd=120391|Gloss=everything
# text_en = You don't sell on credit? 1 you you PRON _ Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs 3 subj _ AlignBegin=131630|AlignEnd=131917|Gloss=you 2 no no PART _ Polarity=Neg 3 mod _ AlignBegin=131917|AlignEnd=132204|Gloss=NEG 3 dey dey AUX _ Aspect=Imp 0 root _ AlignBegin=132204|AlignEnd=132491|Gloss=IPFV 4 sell sell VERB _ _ 3 comp:aux _ AlignBegin=132491|AlignEnd=132778|Gloss=sell 5 credit credit NOUN _ _ 4 mod _ AlignBegin=132778|AlignEnd=133065|Gloss=credit 6 ? ? PUNCT _ _ 3 punct _ AlignBegin=133065|AlignEnd=133065|Gloss=PUNCT

Annotation of copulas

In addition to dey, Naija contains two other words that can function as copulas: be and na. Like dey, be, is annotated as a verb, and is connected to the subject via a subj relationship and to the predicate via the comp:pred relationship. We also treat na in a similar fashion, though it is tagged as a particle rather than a verb.

# text_en = She was pretending to be a city girl. 1 she she PRON _ Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 2 subj _ AlignBegin=75500|AlignEnd=75698|Gloss=she 2 con con AUX _ Aspect=Cons 0 root _ AlignBegin=75698|AlignEnd=75896|Gloss=CONS 3 dey dey AUX _ Aspect=Imp 2 comp:aux _ AlignBegin=75896|AlignEnd=76094|Gloss=IPFV 4 form form VERB _ _ 3 comp:aux _ AlignBegin=76094|AlignEnd=76292|Gloss=form 5 sey sey SCONJ _ _ 4 comp:obj _ AlignBegin=76292|AlignEnd=76490|Gloss=COMP 6 she she PRON _ Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 7 subj _ AlignBegin=76490|AlignEnd=76688|Gloss=she 7 be be VERB _ PartType=Cop 5 comp:obj _ AlignBegin=76688|AlignEnd=76886|Gloss=be 8 city city NOUN _ _ 9 compound _ AlignBegin=76886|AlignEnd=77084|Gloss=city 9 girl girl NOUN _ _ 7 comp:pred _ AlignBegin=77084|AlignEnd=77282|Gloss=girl 10 o o PART _ PartType=Disc 9 mod:emph _ AlignBegin=77282|AlignEnd=77480|Gloss=EMPH
# text_en = My daddy is a reverend, my mommy is a pastor. 1 daddy daddy NOUN _ _ 2 subj _ AlignBegin=9040|AlignEnd=9340|Gloss=daddy 2 na na PART _ PartType=Cop 0 root _ AlignBegin=9340|AlignEnd=9500|Gloss=be 3 reverend reverend NOUN _ _ 2 comp:pred _ AlignBegin=9500|AlignEnd=10050|Gloss=reverend 4 , , PUNCT _ _ 6 punct _ AlignBegin=10020|AlignEnd=10050|Gloss=, 5 mumsie mumsy NOUN _ _ 6 subj _ AlignBegin=10050|AlignEnd=10380|Gloss=mother 6 na na PART _ PartType=Cop 2 parataxis:conj _ AlignBegin=10380|AlignEnd=10490|Gloss=be 7 pastor pastor NOUN _ _ 6 comp:pred _ AlignBegin=10490|AlignEnd=11100|Gloss=pastor
# text_en = I'm fine. 1 I I PRON _ Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs 2 subj _ AlignBegin=5030|AlignEnd=5260|Gloss=I 2 dey dey VERB _ VerbType=Cop 0 root _ AlignBegin=5260|AlignEnd=5490|Gloss=be 3 fine fine ADJ _ _ 2 comp:pred _ AlignBegin=5490|AlignEnd=5720|Gloss=fine

Zero copula

However, the copula is not always needed to link subjects to their predicates. In cases where no copula is present, the predicate is connected to its subject via a subj relationship.

# text_en = It's not good. 1 e e PRON _ Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 3 subj _ AlignBegin=97985|AlignEnd=98254|Gloss=it 2 no no PART _ Polarity=Neg 3 mod _ AlignBegin=98254|AlignEnd=98522|Gloss=NEG 3 good good ADJ _ _ 0 root _ AlignBegin=98522|AlignEnd=98791|Gloss=good
# text_en = It's plenty. 1 e im PRON _ Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 2 subj _ AlignBegin=74280|AlignEnd=74920|Gloss=it 2 plenty plenty ADJ _ _ 0 root _ AlignBegin=74920|AlignEnd=75560|Gloss=plenty

Compounds and phrasal verbs

Our annotation of Naija makes frequent use of the compound relation. In our annotation system, this relation is systematically applied to relationships between two nouns in which one of them acts as a form of modifier. In this sense, compound functions much like the mod relation, except that it links two nouns together rather than a noun to an adjective.

# text_en = It's not food for kids? 1 no no PART _ Polarity=Neg 2 mod _ AlignBegin=62165|AlignEnd=62648|Gloss=NEG 2 be be VERB _ PartType=Cop 0 root _ AlignBegin=62648|AlignEnd=63130|Gloss=be 3 children child NOUN _ Number=Plur 4 compound _ AlignBegin=63130|AlignEnd=63612|Gloss=child.PL 4 food food NOUN _ _ 2 comp:pred _ AlignBegin=63612|AlignEnd=64095|Gloss=food 5 ? ? PUNCT _ _ 2 punct _ AlignBegin=64095|AlignEnd=64095|Gloss=PUNCT
# text_en = I know banga soup. 1 I I PRON _ Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs 2 subj _ AlignBegin=59955|AlignEnd=60188|Gloss=I 2 know know VERB _ _ 0 root _ AlignBegin=60188|AlignEnd=60420|Gloss=know 3 banga banga NOUN _ _ 4 compound _ AlignBegin=60420|AlignEnd=60652|Gloss=palm_kernel 4 soup soup NOUN _ _ 2 comp:obj _ AlignBegin=60652|AlignEnd=60885|Gloss=soup 5 . . PUNCT _ _ 2 punct _ AlignBegin=60885|AlignEnd=60885|Gloss=PUNCT
# text_en = She's a city girl. 1 she she PRON _ Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 2 subj _ AlignBegin=76490|AlignEnd=76688|deprel_main_pred=subj|Gloss=she|head_MST=8 2 be be VERB _ PartType=Cop 0 root _ AlignBegin=76688|AlignEnd=76886|deprel_main_pred=comp:obj|Gloss=be|head_MST=5 3 city city NOUN _ _ 4 compound _ AlignBegin=76886|AlignEnd=77084|deprel_main_pred=compound|Gloss=city|head_MST=10 4 girl girl NOUN _ _ 2 comp:pred _ AlignBegin=77084|AlignEnd=77282|deprel_main_pred=comp:pred|Gloss=girl|head_MST=8

The compound relation is also used in some relations between nouns and adjectives, such as dry cleaner, which are considered fixed expressions whose meaning cannot be directly understood from its constituent parts

# text_en = You can take it to the dry cleaner. 1 you you PRON _ Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs 2 subj _ AlignBegin=119950|AlignEnd=120306|deprel_main_pred=subj|Gloss=NOM.2|head_MST=2 2 fit fit AUX _ Mood=Pot 0 root _ AlignBegin=120306|AlignEnd=120661|deprel_main_pred=root|Gloss=ABIL|head_MST=0 3 carry carry VERB _ _ 2 comp:aux _ AlignBegin=120661|AlignEnd=121017|deprel_main_pred=comp:aux|Gloss=carry|head_MST=2 4 am am PRON _ Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 3 comp:obj _ AlignBegin=121017|AlignEnd=121373|deprel_main_pred=comp:obj|Gloss=ACC.SG.3|head_MST=3 5 go go VERB _ _ 3 compound:svc _ AlignBegin=121373|AlignEnd=121729|deprel_main_pred=compound:svc|Gloss=go|head_MST=3 6 dry dry ADJ _ _ 7 compound _ AlignBegin=121729|AlignEnd=122084|deprel_main_pred=mod|Gloss=dry|head_MST=7 7 cleaner cleaner NOUN _ _ 5 comp:obj _ AlignBegin=122084|AlignEnd=122440|deprel_main_pred=comp:obj|Gloss=cleaner|head_MST=5

The compound relation is also used un numbers containing more than one word.

# text_en = Eight hundred? 1 eight eight NUM _ NumType=Card 2 compound _ AlignBegin=241315|AlignEnd=242108|deprel_main_pred=compound|Gloss=eight.CARD|head_MST=2 2 hundred hundred NUM _ NumType=Card 0 root _ AlignBegin=242108|AlignEnd=242900|deprel_main_pred=root|Gloss=hundred.CARD|head_MST=0 3 ? ? PUNCT _ _ 2 punct _ AlignBegin=242900|AlignEnd=242900|deprel_main_pred=punct|Gloss=PUNCT|head_MST=2

The subtype compound:prt is also used to connect the components of various phrasal verbs inherited from English.

# text_en = Just after a minute, bring it down. 1 just just ADV _ _ 2 mod _ AlignBegin=226630|AlignEnd=226860|Gloss=just 2 after after ADP _ _ 7 mod:periph _ AlignBegin=226860|AlignEnd=227130|Gloss=after 3 one one NUM _ NumType=Card 4 det:num _ AlignBegin=227130|AlignEnd=227280|Gloss=one 4 minute minute NOUN _ _ 2 comp:obj _ AlignBegin=227280|AlignEnd=227680|Gloss=minute 5 , , PUNCT _ _ 2 punct _ AlignBegin=227680|AlignEnd=227680|Gloss=PUNCT 6 you you PRON _ Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs 7 subj _ AlignBegin=227680|AlignEnd=227792|Gloss=NOM.2 7 bring bring VERB _ _ 0 root _ AlignBegin=227792|AlignEnd=227990|Gloss=bring 8 am am PRON _ Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 7 comp:obj _ AlignBegin=227990|AlignEnd=228120|Gloss=ACC.SG.3 9 down down ADP _ _ 7 compound:prt _ AlignBegin=228120|AlignEnd=228290|Gloss=down 10 . . PUNCT _ _ 7 punct _ AlignBegin=228290|AlignEnd=228290|Gloss=PUNCT

Please note that other languages might use the compound relation in a more limited set of contexts, if at all. For a more general overview of this relation, please consult the dedicated page.