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obl: oblique nominal

The obl relation is used for a nominal (noun, pronoun, noun phrase) functioning as a non-core (oblique) argument or adjunct. This means that it functionally corresponds to an adverbial attaching to a verb, adjective or adverb.

In English, obl provides a uniform analysis for prepositionally marked nominals functioning adverbially, i.e. attaching at the level of a clause, adjective phrase, or adverb phrase (whether as argument or adjunct). The preposition attaches as case within the nominal:

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input
    
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They will arrive on Friday
obl(arrive, Friday)
case(Friday, on)
{
    "text": "They will arrive on Friday ",
    "entities": [
        [ "embedded-1-T1", "token", [ [ 0, 4 ] ] ],
        [ "embedded-1-T2", "token", [ [ 5, 9 ] ] ],
        [ "embedded-1-T3", "token", [ [ 10, 16 ] ] ],
        [ "embedded-1-T4", "token", [ [ 17, 19 ] ] ],
        [ "embedded-1-T5", "token", [ [ 20, 26 ] ] ]
    ],
    "relations": [
        [ "embedded-1-R1", "obl", [ [ "arg1", "embedded-1-T3" ], [ "arg2", "embedded-1-T5" ] ] ],
        [ "embedded-1-R2", "case", [ [ "arg1", "embedded-1-T5" ], [ "arg2", "embedded-1-T4" ] ] ]
    ],
    "attributes": [],
    "error": false,
    "sentlabels": [ "1" ]
}

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info
  
Refer to our brochure for more information
obl(Refer, brochure)
case(brochure, to)
{
    "text": "Refer to our brochure for more information ",
    "entities": [
        [ "embedded-2-T1", "token", [ [ 0, 5 ] ] ],
        [ "embedded-2-T2", "token", [ [ 6, 8 ] ] ],
        [ "embedded-2-T3", "token", [ [ 9, 12 ] ] ],
        [ "embedded-2-T4", "token", [ [ 13, 21 ] ] ],
        [ "embedded-2-T5", "token", [ [ 22, 25 ] ] ],
        [ "embedded-2-T6", "token", [ [ 26, 30 ] ] ],
        [ "embedded-2-T7", "token", [ [ 31, 42 ] ] ]
    ],
    "relations": [
        [ "embedded-2-R1", "obl", [ [ "arg1", "embedded-2-T1" ], [ "arg2", "embedded-2-T4" ] ] ],
        [ "embedded-2-R2", "case", [ [ "arg1", "embedded-2-T4" ], [ "arg2", "embedded-2-T2" ] ] ]
    ],
    "attributes": [],
    "error": false,
    "sentlabels": [ "2" ]
}

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people afraid/ADJ of sharks
amod(people, afraid)
obl(afraid, sharks)
case(sharks, of)
{
    "text": "people afraid of sharks ",
    "entities": [
        [ "embedded-3-T1", "token", [ [ 0, 6 ] ] ],
        [ "embedded-3-T2", "ADJ", [ [ 7, 13 ] ] ],
        [ "embedded-3-T3", "token", [ [ 14, 16 ] ] ],
        [ "embedded-3-T4", "token", [ [ 17, 23 ] ] ]
    ],
    "relations": [
        [ "embedded-3-R1", "amod", [ [ "arg1", "embedded-3-T1" ], [ "arg2", "embedded-3-T2" ] ] ],
        [ "embedded-3-R2", "obl", [ [ "arg1", "embedded-3-T2" ], [ "arg2", "embedded-3-T4" ] ] ],
        [ "embedded-3-R3", "case", [ [ "arg1", "embedded-3-T4" ], [ "arg2", "embedded-3-T3" ] ] ]
    ],
    "attributes": [],
    "error": false,
    "sentlabels": [ "3" ]
}

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Unfortunately/ADV for you , all the food is gone
advmod(gone, Unfortunately)
obl(Unfortunately, you)
case(you, for)
{
    "text": "Unfortunately for you , all the food is gone ",
    "entities": [
        [ "embedded-4-T1", "ADV", [ [ 0, 13 ] ] ],
        [ "embedded-4-T2", "token", [ [ 14, 17 ] ] ],
        [ "embedded-4-T3", "token", [ [ 18, 21 ] ] ],
        [ "embedded-4-T4", "token", [ [ 22, 23 ] ] ],
        [ "embedded-4-T5", "token", [ [ 24, 27 ] ] ],
        [ "embedded-4-T6", "token", [ [ 28, 31 ] ] ],
        [ "embedded-4-T7", "token", [ [ 32, 36 ] ] ],
        [ "embedded-4-T8", "token", [ [ 37, 39 ] ] ],
        [ "embedded-4-T9", "token", [ [ 40, 44 ] ] ]
    ],
    "relations": [
        [ "embedded-4-R1", "advmod", [ [ "arg1", "embedded-4-T9" ], [ "arg2", "embedded-4-T1" ] ] ],
        [ "embedded-4-R2", "obl", [ [ "arg1", "embedded-4-T1" ], [ "arg2", "embedded-4-T3" ] ] ],
        [ "embedded-4-R3", "case", [ [ "arg1", "embedded-4-T3" ], [ "arg2", "embedded-4-T2" ] ] ]
    ],
    "attributes": [],
    "error": false,
    "sentlabels": [ "4" ]
}

This stands in contrast with nmod for nominals functioning as adnominal dependents.

Note that, in English, obl is used for prepositional phrases even in constructions like the prepositional dative (contrast the double object construction with iobj):

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give the children the toys
obj(give, toys)
iobj(give, children)
{
    "text": "give the children the toys ",
    "entities": [
        [ "embedded-5-T1", "token", [ [ 0, 4 ] ] ],
        [ "embedded-5-T2", "token", [ [ 5, 8 ] ] ],
        [ "embedded-5-T3", "token", [ [ 9, 17 ] ] ],
        [ "embedded-5-T4", "token", [ [ 18, 21 ] ] ],
        [ "embedded-5-T5", "token", [ [ 22, 26 ] ] ]
    ],
    "relations": [
        [ "embedded-5-R1", "obj", [ [ "arg1", "embedded-5-T1" ], [ "arg2", "embedded-5-T5" ] ] ],
        [ "embedded-5-R2", "iobj", [ [ "arg1", "embedded-5-T1" ], [ "arg2", "embedded-5-T3" ] ] ]
    ],
    "attributes": [],
    "error": false,
    "sentlabels": [ "5" ]
}

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input
    
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info
  
give the toys to the children
obj(give, toys)
obl(give, children)
case(children, to)
{
    "text": "give the toys to the children ",
    "entities": [
        [ "embedded-6-T1", "token", [ [ 0, 4 ] ] ],
        [ "embedded-6-T2", "token", [ [ 5, 8 ] ] ],
        [ "embedded-6-T3", "token", [ [ 9, 13 ] ] ],
        [ "embedded-6-T4", "token", [ [ 14, 16 ] ] ],
        [ "embedded-6-T5", "token", [ [ 17, 20 ] ] ],
        [ "embedded-6-T6", "token", [ [ 21, 29 ] ] ]
    ],
    "relations": [
        [ "embedded-6-R1", "obj", [ [ "arg1", "embedded-6-T1" ], [ "arg2", "embedded-6-T3" ] ] ],
        [ "embedded-6-R2", "obl", [ [ "arg1", "embedded-6-T1" ], [ "arg2", "embedded-6-T6" ] ] ],
        [ "embedded-6-R3", "case", [ [ "arg1", "embedded-6-T6" ], [ "arg2", "embedded-6-T4" ] ] ]
    ],
    "attributes": [],
    "error": false,
    "sentlabels": [ "6" ]
}

obl is also used for the agent of a passive verb. Some treebanks distinguish the subtype obl:agent:

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The cat was chased by the dog
nsubj:pass(chased, cat)
obl:agent(chased, dog)
case(dog, by)
{
    "text": "The cat was chased by the dog ",
    "entities": [
        [ "embedded-7-T1", "token", [ [ 0, 3 ] ] ],
        [ "embedded-7-T2", "token", [ [ 4, 7 ] ] ],
        [ "embedded-7-T3", "token", [ [ 8, 11 ] ] ],
        [ "embedded-7-T4", "token", [ [ 12, 18 ] ] ],
        [ "embedded-7-T5", "token", [ [ 19, 21 ] ] ],
        [ "embedded-7-T6", "token", [ [ 22, 25 ] ] ],
        [ "embedded-7-T7", "token", [ [ 26, 29 ] ] ]
    ],
    "relations": [
        [ "embedded-7-R1", "nsubj:pass", [ [ "arg1", "embedded-7-T4" ], [ "arg2", "embedded-7-T2" ] ] ],
        [ "embedded-7-R2", "obl:agent", [ [ "arg1", "embedded-7-T4" ], [ "arg2", "embedded-7-T7" ] ] ],
        [ "embedded-7-R3", "case", [ [ "arg1", "embedded-7-T7" ], [ "arg2", "embedded-7-T5" ] ] ]
    ],
    "attributes": [],
    "error": false,
    "sentlabels": [ "7" ]
}

Plain obl requires a preposition in English. For prepositionless nominals functioning adverbially, see obl:unmarked.

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obl in other languages: [bg] [bm] [cop] [cs] [de] [el] [en] [ess] [fr] [fro] [ga] [gd] [gsw] [gub] [hy] [it] [ja] [ka] [ky] [no] [pcm] [pt] [qpm] [ru] [sl] [ssp] [sv] [swl] [tr] [u] [uz] [vi] [xcl] [yue] [zh]

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