obl: oblique nominal
The obl relation is used for a nominal dependent of a verbal, adjectival or adverbial expression or a nominal predication, with the nominal dependent functioning as a non-core (oblique) argument or modifier. (A nominal is any expression headed by a word tagged NOUN, PRON or PROPN, or some elliptical version of such an expression.)
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:
They will arrive on Friday
obl(arrive, Friday)
case(Friday, on)
Refer to our brochure for more information
obl(Refer, brochure)
case(brochure, to)
people afraid/ADJ of sharks
amod(people, afraid)
obl(afraid, sharks)
case(sharks, of)
Unfortunately/ADV for you , all the food is gone
advmod(gone, Unfortunately)
obl(Unfortunately, you)
case(you, for)
Note that, in English, obl is used for prepositional phrases even in constructions like the prepositional dative (contrast the double object construction with iobj):
give the children the toys
obj(give, toys)
iobj(give, children)
give the toys to the children
obj(give, toys)
obl(give, children)
case(children, to)
obl is also used for the agent of a passive verb. Some treebanks distinguish the subtype obl:agent:
The cat was chased by the dog
nsubj:pass(chased, cat)
obl:agent(chased, dog)
case(dog, by)
Plain obl requires a preposition in English. For prepositionless nominals functioning adverbially, see obl:unmarked.
The obl relation contrasts with the nmod relation when the head is a nominal. Compare:
we prefer lilies to daisies
obl(prefer-2, daisies-5)
a preference for lilies
nmod(preference-2, lilies-4)
obl in other languages: [bg] [bm] [cop] [cs] [de] [el] [en] [ess] [fr] [fro] [ga] [gd] [gsw] [gub] [hbo] [hy] [it] [ja] [ka] [ky] [naq] [no] [pcm] [pt] [qpm] [ru] [sl] [ssp] [sv] [swl] [tr] [u] [uz] [vi] [xcl] [yue] [zh]