compound:vo: verb-object compound
The compound:vo relation is used for verb-object compounds where the combination is semantically one unit but syntactically separate. These are known as 離合詞 lei4hap6ci4 “separable words” in Chinese linguistics.
These compounds run the range of:
- (i) light verb constructions where the noun carries more semantic weight than the verb
- e.g., 打␣電話 / daa2-din6waa2 hit-telephone “make a phone call”
- (equivalents of these in other languages may be labeled with
compound:lvc)
- (ii) neither the verb or noun can be considered the semantic head (i.e., an exocentric compound)
- e.g., 讀␣書 / duk6-syu1 read-book “study”
- (iii) situations where the verb carries the semantic weight over a relatively empty noun or the noun is semantically redundant
- e.g., 瞓␣覺 / fan3-gaau3 sleep(verb)-sleep(noun) “sleep”
- in the example, the noun 覺 no longer has a modern lexical usage independently and the verb 睡 can be used on its own to convey the same meaning
All of the above cases have the same syntactic distribution, where the object behaves like a direct object of the verb. Verb-object compounds never take another object as direct object, and the object can be separated from the verb as in regular non-compound situations.
For example, aspect markers as well as adverbials of duration and frequency, when present, come in between:
# visual-style 1 5 compound:vo color:blue
# visual-style 1 bgColor:blue
# visual-style 1 fgColor:white
# visual-style 5 bgColor:blue
# visual-style 5 fgColor:white
1 打 _ VERB _ _ 0 root _ hit
2 咗 _ AUX _ _ 1 aux _ PERF
3 幾 _ DET _ _ 4 det _ several
4 次 _ NOUN _ _ 1 advmod:df _ CL:times
5 針 _ NOUN _ _ 1 compound:vo _ needle
1 "have _ _ _ _ 0 _ _ _
2 gotten/given _ _ _ _ 0 _ _ _
3 an _ _ _ _ 0 _ _ _
4 injection _ _ _ _ 0 _ _ _
5 several _ _ _ _ 0 _ _ _
6 times" _ _ _ _ 0 _ _ _
When undergoing verb-verb compounding (see compound:vv), it is the verb in the verb-object compound that undergoes the compounding, rather than the entire verb-object unit, resulting in a VVO order instead of a VOV order:
# visual-style 2 4 compound:vo color:blue
# visual-style 2 bgColor:blue
# visual-style 2 fgColor:white
# visual-style 4 bgColor:blue
# visual-style 4 fgColor:white
1 我 _ PRON _ _ 2 nsubj _ 1SG
2 讀 _ VERB _ _ 0 root _ read
3 完 _ VERB _ _ 2 compound:vv _ finish
4 書 _ NOUN _ _ 2 compound:vo _ book
5 嘑 _ PART _ _ 2 discourse:sp _ SP
1 "I've _ _ _ _ 0 _ _ _
2 finished _ _ _ _ 0 _ _ _
3 studying." _ _ _ _ 0 _ _ _
Additionally, the object in a verb-object compound may be modified (by an adjective or possessive), and also fronted to topic position (in which case the object is linked to the verb as a dislocated:vo dependent):
# visual-style 5 3 dislocated:vo color:blue
# visual-style 3 bgColor:blue
# visual-style 3 fgColor:white
# visual-style 5 bgColor:blue
# visual-style 5 fgColor:white
1 你 _ PRON _ _ 3 nmod _ 2SG
2 嘅 _ PART _ _ 1 case _ GEN
3 電話 _ NOUN _ _ 5 dislocated:vo _ phone
4 點 _ ADV _ _ 5 advmod _ how
5 打 _ VERB _ _ 7 advcl _ hit
6 都 _ ADV _ _ 7 advmod _ still
7 冇 _ VERB _ _ 0 root _ not-exist
8 人 _ NOUN _ _ 7 obj _ people
9 接 _ VERB _ _ 8 acl _ receive
1 "You're _ _ _ _ 0 _ _ _
2 phone, _ _ _ _ 0 _ _ _
3 no _ _ _ _ 0 _ _ _
4 matter _ _ _ _ 0 _ _ _
5 how _ _ _ _ 0 _ _ _
6 one _ _ _ _ 0 _ _ _
7 calls _ _ _ _ 0 _ _ _
8 it, _ _ _ _ 0 _ _ _
9 nobody _ _ _ _ 0 _ _ _
10 picks _ _ _ _ 0 _ _ _
11 it _ _ _ _ 0 _ _ _
12 up." _ _ _ _ 0 _ _ _
Note that when both the verb and the object are monosyllabic and they are adjacent without intervening material, they are treated as a single word in the tokenization/word segmentation stage.
compound:vo in other languages: [yue] [zh]