• Noun (and related categories)
• Verb (and related categories)
• Adjective or adverb
• Preposition (including subordinating conjunction)
• Punctuation
• Quantifier
• Wh- word
• Other categories

• List of tags
• Common noun (N, NS)
  • Singular, collective, or plural noun
  • Compass point
  • Unit of measure (DAY, YEAR, POUND, etc.)
  • Adjective as apparent head of NP (THE POOR, THE RICH)
• Possessive or genitive noun (N$, NS$)
  • The dollar tag ($)
• Proper noun (NPR, NPRS, NPR$, NPRS$)
  • General principles
    • Minimize use of NPR
    • Maximize internal structure
    • Foreign name
    • Plural marking
• Common noun or proper noun?
  • Cases by form
    • Bare noun
    • ADJ + N
    • D/PRO$ + N
    • D/PRO$ + N + NPR
    • D/PRO$ + NPR + NPR
    • THE N OF NP
    • N + N
    • Genitive/possessive NP + N
  • Cases by referent
    • Ethnic, ideological, or religious group
    • Ideology or religion
    • Language
    • Named event
    • Office
    • Unique entity
• Pronoun (PRO, PRO$)
  • Possessive pronoun
  • Reflexive pronoun
• Indefinite pronoun MAN (MAN) (Middle English)
• Existential THERE (EX)

Collective nouns like FOLK and PEOPLE are treated differently in the PPCME2 and in the later corpora.

Compass point

In connection with proper nouns (SOUTHERN CROSS), the same principles apply to compass point adjectives as to ordinary adjectives.

Otherwise, compass points are tagged N, regardless of whether they precede another noun.

towards the west/N

the north/N face of the mountain

For the treatment of NORTH, SOUTH, EAST, and WEST as part of proper nouns, see Proper noun, especially the section on N + N compounds.

Unit of measure (DAY, POUND, YEAR, etc.)

With overt -S marking

+te/D mannes/N$ shrifte/N   'the man's shrift'
kinges/NS$ sunes/NS         'kings' sons'
alre/Q kinge/NS$ king/N     'king of all kings'

Without overt -S marking

+te/D sowle/N$ fode/N       'the soul's food'
his/PRO$ sinne/N$ sore/N    'sorrow of his sin'

The $ tag generally appears directly only on nominal and pronominal tags (N(S), NPR(S), ONE(S), OTHER(S), (W)PRO), indicating their relationship with other nouns. However, in the absence of an overt noun to host the possessive marker, the $ tag can appear on NUM$ and Q$, notably in the Middle English ALRE plus superlative construction.

In addition to appearing directly on other tags, the $ tag can also appear alone. It is always used alone for HIS in the JOHN HIS BOOK construction, and it is sometimes so used for the possessive clitic ('S, S, and spelling variants), which postdates the texts in the PPCME2, although it appears occasionally in the edited texts. When the possessive clitic is spelled as a separate word, as it sometimes is, it always receives a tag of its own. When spelled together with the preceding word, it is split off in the parsed corpus if it takes scope over a larger constituent than the word to which it is attached. See Genitive/possessive modifier of N for the parsed structures corresponding to the following examples.

the Lord/N his/$ hat                        ← clitic HIS
the Lord's/N$ hat                           ← clitic with apostrophe
the Lords/N$ hat                            ← clitic without apostrophe
the Lordys/N$ hat                           ← variant spelling

the Lord of Bodmin/NPR his/$ hat            ← clitic HIS
the Lord of Bodmin@/NPR @'s/$ hat           ← clitic with apostrophe
the Lord of Bodmin@/NPR @s/$ hat            ← clitic without apostrophe
the Lord of Bodmin@/NPR @ys/$ hat           ← variant spelling

God/NPR almighty@/ADJ @'s/$ mercy           ← clitic with apostrophe
God/NPR almighty@/ADJ @s/$ mercy            ← clitic without apostrophe

Many inconsistencies and outright errors likely remain with respect to the tagging of proper nouns.

(NP (NPR Gy)
    (PP (P of)
        (NP (NPR Marchia))))

(NP (NPR Berwick)
    (PP (P upon)
        (NP (NPR Tweed))))

(NP (NPR Stratford-upon-Avon))

Systematic exceptions to this principle occur in connection with the following:

• Genitive/possessive NP + N (NEW YEAR'S DAY),
• noun-noun compounds containing offices (KING HENRY), and
• other noun-noun compounds (LONDON BRIDGE).

• Consecutive instances of NPR are not given internal structure. See D/PRO$ + NPR + NPR for examples.

(NP (D the) (NPR West) (NPRS Saxons))

Words that cannot bear plural marking are tagged as adjectives, not as proper nouns. See Groups of people (ENGLISH, FRENCH) and more generally, NPs with elided heads (THE POOR, THE RICH).

Common noun or proper noun?

Bare noun

Bare nouns denoting offices are not proper nouns on their own. See Office for details.

Bare nouns that are names are proper nouns on their own. These include:

• Days of the week
• Groups of people
• Holidays and special days
  • Christmas, Easter, Lammas, Michaelmas, Pentecost, Whitsunday, etc.
• Languages
• Months of the year
• Names of persons (including pagan gods):
  • Elizabeth, Henry, Pericles, Tully, etc.
    Athena, Artemis, Jupiter, Mars, Venus, etc.
• Places
  • Athens, England, London, Paris, Rome, etc.
• Unique entities (including GOD, DEVIL, and their epithets)

In adjective-noun pairs, if the head noun is a name (that is, a proper noun on its own), then the adjective is tagged ADJ (in keeping with the principle of minimizing the use of NPR).

(NP (ADJ Good) (NPR Friday))		day
(NP (ADJ Holy) (NPR Saturday)

(NP (ADJ Bloody) (NPR Mary))		person

(NP (ADJ Great) (NPR Britain))		place
(NP (ADJ New) (NPR Troye))

(NP (ADJ holy) (NPR church))		unique entity

(NP (Q+ADJ almighty) (NPR God)

(NP (NPR God)
    (ADJP (Q+ADJ almighty)))

(NP (NPR Lord)
    (ADJP (Q+ADJ almighty)))

(NP (ADJ holy) (NPR scripture))

(NP (D the) (NPR Holy) (NPR Land))		places
(NP (D the) (NPR Low) (NPRS Countries))
(NP (D the) (NPR New) (NPR Inn))
(NP (D the) (NPR Red) (NPR Sea))

(NP (D the) (NPR Great) (NPR Seal))		unique entities
(NP (D the) (NPR Holy) (NPR Ghost))
(NP (NPR Holy) (NPR Writ))
(NP (D the) (NPR Old) (NPR Testament))
(NP (D the) (NPR Round) (NPR Table))
(NP (D the) (NPR Southern) (NPR Cross))

(NP (D the) (N King))

Specific epithets associated with a specific person do not count as offices. If such an epithet is used without the person's name to refer to that person, it is tagged NPR.

(NP (D the) (NPR Baptist))	← referring to John
(NP (D the) (NPR Conqueror))	← referring to William, etc.
(NP (D the) (NPR Ironside))	← referring to Edmund
(NP (D the) (NPR virgin))	← referring to Mary

By contrast, epithets used with a person's name are treated as appositives (in keeping with the principle of maximizing internal structure).

(NP (NPR John)
    (NP-PRN (N Baptist)))

(NP (NPR Edmund)
    (NP-PRN (N Ironsides)))

(NP (PRO$ our) (NPR Lord) (NPR God))
(NP (PRO$ our) (NPR Lord) (NPR Jesus) (NPR Christ))

In general, in phrases of the type THE N OF NP, the first noun is tagged N. See CITY, SON, TOWER for some special cases.

Nouns within the PP that are not proper nouns on their own are tagged with their ordinary tags.

Note the counterintuitive result in the following cases that no noun is tagged NPR, even though the noun phrase as a whole refers to a named event or special day. This issue awaits resolution.

(NP (D the) (N War)
    (PP (P of)
        (NP (D the) (NS Roses))))

(NP (D +te) (N feste)
    (PP (P of)
        (NP (D +te) (N camel))))

(NP (D +te) (N day)
    (PP (P of)
        (NP (N doom))))

Nouns within the PP are tagged NPR only if they are proper nouns on their own.

(NP (D the) (N feste)
    (PP (P of)
        (NP (NPR Pentecoste))))			← name of holiday

(NP (D the) (N feste)
    (PP (P of)
        (NP (NPR Ascension))))			← named event

(NP (D the) (N tropic)
    (PP (P of)
        (NP (NPR Cancer))))			← unique entity

This is true even in cases where not all of the nouns are proper noun on their own. Such cases are exceptions to the principle of minimizing use of NPR. The order of the nouns is irrelevant (LONDON BRIDGE, MOUNT ZION).

(NP (NPR Lady) (NPR Lisle))		← title etc. exceptionally tagged NPR
(NP (NPR mrs.) (NPR Lisle))
(NP (NPR seynt) (NPR Gregory))
(NP (NPR sire) (NPR Thomas))

(NP (D the) (NPR West) (NPRS Saxons))
(NP (NPR North) (NPR Galys))            ← cf. (NP (ADJ Great) (NPR Britain))

(NP (NPR Mount) (NPR Zion))

(NP (NPR Penteney) (NPR Abbey))
(NP (NPR London) (NPR Bridge))
(NP (NPR London) (NPR town))
(NP (NPR Sussex) (NPR County))

(NP (NPR Easter) (NPR day))
(NP (NPR Lammas) (NPR term))
(NP (NPR Maundy) (NPR Thursday))	← MAUNDY on its own = N

The noun modified by the genitive or possessive NP is exceptionally tagged NPR on a par with the noun-noun cases just discussed.

(NP (NPR$ Lincolns) (NPR Inne))			← INN exceptionally tagged NPR

(NP (NP-POS (NPR New) (NPR$ Year's))
      (NPR day))				← DAY exceptionally tagged NPR

(NP (NP-POS (NPR Seint) (NPR$ Edward))		← NPR$ by function
      (NPR day))					← DAY exceptionally tagged NPR

(NP (D the) (N King))
(NP (D the) (N Pope))
(NP (D the) (ADJ Prime) (N Minister))
(NP (N Lord) (ADJ Chief) (N Justice))

(NP (PRO$ my) (N Lord)
      (NP-PRN (ADJ Chief) (N Justice)))			← NP-PRN because of possessive pronoun

(NP (D the) (N Reverend)
      (NP-PRN (NPR Dr.) (NPR John) (NPR Donne)))	← NP-PRN because of determiner

In conjunction with a name (KING HENRY, LADY LISLE), these nouns are tagged NPR, forming a systematic exception to the principle of minimizing the use of NPR.

(NP (NPR kynge) (NPR Arthure))
(NP (NPR Pope) (NPR John) (NPR Paul))

The same distinction is also made in syntactically more complex cases, notably in ones where the expression denoting the office contains an adjective. When the noun for the office occurs on its own, any adjectives are tagged ADJ (with an accompanying ADJP if postnominal).

(NP (D the) (N Lord) (ADJ Chief) (N Justice))

(NP (N Lord) (ADJ High) (N Admiral))

(NP (D the) (N Attorney)
      (ADJP (ADJ General)))

But when the noun for the office occurs with a name, any adjectives are tagged NPR, and the entire NP is given a flat structure.

(NP (NPR Attorney) (NPR General) (NPR Brown))
(NP (NPR Lord) (NPR Chief) (NPR Justice) (NPR Scrope))
(NP (NPR Lord) (NPR High) (NPR Admiral) (NPR Calvert))

(NP (D the) (NPR Bible))
(NP (NPR Excalibur))
(NP (ADJ Holy) (NPR Scripture))		← SCRIPTURE counts as NPR

In general, book titles are not treated as proper nouns, as this would violate the principle of maximizing internal structure. The apparent exceptions BIBLE and SCRIPTURE are proper nouns on their own.

CHURCH in an institutional sense is tagged NPR.

the catholic church/NPR

the church/NPR of England

Names and epithets of the DEVIL (FIEND, SATAN, UNWIHT, WURSE, etc.) are always tagged NPR.

Names and epithets of the Judeo-Christian GOD (CREATOR, LORD, etc.) are always tagged as proper nouns. This includes the TRINITY, its members (FATHER, SON, HOLY GHOST), and relevant epithets (CHRIST, HEALER, SAVIOR). LADY as an epithet for Mary is tagged NPR. In doubtful cases, the default is N. For examples of the type OUR LORD GOD, see D + NPR + NPR.

(NP (PRO$ Oure) (NPR Father))
(NP (PRO$ ure) (NPR helende))
(NP (PRO$ Oure) (NPR Lady))
(NP (NPR Lord))
(NP (NPR Lord) (NPR Iesu))
(NP (PRO$ Oure) (NPR Lord))
(NP (D the) (NPR Trinity))
(NP (NPR +trumnesse))

ZODIAC and the signs of the zodiac are treated as proper nouns; GEMINI and PISCES are treated as singular.

Pronoun (PRO, PRO$)

In cases of ambiguity, which can arise in connection with mixed gerunds, HER is tagged by default as an ordinary pronoun (PRO) rather than as a possessive pronoun.

I love my/PRO$ cat .

This book is not mine/PRO$ .

The plural MEN also has a pronominal use, but because it is too difficult to distinguish this use from other uses, it is always tagged NS.

Existential THERE (EX)

Existential THERE is tagged EX.

When ambiguous between an existential (EX) and a locative (ADV) reading, THERE is tagged EX by default.

Here/ADV are some pears , and there/ADV are some apples .

There/EX are lots of apples there/ADV .

There/EX are lots of apples .

• List of tags
• Auxiliary vs. main verb (BE, DO, HAVE)
• Participle
  • Present participle for infinitive
• Subjunctive
• Modal (MD)
  • Modal or verb?
  • Infinitive of modal (MD0)
• Infinitive marker (FOR, TO)

When ambiguous between BEP and HVP, the contraction 'S (She's come) is tagged BEP by default.

Nominal uses of the present participle are tagged as nouns.

one meeting/N, many meetings/NS

and she graunted hem with wepynge/N it shold be done rychely

Infinitive of modal

Infinitive marker (FOR, TO)

When ambiguous in infinitival contexts between FOR and P, FOR is tagged FOR.

It is difficult for/FOR me to complete the work .

It is more convenient for/P me for/FOR you to do the work .

For/P me it is difficult to complete the work .

TO is used to tag any form of the infinitive marker (including the northern Middle English forms AT and TIL).

They want to/TO eat dinner now .

+te riht +tidir at/TO cume 'the right to come thither'

+tien entent til/TO understand +tis wrytyng 'thy intent to understand this writing'

Clitic TO (enclitic on FOR or proclitic on a verb) is split off and each component receives its ordinary tag.

and fondede for@/FOR @to/TO slee Iustinianus

&/CONJ/D eadie katerine bigon for@/FOR @te/TO seggen

t@/TO @accept/VB it as his due

t@/TO @aue/HV bounde them up in barrelles

• List of tags
• Comparative adjective or adverb
  • Positive or comparative?
  • EVER THE ADJR/ADVR (see EVER)
  • NEVER THE ADJR/ADVR (see NEVER)
• Superlative adjective or adverb
  • Positive or superlative?
• Adjective as apparent head of NP (THE POOR, THE RICH)
• Compass point adjective (EASTERN, NORTHERN, SOUTHERN, WESTERN)
• Color
• Ordinal number

Departicipial adjectives (INTERESTED, INTERESTING, and the like) are tagged as ADJ rather than as participles (VAG, VAN), as in earlier releases.

In doubtful cases, such cases are tagged VAG or VAN.

a shocking/ADJ revelation; a shocked/ADJ expression 

any living/ADJ creature; any creature now living/VAG

Fused forms with the distribution of PPs (ALIVE, ASLEEP) are not treated as adjectives.

Comparative adjective or adverb

Degree words are treated as comparatives. See AS, SO (degree), ENOUGH, and TOO.

Positive or comparative?

LOWER is tagged ADJ when contrasting with UPPER, and as ADJR when contrasting with HIGHER. For unclear cases, the default is ADJR.

Superlative adjective or adverb

Cases where an ordinal might be expected but without overt ordinal marking are treated as cardinal numbers (NUM).

the .x./NUM of April

• List of tags
• Subordinating conjunction
• Prepositional A- (< IN, ON)
• Preposition with demonstrative (FOR+TAN, FOR+TI, etc.)
• Adverbial particle and preposition
• Preposition ending in -WARD (see -WARD)
• Preposition with R-pronoun (THEREBY, WHEREIN, etc.)

after/P they arrived     ← cf. after/P their arrival

before/P they left       ← cf. before/P their departure

The A HUNTING construction is treated as written.

Items like ALIVE and ASLEEP are tagged P+N and treated as written rather than as unitary adjectives because they are barred from prenominal position.

Preposition with demonstrative (FOR+TAN, FOR+TI, etc.)

after/P +dan/D +de/C here herte leste , ic hem fol+gede

For+di/P+D +dat/C ich nabbe ihafd rihte ileaue

for/P +ti/D +tt/C +tu ne wilnest bute to seo mi wlite . ne speoke bute to me

We ben tau+gt in/P +tat/D +tat/C we seon in suche creatures +te wonder
werkes of vre Creatour

• List of tags
• Dash
• Period
• Quotation mark

List of tags

PUNC	all punctuation

---

PUNC is not on the default "ignore_nodes" list of CorpusSearch and needs to be added, if necessary, to the list by the user (best in a preference file).

Punctuation is attached as high as possible in the tree without regard to where it "belongs" semantically.

Dash

• List of tags
• Genitive/possessive quantifier (see Possessive or genitive noun)

LESS, LEAST and MUCH, MORE, MOST are not on the list above because they are treated somewhat differently in the PPCME2 and the later corpora.

Wh- word

• List of tags
• Wh- adverb (WADV)
  • Compounds with WHERE- (WHEREBY, WHEREWITH, etc.)
• Wh- determiner (WD)
• Wh- pronoun (WPRO, WPRO$)
• Wh- marker in indirect question (WQ)

Wh- words that are used as interjections are tagged with the appropriate tag from the above list (not as INTJ). Their function is indicated at the phrasal level; see Interjection phrase (INTJP).

Wh- adverb (WADV)

How/WADV would you do that ?
  
When/WADV are they planning to arrive ?

They remembered where/WADV to buy the tickets .

the place where/WADV they are going

(WNP (WD what) (NS horses))

(WNP (WNP (WD which) (N prophet))
     (CONJP (CONJ and)
            (NX (N law))))

(WNP (WNP (WNP what))
     (CONJP (CONJ and)
            (WADVP (WADV where))))

(WNP (WPRO what)			← ADJP modifies WPRO
     (ADJP (ADJ else)))

For the treatment of WHAT THE DEVIL and similar expressions, see INTJP.

Otherwise, WHAT immediately preceding a determiner is tagged WD (even though this is arguably not the correct structure).

(WNP (WD what) (D a) (N nightmare))

What/WPRO did you say ?

the bigger one , which/WPRO I showed you yesterday

I know not whether/WPRO of hem is come to court .

There began a new batayle, the whych/WPRO was sore and harde .

The tag for WHOSE is WPRO$.

Whose/WPRO$ is that umbrella ?

by whose/WPRO$ commandment

• List of tags
• Adverbial particle (RP)
• Cardinal number (NUM)
• Complementizer (C)
• Coordinating conjunction (CONJ)
• Determiner (D)
• Focus particle (FP)
• Foreign word (FW)
• Interjection (INTJ)
• Negation (NEG)
• Particle (see Adverbial particle)
• Subordinating conjunction (see Preposition)
• Unknown POS (X)

We know that/C you would like to visit us .

the person that/C you would like to visit

In instances of correlative conjunction, each conjunction is tagged CONJ.

both/CONJ you and/CONJ I

either/CONJ you or/CONJ I

neither/CONJ you nor/CONJ I

ai+der/CONJ +ge/CONJ hodede +ge/CONJ leawede

Demonstratives are always tagged D, whether they precede a noun or not. Note the difference between ordinary determiners and wh- words in this regard.

+Tis/D +tat/C is i-seide in +te comyn table

Foreign names and certain common Latin liturgical texts are treated as proper nouns. But foreign language titles of books are tagged FW.

a passage from Thomas/NPR Mann's/NPR$ Zauberberg/FW

In the Alcoranum/FW it is written

in the prologue on Regum/FW

In foreign language sequences, everything (words, symbols, numbers, etc.) except punctuation is labeled FW.

libro/FW 5=o=/FW ,/PUNC capitulo/FW 24=o=/FW

Items like FORSOOTH, MARY (and spelling variants), and various wh- words (WHAT, WHY) are not tagged as INTJ, even when used as interjections, but their function can be indicated at the phrasal level. See Interjection phrase (INTJP) for examples.

NO is tagged INTJ when the negative equivalent of YES.

PRAY (and variants like PRITHEE) is never tagged INTJ.

Negation (NEG)

You should not/NEG be late for the lecture .

non senne ne/NEG mai bien idon bute +durh unhersumnesse

me/MAN ne/NEG net me/PRO noht/NEG te forsweri+gen

wheither/WQ he/PRO wol/MD doon/DO or/CONJ no/NEG

wheither it oghte nedes be doon or noon/NEG

Proclitic negation on verbs and modals in Middle English is split, as is enclitic negation in later stages of English.

I n@/NEG @el/MD neuere go hennys .

We can@/MD @not/NEG help them .

We ca@/MD @n't/NEG help them .

When overtly marked for plural (DOZENS, SCORES, HUNDREDS, THOUSANDS, MILLIONS, etc.), number words are tagged NS. Often, such forms take PP complements (nine millions of subjects), which clearly shows the status of the number word as a nominal head. In a very few cases, where a plural number word is immediately followed by another number word and would in modern usage be replaced by the singular (as in nine millions three-hundred thousand), the number word is tagged as NUM.

Singular number words (DOZEN, SCORE, and sometimes HUNDRED, THOUSAND, MILLION) are treated as N when followed by a PP complement.

Numbers in foreign language sequences are treated as foreign words.

Otherwise, unless used as list markers (LS), all cardinal numbers except for ONE are tagged NUM, whether spelled out, in numeral form, or in some combination of the two. In the lemmatized corpora, all numbers are represented as single orthographic words; see the lemmatization guidelines for details.

22/NUM parts

xxij./NUM parts

twenty-two/NUM parts

two_and_twenty/NUM parts

xxx=ti=/NUM parts

xxx_c/NUM parts

TWICE and THRICE are tagged NUM, as is ONCE when analogous in meaning.

Twice/NUM , we ran out of cash . 

The horse turned around thrice/NUM .

Cases where an ordinal might be expected but without overt ordinal marking are treated as cardinal number and tagged NUM.

the ij./NUM day

the .ix./NUM chapter

Items from the above list that modify a prepositional phrase continue to be tagged as particles as long as they are spelled as separate words (notably IN TO and UP ON, but not ADOWN, APON, INTO, UNTO, or UPON).

kneeling down/RP upon/P his knees

out/RP of/P the castle down/RP to/P the earth

Some items from the above list can combine with -WARD. See -WARD for details.

Unknown POS (X)

As mentioned earlier, X is also used to tag foreign abbreviations with an OED entry, but without an obvious POS tag in English (notably, ETC.).