WEB DIAGRAM GLOSSARY
Abbreviation
Meaning
Location
(form or function)
Definition
N
Noun
Form
Person, place, thing, or idea
NP
Noun phrase
Form
Consists of pronouns or nouns and their modifiers
V
Verb
Form
Action or state of being
VP
Verb phrase
Form
That portion of the sentence that is not the subject
VC
Verb complex
Form
Consists of the verb and any auxiliaries that may
accompany it
A
Adjective
Form
Word that describes a noun
AP
Adjective phrase
Form
Phrase (constituent) whose head is an adjective
Adjl
Adjectival
Function
Any grammatical constituent that modifies a noun
Adv
Adverb
Form
Modifies a verb, adjective, or adverb
AdvP
Adverb phrase
Form
Phrase whose head is an adverb
Advl
Adverbial
Function
Modifies something other than a noun
Art
Article
Form
A, an, the, some, any
P
Preposition
Form
Links and relates a noun to another word in the sentence
(ex. The cat ran ________the box.) (+of)
PP
Prepositional
phrase
Form
Phrase (constituent) whose head is a preposition
Su
Subject
Function
The NP that ordinarily comes before the VC; usually the
topic of the sentence; an argument of the Pred
Mod
Modifying
Function
Limits the possibilities of the head in a phrase
Aux
Auxiliary
Form or function
A verb found in the VC together with the verbal Pred
DO
Direct object
Function
A noun or NP that names the goal or the receiver of the
action of the verb
IO
Indirect object
Function
Expresses the animate entity to or for whom an action is
performed or addressed (the receiver of the action of
the direct object)
S
Sentence
Form
Contains NP + VP
Cop
Copula
Function
Exists to show subject-verb agreement, number, & tense
(most common: forms of “be”)
OO
Oblique object
Function
An argument of the predicator that is coded as a PP but
is not an IO
Pred
Predicator
Function
Relates arguments to each other and the external world
Pro
Pronoun
Form
Takes the place of a noun (ex. He, she, it, they, etc.)
Conj
Conjunction
Form
For, and, nor, but, or, yet, so
Dem
Demonstrative
Form
Used to identify proximity (nearness) of an object
(“t” words: this, that, these, those)
Det
Determiner
Function
Qualifies or restricts a noun
Assoc
Associative
Function
Traditionally known as “possessive” case
Quant
Quantifier
Form or Function
Indicates how many entities or how much of a substance
is being referred to
Inf
Infinitive
Form
A non-finite verbal form; the “citation” form of the verb
(the form found in dictionaries)
Ptv
Partitive
Function
The only means of quantifying mass nouns; consists of
a measure noun, preceded by an article and/or quantifier
and a prepositional phrase with the preposition “of”