MACHINE-READABLE ENTAILMENTS WITH THE
ITALIAN
PRENDERE
CONSTRUCTION EXPRESSING
HITTING AND INSULTING EVENTS
Ignazio Mau o Mi o
Depa men o Cul u e e socie à, Uni e si à di Pale mo, I aly
ABSTRACT
The I alian language ea u es a li le deba ed ansi i e cons uc ion wi h p ende e ‘ o ake/ o ca ch’ in
which a p eposi ional ph ase (PP) wi h an ad e bial alue occu s manda o ily (e.g. Lui p ese a pugni
Leo ‘He punched Leo’). Seman ically, his cons uc ion o en implies he use o physical o ce o e bal
o ence. In he hi ing o insul ing e en , he no ional subjec gene ally is a [+ Human] Agen , whils he
no ional di ec objec gene ally is a [+ Anima e] A ec ee ([1]: 4). I can be con ended ha p ende e,
which ca ies no li e al meaning, is ze o- alen and ha he p edica e assigning seman ic oles is he PP.
A compu a ional ool will be illus a ed, which au oma ically pe o ms he ollowing NLP / NLU asks: i
p o ides a eliable syn ac ic and seman ic ep esen a ion o he clause ype, and i p oduces machine-
eadable en ailmen s wi h h ee clause ypes, i.e. sen ences wi h o dina y e bs, suppo e bs, and he
causa i e e b a e ‘ o make/ o ha e’.
KEYWORDS
Na u al Language P ocessing, Recognizing Tex ual En ailmen , Seman ic Role Ex ac ion, Ad e bial PPs
wi h a p edica i e alue, Suppo e bs
1. INTRODUCTION
A ph aseological uni (PU) o I alian in ol es one o he mos equen and polysemous e bs,
i.e. p ende e ‘li e ally: ake, ca ch, seize, pick up, e c.’ (i s closes synonym, i.e. piglia e, occu s
less equen ly), and a p eposi ional ph ase (PP), as illus a ed in (1) and (2) below (i is o be
eg e ed ha mos examples o he p ende e cons uc ion p oposed below make e e ence o
iolence and his is ce ainly no he au ho ’s choice; he eason lies in he seman ics o he
cons uc ion, o en ela ed o inju ious e en s):
(1) Max ha p eso a bacche a e il compagno di classe
Max has aken a s ick-hi ing.PL he classma e
‘Max hi his classma e wi h a s ick’
(2) I sena o i p ese o Cesa e a pugnala e
he sena o s ook Caesa a s abs
‘The sena o s s abbed Caesa ’
To he bes o ou knowledge, no p e ious s udies exis conce ning he p ende e cons uc ion
exempli ied abo e ( he chap e in [2] dedica ed o nouns ending in –a a con ains no examples o
his cons uc ion). Wi hin i s manda o y PP, 112 nouns can al e na e wi h each o he ( his class
is no es ic ed; 80 nouns (app oxima ely 72%) a e su ixed wi h –a e, as a single mo pheme).
The cons uc ion appea s o ha e a colloca ional na u e (c . [3]: 596). No ice ha be o e
In e na ional Jou nal on Na u al Language Compu ing (IJNLC) Vol.11, No.3, June 2022
17DOI: 10.5121/ijnlc.2022.11302
combining wi h p ende e, he PP is i sel a case o g amma ical colloca ion (see [4]). Thus he e
a e g ounds o conside he p ende e cons uc ion as a case o double colloca ion. I s main
cha ac e is ics a e i emized below:
i. he e is ‘signi ican p oximi y’ ([5]) be ween he colloca ing i ems (i.e. he PP
and ei he p ende e o piglia e);
ii. ega ding he noun ollowing he p eposi ion: (a) i o ms a binomial exp ession
wi h he p eposi ion a ‘ o / a ’; (b) i mus be ba e, plu al, and unmodi ied (wi h
a ew excep ions, e.g. a male pa ole, ‘using bad wo ds’); and (c) i designa es a
‘p ocess’ (as bacche a e ‘s ick-hi ing’ and pugnala e ‘s abs’ exempli y in (1)
and (2));
iii. he e b p ende e (which in I alian is o en employed as a suppo e b, e.g.
Max ha p eso una decisione ‘Max made a decision’) con ibu es no meaning as
ega ds seman ic oles; and
i . he PP is no a ci cums an ial (PPs a e o en op ional in I alian); a he , i
appea s o unc ion p edica i ely.
The pu pose o his pape is o illus a e a compu a ional ool, named NLPy aly (c . [6], [7] and
he eposi o y a ailable on Gi Hub, h ps://gi hub.com/ignaziomi o2017/nlpy aly/), which can
au oma ically pe o m he ollowing asks: i s , he iden i ica ion o he PU (in he ac i e,
passi e, and ce ain impe sonal o ms, e.g. he so-called si passi an e); second, he ex ac ion o
he pa icipan s’ seman ic oles (exp essed as Cogna e seman ic oles, see below); hi d, he
iden i ying o he en ailmen s which he PU es ablishes wi h simple sen ences deploying wo
hype nyms: colpi e and insul a e; and las , he au oma ic iden i ica ion o ei he one-way
en ailmen o pa aph ase ela ions wi h h ee dis inc clause ypes sha ing he same con en
mo phemes: he o dina y e b cons uc ion, he suppo e b cons uc ion, and analy ic
causa i es wi h he e b a e ‘make / ha e / le ’ ( a e causa i e cons uc ion).
2. WHY IS THE PP MANDATORY?
When PPs like hose in (1) and (2) abo e combine wi h p ende e (o piglia e), hey canno be
emo ed wi hou modi ying he meaning o he sen ence, as he compa ison be ween (2) abo e
and (3) below illus a es:
(3) I sena o i p ese o Cesa e
‘The sena o s ook Caesa ’ (e.g. caugh / kidnapped him)
Howe e , wi h any o he e b he PP is a genuine ci cums an ial (excluding a e ‘make’: e.g.
Fanno a cuscina e ‘They hi each o he wi h pillows’), as he pai (4)-(5) demons a es:
(4) I sena o i uccise o Cesa e a pugnala e
‘The sena o s killed Caesa by s abbing him (s abbed Caesa o dea h)’
(5) I sena o i uccise o Cesa e
‘The sena o s killed Caesa ’
The e y ac ha he PP in (2) canno be emo ed demons a es ha a pugnala e ul ills dis inc
unc ions in (2) and (4). The e o e, his PP is no a ci cums an ial and, no cons i u ing a noun
ph ase, i canno be conside ed as an a gumen o p ende e. This aises a p oblem: wha is i s
unc ion? I belie e ha such a ques ion should be concei ed o as being in e wined wi h he
non-li e al use o he e b, in ha , linguis ically, nobody akes, ca ches, o seizes any hing. In
(3), p ende e does license wo a gumen s and i assigns o each a seman ic ole, whils in (2) i
e iden ly does no , o he wise he e y same seman ic oles would be iden i ied. The e a e
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he e o e alid easons o analyzing he PP as he genuine p edica i e co e o he clause ype
and his is he a ionale o i being un emo able. The same easons also hold wi h he pos -
e bal noun in suppo e b cons uc ions (e.g. She sho him a sco n ul glance s. She sho him,
see [6], [8], [9], [10]). Tha is, he e b p ende e is o be in e p e ed as he indispensable
elemen ag eeing wi h he subjec in pe son and numbe and ca ying such ea u es as e.g. ense
and aspec . In addi ion, i s equen ansi i i y in li e al uses makes a ailable a syn ac ic g id
o he subjec and di ec objec unc ions. As a as he assignmen o desc ip i e meaning is
conce ned, howe e , p ende e appea s o be ine .
3. MACHINE-READABLE ENTAILMENTS AND PARAPHRASES
This sec ion desc ibes one-way en ailmen s and pa aph ases which he p ende e cons uc ion
es ablishes wi h h ee clause ypes: he o dina y e b cons uc ion (OVC), he suppo e b
cons uc ion (SVC), and he a e causa i e cons uc ion (FCC). The de ini ions o en ailmen
and pa aph ase on which I ely a e hose p o ided by [11]: 107-108 (no ice ha unde his
de ini ion quan i ie s can block he en ailmen s, see [6]: 4-5).
3.1. The o dina y e b cons uc ion
Bo h he examples in (1) and (2) can be pa aph ased wi h sen ences cons uc ed om o dina y
e bs. Such pa aph ases ob ain by employing he e bs bacche a e ‘hi wi h a s ick’ and
pugnala e ‘s ab’, espec i ely:
(6) Max ha bacche a o il compagno di classe
‘Max hi his classma e wi h a s ick’
(7) I sena o i pugnala ono Cesa e
‘The sena o s s abbed Caesa ’
By compa ing (1) and (6), and igno ing he null- alen p ende e, i can clea ly be seen ha he
con en mo phemes in (6) a e exac ly he same as hose ound in (1) (‘mo phemic in a iance’,
see [12]). Simila ly, he con en mo phemes in (7) a e also hose which occu in (2). Mo eo e ,
he exis ence o a pa aph as ic ela ion such as ha be ween (1) and (6) means ha hese
sen ences en ail each o he , as sen ences (2) and (7) also do.
The a ionale o he abo e pa aph ases is a he simple: he noun wi hin he PP in e.g. (1) does
ha e a e bal coun e pa wi h he same con en mo pheme. Tha is, he noun- e b pai
bacche a e : bacche a e exis s in I alian. O e all, he e a e app oxima ely 20 such noun- e b
pai s (which is 17% o all nouns occu ing in he clause ype), and hey include diminu i es
(e.g. schia i / schia e i ‘slaps / li le slaps’) and augmen a i es (e.g. spin e / spin oni ‘pushes /
big pushes’). I is o use o e e o his i s class in he da a s uc u e o he ool as G oup A. 14
o he nouns (12.5%) do no ha e a e bal coun e pa , bu one can be easily loca ed, due o hei
synonymic ela ionship wi h a numbe o nouns in G oup A, e.g. ce oni ‘big slaps’ (*ce ona e
does no exis ), o be associa ed wi h schia i ‘slaps’ and hen pai ed wi h he cogna e e b
schia eggia e ‘ o slap’. This la e lis will be e e ed o as G oup B.
Again, no e bal coun e pa wi h he same con en mo pheme is a ailable wi h 69 o he nouns
(61.5%, G oup C). Howe e , wi h such nouns an en ailmen ela ionship can be
s aigh o wa dly cons uc ed. This is by means o sen ences in which he e b colpi e ‘hi ’
occu s ( his associa ion also holds ue wi h G oups A and B), as he pai o med by (8) and (9)
exempli ies. No ice ha mos PPs o med wi h he nouns in G oups A, B and C can be eplaced
wi h he ph ase ‘a colpi di + noun’, wi h no changes in meaning (c . [13]). Fo example, he
sen ences Lo ha p eso a gomi a e / a bo iglia e ‘He hi him wi h his elbow / wi h a bo le’
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espec i ely bea he same meanings as Lo ha p eso a colpi di gomi o, Lo ha p eso a colpi di
bo iglia.
(8) Lo o p ese o l’uomo a cuscina e
hey ook he man a blows.wi h.a.pillow
‘They bea he man wi h a pillow’
(9) Lo o hanno colpi o l’uomo (con un cuscino)
‘They bea he man (wi h a pillow)’
Finally, he emaining 10 nouns (9%; only wo o hem ha e a e bal coun e pa , as in G oup
A) call o mind cases o e bal o ence. Wi h such nouns, he coun e pa cons uc ed wi h an
o dina y e b can egula ly be ende ed wi h insul a e ‘ o insul ’:
(10) Lo o p ese o l’uomo a pa olacce / insul i
hey ook he man a bad.wo ds / insul s
‘They add essed he man using bad wo ds’
(11) Lo o insul a ono l’uomo
‘They insul ed he man’
These nouns can be labelled as G oup D. I is wo h no icing ha wi h pai s such as (10) and
(11) a one-way en ailmen is obse ed a he han a mu ual en ailmen : i (10) is ue, hen (11)
mus be ue. I is also e iden ha he opposi e does no hold, in ha someone can be insul ed in
a numbe o ways.
3.2. The suppo e b cons uc ion
Mu ual en ailmen ela ionships can be also es ablished be ween such sen ences as he
ollowing:
(12) Max p ese a mo si la mela
Max ook a bi es he apple
‘Max bi he apple’
(13) Max diede dei mo si alla mela
Max ga e some bi es a he apple
‘Max bi he apple’
Sen ence (12) di e s om he abo e examples o he cons uc ion unde sc u iny only on
accoun o i s di ec objec (i.e. la mela ‘ he apple’) being [- Anima e]. On he o he hand,
sen ence (13) is an ins ance o he well-known suppo e b cons uc ion (SVC) (see [8]). As he
ansla ion in (13) clea ly indica es, he e b diede ‘ga e’ possesses a blank alence and i
ca ies no li e al meaning (see [14]).
Le us now ocus on he in e sec ion be ween he da a s uc u e which is cu en ly a ailable in
NLPy aly o he SVC (app oxima ely 770 p edica e nouns such as mo so ‘bi e’ in (13)) and he
ou g oups in he da a s uc u e which we e iden i ied in he p eceding Sec ion. All he nouns in
G oup A can also be employed as he p edica e noun o a SVC, whils only 8 nouns in G oup B
ha e a coun e pa in he SVC. As o G oup C, app oxima ely 40 o he nouns included can
also be employed in he SVC, whils only ou o hose in G oup D (insul i ‘insul s’, minacce
‘ h ea s’, o ese ‘o ences’, and pe nacchie ‘ aspbe ies’) a e included in he SVC. O
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impo ance, he en ailmen be ween such sen ences as (12) and (13) is ecip ocal: he u h o he
o me gua an ees he u h o he la e , and ice e sa.
3.3. The a e causa i e cons uc ion
Unlike in Subsec ions 3.1 and 3.2, he en ailmen s be ween an FCC and he p ende e
cons uc ion canno be mu ual, and o compelling easons. Le us conside an FCC sen ence
such as Leo ece schia eggia e il agazzo da Max ‘Leo had Max slap he boy’. The u h o his
sen ence gua an ees he u h o a leas wo o he sen ences (wi h which an en ailmen
ela ionship is he e o e es ablished), as illus a ed in (14) and (15) below. The o me is an
addi ional ins ance o he cons uc ion wi h p ende e, whils he la e is ano he FCC in which
he cause o he slapping e en is he subjec Leo:
(14) Max p ese a schia i il agazzo
Max ook a slaps he boy
‘Max slapped he boy’
(15) Leo ece p ende e il agazzo a schia i da Max
Leo made ake he boy a slaps by Max
‘Leo had Max slap he boy’
An en ailmen ela ionship also cha ac e izes (14) and (15), albei in one di ec ion only: (15)
en ails (14), whils (14) does no en ail (15). As sugges ed abo e, he eason is simple: i
compa ed o (14), he FCC in (15) ea u es an ex a pa icipan (and he e o e an addi ional
seman ic ole), i.e. he cause Leo (namely he sen ence subjec , licensed by a e, c . [14]) and
his p ecludes any ecip ocal en ailmen .
4. GENERAL PICTURE, SEMANTIC ROLE EXTRACTION, AND CONCLUDING
REMARKS
The ne wo k o en ailmen s and pa aph ases desc ibed in Sec ion 3 can be ep esen ed
diag amma ically as in Figu e 1:
PRENDERE CONSTRUCTION: INTERACTIONS
OVC FCC
SVC
Figu e 1: Machine- eadable en ailmen s ob ainable wi h he ool NLPy aly
The a ows illus a e he ela ionships which he p ende e cons uc ion es ablishes wi h he SVC
(exempli ied wi h pai (12)-(13)), he FCC (see pai (14)-(15)), and he OVC (see pai s (1)-(6),
(2)-(7), (8)-(9), and (10)-(11)).
The meaning which NLPy aly au oma ically ex ac s is based on a no el ype o seman ic ole,
labelled Cogna e Seman ic Role (CSR, see [6], [7], [9], [10]). Fo example, wi h an OVC
sen ence such as (7) (I sena o i pugnala ono Cesa e), he NLPy aly ool ex ac s he CSRs > he
one who s abs< and > he one who is s abbed< ( hese seman ic oles a e exp essed in I alian).
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These cogna e seman ic oles a e subsequen ly pai ed wi h he subjec and di ec objec ,
espec i ely. The ou come will he e o e be wo- old: (a) ‘ he sena o s a e hose who s ab’, and
(b) ‘Caesa is he who is s abbed’. Sen ence (2) (I sena o i p ese o Cesa e a pugnala e) is
ini ially iden i ied as a p ende e cons uc ion: p ende e is hus igno ed and CSRs ob ain om
he PP ha ing ecou se o he e b which is cogna e o pugnala e ‘s abs’, i.e. pugnala e ‘ o
s ab’. Thus, he same pai ings ob ained om (7) a e also ob ained om (2) and he en ailmen
be ween (2) and (7) becomes machine- eadable, inasmuch as he se o pai ings ex ac ed om
he o me sen ence will be iden ical o ha o he la e . This also holds ue o he ela ionship
be ween he p ende e cons uc ion and he SVC, whils a one-way en ailmen ( hus de oid o a
pa aph ase) ob ains wi h he FCC.
I is wo h no ing ha no app oach which cen e s on he e b as he only possible assigne o
seman ic oles can a ain he abo e-men ioned en ailmen s and pa aph ases. The a ionale o
his is ha , in he p ende e cons uc ion (as well as in he SVC), he e b plays no ole in he
assignmen o cogna e seman ic oles.
REFERENCES
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[7] Mi o, Ignazio Mau o (2022), “Measu ing meaning”, in A ai, K. (ed.), In elligen Compu ing,
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[9] Mi o, Ignazio Mau o (2019), “The ole o cogna e seman ic oles: Machine ansla ion suppo
o suppo e b cons uc ions”, Pape p esen ed a he 13 h In e na ional Con e ence NooJ 2019,
Hammame , Tunisia, June 7-9. A ailable online: (PDF) The ole o cogna e seman ic oles:
Machine ansla ion suppo o suppo e b cons uc ions | Ignazio Mau o Mi o -
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[10] Mi o, Ignazio Mau o (2020), “Na u al Language In e ence in O dina y and Suppo Ve b
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[12] Ha is, Zellig S. (1981), Pape s on Syn ax, H. Hiż (eds.), London, D. Reidel Publishing
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[14] La Fauci, Nunzio & Ignazio M. Mi o (2003), Fa e. Elemen i di sin assi. Pisa, ETS.
Au ho
Ignazio Mau o Mi o (Ph.D. Co nell
Uni e si y) is Associa e P o esso o
Gene al Linguis ics a he Uni e si y o
Pale mo. His cu en wo k encompasses
he a ea o mo phosyn ax, in o ma ion
s uc u e, and de e mine s as in lec ional
mo phemes o he syn ac ic closu e o
noun ph ases unc ioning as a gumen s.
o o
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