home edit page issue tracker

This page pertains to UD version 2.

nmod: nominal modifier

The nmod relation is used for nominal modifiers. They depend on another noun (group “noun dependents”).

nmod is a noun (or noun phrase) functioning as a non-core (oblique) argument or adjunct. This means that it functionally corresponds to an adverbial when it attaches to a verb, adjective or other adverb. But when attaching to a noun, it usually corresponds to a non-agreeing attribute in genitive.

In Russian the nmod relation covers only those possessives that are expressed using the genitive. If a possessive adjective is used, the relation is labeled amod. If a possessive determiner (pronoun) is used, the relation is labeled det.

карта студента \n card of-student
nmod(карта, студента)
nmod(card, of-student)
студенческая карта \n student's card
amod(карта, студенческая)
amod(card, student's)
его карта \n his card
amod(карта, его)
amod(card, his)

Agreeing attribute of a noun

nmod noun phrases attached to nouns are usually in the genitive ru-feat/Case and follow the modified noun. However, there is also a different kind of nmod that precedes the modified noun and agrees with it in case and number. A typical example is a title attached to a name of a person. The relation is similar to the flat relation that links the first and the last name, but it is not labeled flat because the title is not part of the name:

российский президент Владимир Владимирович Путин \n Russian president Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin
amod(президент, российский)
amod(president, Russian)
nmod(Владимир, президент)
nmod(Vladimir, president)
name(Владимир, Путин)
name(Vladimir, Putin)
name(Владимир, Владимирович)
name(Vladimir, Vladimirovich)

Note that the same thing can be also expressed using an apposition. In the case of apposition, the title follows the modified name and is separated by a punctuation symbol:

Владимир Путин , российский президент \n Vladimir Putin , Russian president 
name(Владимир, Путин)
name(Vladimir, Putin)
punct(президент, ,-3)
punct(president, ,-9)
amod(президент, российский)
amod(president, Russian)
appos(Владимир, президент)
appos(Vladimir, president)

nmod in other languages: [bej] [bg] [cop] [cs] [de] [el] [en] [et] [eu] [fi] [fr] [fro] [ga] [gd] [gsw] [gub] [hy] [it] [ja] [ka] [kk] [ky] [no] [pcm] [pt] [qpm] [ro] [ru] [sl] [sv] [swl] [tr] [u] [yue] [zh]