@emphasis

Emphasis

Example 1
“John his name is.”

mod ( name, he )
aoj ( John.@emphasis.@entry, name )

Example 2
“このことを知っているのはあなたです。”(It’s you who knows this)

agt ( know.@entry, you.@emphasis )
obj ( know.@entry, matter )
mod ( matter, this )

@entry

Denotes the entry point or main UW of an UNL expression or in a Scope
One UW marked with @entry is essential in an UNL expression or a Scope.

In an UNL expression or a Scope,

• if the original is a sentence or a clause, @entry must be attached to the UW of the main predicate;

• if the original is a phrase, @entry must be attached to the UW of its main word;

• if the original is a compound word, @entry must be attached to the main UW of it.

• if the original is a group of Coordinates, @entry must be attached to the UW of the last word (the right-most word) of the group.

Example 1

“He promised that he would come.”

UNL1
agt:01 ( come.@entry.@intention, he )
obj ( promise.@entry.@past, :01 )
agt ( promise.@entry.@past, he )

UNL2
agt ( come.@intention, he )
obj ( promise.@entry.@past, come.@intention )
agt ( promise.@entry.@past, he )

Explanation
This kind of sentences can be expressed in two ways, use a scope for that-clause as UNL1 shown, or connect “promise” and “come” directly as UNL2 (a plain UNL) shown. In UNL1, two @entry’s are necessary, one is for the scope, other one is for the main sentence. In UNL2, only one @entry is necessary for the main sentence.

Example 2

“Chinese, Japanese and Korean use Chinese characters.”

and:01 ( japanese, chinese:01 )
agt ( use.@entry, :01 )
obj ( use.@entry, character.@pl )
mod ( character.@pl, chinese:02 )

Explanation
and:01 ( korean.@entry, japanese ) and and:01 ( japanese, chinese:01 ) express the scope which consist of coordinates “chinese”, “japanese” and “korean”. In it, @entry is ALWAYS attached to “korean”, the UW of the last word in this group. Another @entry is attached to “use”, the UW of the main predicate of this sentence.

@qfocus

The focused UW of a question
@qfocus is often used with @interrogation together. @interrogation is always attached to the UW of main predicate to indicate the interrogation of a sentence, @qfocus is attached to the UW on which the question is focused. It is possible to omit @qfocus when the focus of a question is not clear.

This attribute is very useful when the UNL expression is used as the input to an Information Retrieval System.

Example 1 : Question on Subject [R.Quirk & S.Greenbaum 3: p650, 14.2]

“Who was born in Swansea?”

obj ( bear.@entry.@past.@interrogative, who.@qfosuc.@topic )
plc ( bear.@entry.@past.@interrogative, Swansea )

Explanation
To this question, the answer will be “DYLAN THOMAS was”.

Example 2 : Question on Predicate [R.Quirk & S.Greenbaum 3: p650, 14.2]

“Dylan Thomas was married in Swansea, wasn’t he?”

obj ( marry.@entry.@past.@qfocus.@interrogative, Dylan Thomas.@topic )
plc ( marry.@entry.@past.@qfocus.@interrogative, Swansea )

Explanation
To this question, the answer will be “No, he was BORN in Swansea”.

Example 3 : Question on Direct Object [R.Quirk & S.Greenbaum 3: p650, 14.2]

“Are you painting the bathroom blue?”

obj ( paint.@entry.@continue.@interrogative, bathroom.@qfocus )
agt ( paint.@entry.@continue.@interrogative, you )
aoj ( bathroom.@qfocus, blue )

Explanation
To this question, the answer will be “No, I’m painting the LIVING-ROOM blue”.

Example 4 : Question on PP [R.Quirk & S.Greenbaum 3: p650, 14.2]

“Who are you working for?”

agt ( work.@entry.@interrogative, you )
pur ( work.@entry.@interrogative, who.@qfocus )

Explanation
To this question, the answer will be “I’m working for UN”.

@theme

Instantiates an object from different class

@title

Title
@title is attached to the main UW of any title of a document, an article and a paragraph. According to the UNL specifications version 2.0, a title with a label like “chapter 1” or any alphabets or numerals will be separated into two sentences of UNL.

Example 1
“5.4 Speaker’s view of Communication”

[W]
“5.4”.@entry
[/W]

And,

mod ( view.@entry.@title, speaker )
mod (view.@entry.@title, communication )

Example 2
“Chapter 4 UNL Examples of Attributes”

mod ( chapter.@entry, 4.@order )

And,

mod ( example.@entry.@pl.@title, UNL )
mod ( example.@entry.@pl.@title, attribute.@pl )

@topic

The topic UW of a sentence
@topic is attached to the topic UW of a sentence. It is possible to omit @topic (1) when the topic is not clear, or (2) in an active sentence. On the other hand, it is essential to attach @topic to the subject of a passive sentence.

Comparison with @emphasis

@emphasis is attached to an UW which expresses the new information of communication, whereas @focus is attached to an UW which expresses a given information of communication in a sentence generally.

Example 1
“He was killed by her.”

agt ( kill.@entry.@past, she )
obj ( kill.@entry.@past, he.@topic )

Example 2
Japanese: 任務は完了した。(The duty has been fulfilled)

obj ( fulfill.@entry.@complete, duty.@topic )