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This page pertains to UD version 2.

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 líhécí “separable words” in Chinese linguistics.

These compounds run the range of:

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	了	_	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	了	_	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	的	_	PART	_	_	1	case	_	GEN
3	電話	_	NOUN	_	_	5	dislocated:vo	_	phone
4	怎麼	_	ADV	_	_	5	advmod	_	how
5	打	_	VERB	_	_	7	advcl	_	hit
6	都	_	ADV	_	_	7	advmod	_	still
7	沒	_	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]