---
title: "Core Arguments in Universal Dependencies — Zeman 2017"
description: "The author proposes refining the guidelines: defining the properties of core arguments separately for… 9 references, cited by 6 papers here."
authors: ["Daniel Zeman"]
year: 2017
venue: "Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference on Dependency Linguistics (Depling 2017)"
source: "https://aclanthology.org/W17-6532/"
licence: "CC BY 4.0 (ACL Anthology)"
licence_url: "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"
summary_licence: "Elamur Cosmic License"
canonical: "https://research.elamur.ai/free/en/papers/zeman-2017-core-arguments-universal-dependencies/"
---
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# Core Arguments in Universal Dependencies

**Authors:** [Daniel Zeman](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/authors/daniel-zeman/) · **Year:** 2017 · **Venue:** [Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference on Dependency Linguistics (Depling 2017)](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/venues/depling/) ([International Conference on Dependency Linguistics 2017](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/venues/depling/2017/)) · **Publisher:** [Linköping University Electronic Press](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/publishers/linkoping-university-electronic-press/) · **Licence:** [CC BY 4.0 (ACL Anthology)](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

**Links:** [Publisher's page](https://aclanthology.org/W17-6532/) · [PDF](https://aclanthology.org/W17-6532.pdf) · [OpenAlex](https://openalex.org/W2774050620)

**Citations:** 10 citations (OpenAlex, 2026-10-14) · 6 in our library, of the 149,439 papers whose bibliographies we read

## Summary

The paper examines how, in Universal Dependencies, to distinguish core arguments of a verb from oblique ones when a language has both case morphology and prepositions. The UD guidelines merely list possible criteria and give no clear definition. The English rule "there is a preposition, hence it is not core" does not work for such languages. The author takes the methodology of Andrews (2007) as a basis. First, prototypical transitive verbs are identified, i.e., those that have an agent and a patient. Then one examines how the language encodes their arguments and extends this encoding to the remaining verbs. This methodology is applied to German, Czech, and Russian. Statistics from 26 UD treebanks show that annotators draw the boundary between core and oblique in different ways. As a result, annotation across corpora is inconsistent. The author proposes refining the guidelines: defining the properties of core arguments separately for each language and not abandoning the argument–adjunct distinction entirely. For Ukrainian, which also has a rich case system, this bears directly on the annotation of objects in oblique cases.

## Key points

- The methodology rests on the functions S, A, and P from Andrews (2007). Arguments with these functions become `nsubj` or `obj` in UD, while the remaining nominal phrases receive `obl`.
- German *helfen* and Czech *pomoci* govern the dative case. Nevertheless, their prepositionless arguments are recognized as core. Czech verbs can have a patient in the instrumental (*hýbat*) as well as in the genitive (*dotknout se*).
- Tables for UD Czech and two versions of Russian SynTagRus (1.3 and 2.0) show that the corpora annotate identical case forms very differently. For example, in SynTagRus 2.0 the prepositionless dative is almost always (about 95%) labeled `obl`.
- Genitive subjects in Slavic languages arise because of numerals, not because of the verb. The Russian dative in constructions such as «мне холодно» fails all three subject tests: case, agreement, and subject inheritance in an infinitival construction.
- The author proposes introducing the relation `obl:arg` to preserve the argument–adjunct distinction where it can be established.

*Our summary of the paper, in our own words — not its text. The work belongs to its authors; read it at the links above.*

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🧭 Topics (1): [🌐 Universal Dependencies](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/topics/universal-dependencies/) · 184 works

## Cite

Cite as: Daniel Zeman. 2017. Core Arguments in Universal Dependencies. Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference on Dependency Linguistics (Depling 2017).

The paper itself, not this page. BibTeX from the library's record of the work.

```bibtex
@inproceedings{zeman2017core,
  title = {{Core Arguments in Universal Dependencies}},
  author = {Daniel Zeman},
  booktitle = {Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference on Dependency Linguistics (Depling 2017)},
  year = {2017},
  url = {https://aclanthology.org/W17-6532/}
}
```

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## References

9 references, 0 of them with a card of ours. ↗ leads to the work, «find» searches for one we have no id for yet.

1. Avery D. Andrews. 2007. The major functions of the noun phrase. In Timothy Shopen, editor, Language Typology and Syntactic Description. Volume I: Clause Structure. Second edition, pages 132–223. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Avery+D%2E+Andrews%2E+2007%2E+The+major+functions+of+the+noun+phrase%2E+In+Timothy+Shopen%2C+editor%2C+Language+Typology+and+Syntactic+Description%2E+Volume+I%3A+Clause+Structure%2E+Second+edition%2C+pages+132%E2%80%93223%2E+Cambr)
2. Robert M. W. Dixon. 2012. Basic Linguistic Theory. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Robert+M%2E+W%2E+Dixon%2E+2012%2E+Basic+Linguistic+Theory%2E+Oxford+University+Press%2C+Oxford%2C+UK%2E)
3. Matthew S. Dryer. 2007. Clause types. In Timothy Shopen, editor, Language Typology and Syntactic Description. Volume I: Clause Structure, pages 224– 275. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Matthew+S%2E+Dryer%2E+2007%2E+Clause+types%2E+In+Timothy+Shopen%2C+editor%2C+Language+Typology+and+Syntactic+Description%2E+Volume+I%3A+Clause+Structure%2C+pages+224%E2%80%93+275%2E+Cambridge+University+Press%2C+Cambridge%2C+UK%2E)
4. William A. Foley. 2007. A typology of information packaging in the clause. In Timothy Shopen, editor, Language Typology and Syntactic Description. Volume I: Clause Structure, pages 362–446. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=William+A%2E+Foley%2E+2007%2E+A+typology+of+information+packaging+in+the+clause%2E+In+Timothy+Shopen%2C+editor%2C+Language+Typology+and+Syntactic+Description%2E+Volume+I%3A+Clause+Structure%2C+pages+362%E2%80%93446%2E+Cambridge+)
5. Jan Hajič, Jarmila Panevová, Eva Hajičová, Petr Sgall, Petr Pajas, Jan Štěpánek, Jiří Havelka, Marie Mikulová, Zdeněk Žabokrtský, and Magda Ševčíková-Razímová. 2006. Prague Dependency Treebank 2.0. CD-ROM, Linguistic Data Consortium, LDC Catalog No.: LDC2006T01, Philadelphia. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Jan+Haji%C4%8D%2C+Jarmila+Panevov%C3%A1%2C+Eva+Haji%C4%8Dov%C3%A1%2C+Petr+Sgall%2C+Petr+Pajas%2C+Jan+%C5%A0t%C4%9Bp%C3%A1nek%2C+Ji%C5%99%C3%AD+Havelka%2C+Marie+Mikulov%C3%A1%2C+Zden%C4%9Bk+%C5%BDabokrtsk%C3%BD%2C+and+Magda+%C5%A0ev%C4%8D%C3%ADkov%C3%A1%2DRaz%C3%ADmov%C3%A1%2E+2006%2E+Prague+Dependency+Treebank+2%2E0%2E+CD)
6. Bohuslav Havránek and Alois Jedlička. 1966. Stručná mluvnice česká. Fortuna, Praha, Czechia. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Bohuslav+Havr%C3%A1nek+and+Alois+Jedli%C4%8Dka%2E+1966%2E+Stru%C4%8Dn%C3%A1+mluvnice+%C4%8Desk%C3%A1%2E+Fortuna%2C+Praha%2C+Czechia%2E)
7. Gerhard Helbig and Joachim Buscha. 1998. Deutsche Grammatik. Ein Handbuch für den Ausländerunter-richt (18. Auflage). Langenscheidt, Leipzig, Germany. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Gerhard+Helbig+and+Joachim+Buscha%2E+1998%2E+Deutsche+Grammatik%2E+Ein+Handbuch+f%C3%BCr+den+Ausl%C3%A4nderunter%2Dricht+%2818%2E+Auflage%29%2E+Langenscheidt%2C+Leipzig%2C+Germany%2E)
8. Petr Karlík, Marek Nekula, Jana Pleskalová, et al. 2016. Nový encyklopedický slovník češtiny. Nakla-datelství Lidové noviny, Praha, Czechia. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Petr+Karl%C3%ADk%2C+Marek+Nekula%2C+Jana+Pleskalov%C3%A1%2C+et+al%2E+2016%2E+Nov%C3%BD+encyklopedick%C3%BD+slovn%C3%ADk+%C4%8De%C5%A1tiny%2E+Nakla%2Ddatelstv%C3%AD+Lidov%C3%A9+noviny%2C+Praha%2C+Czechia%2E)
9. (6) (1) nsubj (7) (8) case obj:nacc Drak pohnul skálou Nom Ins Dragon moved rock (9) nsubj obl expl:pv det Drak se vrací každý rok Nom Acc Acc Dragon returns every year obj nsubj iobj Král dal Jiřímu zlato Nom Dat Acc King gave George gold (11) nsubj:pass obl:agent aux:pass iobj Drak byl zabit Jiřím… [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=%286%29+%281%29+nsubj+%287%29+%288%29+case+obj%3Anacc+Drak+pohnul+sk%C3%A1lou+Nom+Ins+Dragon+moved+rock+%289%29+nsubj+obl+expl%3Apv+det+Drak+se+vrac%C3%AD+ka%C5%BEd%C3%BD+rok+Nom+Acc+Acc+Dragon+returns+every+year+obj+nsubj+iobj+Kr%C3%A1l+dal+Ji%C5%99%C3%ADmu+)

*Updated 29 October 2026*