POS tags for 'whatever'

[amir-zeldes]

It seems "whatever" has 4 POS tags in EWT:

• WP (only used when whatever heads an NP)
• WDT (mostly used as a real determiner: "whatever X", but some errors that should probably be WP?)
• UH as an exclamation
• GW for 'goeswith' cases

The wrong WDT cases should be corrected (I see some of these in GUM and ON as well). I'm not sure if we want UH - OntoNotes seems to treat these literally so GUM does as well. Should we use UH for the exclamation? (considering we don't use UH for a dejected 'what?')

[AngledLuffa]

I'm not sure if we want UH - OntoNotes seems to treat these literally so GUM does as well. Should we use UH for the exclamation?

Whatever...

WDT (mostly used as a real determiner: "whatever X", but some errors that should probably be WP?)

An example of the error you have in mind is this, where it's the head of the noun phrase?

# sent_id = weblog-blogspot.com_dakbangla_20050311135387_ENG_20050311_135387-0217
# text = Whatever your political persuasion, the FBI and CIA deserve our support.
1       Whatever        whatever        DET     WDT     PronType=Int    10      advcl   10:advcl        _
2       your    your    PRON    PRP$    Case=Gen|Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 4       nmod:poss       4:nmod:poss     _
3       political       political       ADJ     JJ      Degree=Pos      4       amod    4:amod  _
4       persuasion      persuasion      NOUN    NN      Number=Sing     1       nsubj   1:nsubj SpaceAfter=No

whereas in this case, it is acting as a determiner?

# sent_id = newsgroup-groups.google.com_misc.consumers_a534e32067078b08_ENG_20060116_030800-0120
# text = The dangers implicit in any attack upon that nation, however, seem to significantly offset whatever gains could be made in the so-called "War on Terror."
14      to      to      PART    TO      _       16      mark    16:mark _
15      significantly   significantly   ADV     RB      _       16      advmod  16:advmod       _
16      offset  offset  VERB    VB      VerbForm=Inf    13      xcomp   13:xcomp        _
17      whatever        whatever        DET     WDT     PronType=Int    18      det     18:det  _
18      gains   gain    NOUN    NNS     Number=Plur     16      obj     16:obj  _
19      could   could   AUX     MD      VerbForm=Fin    21      aux     21:aux  _
20      be      be      AUX     VB      VerbForm=Inf    21      aux:pass        21:aux:pass     _
21      made    make    VERB    VBN     Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass     18      acl:relcl       18:acl:relcl    _

then this one seems different from the other two

# sent_id = answers-20111108104350AAp4hGP_ans-0023
# text = If you can find a pet at a shelter, or that a friend needs to get rid of because they're moving or whatever, you might be able to talk your parents into "giving it a good home" where you might not be able to talk them into buying a new pet.
20      because because SCONJ   IN      _       23      mark    23:mark _
21-22   they're _       _       _       _       _       _       _       _
21      they    they    PRON    PRP     Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs      23      nsubj   23:nsubj        _
22      're     be      AUX     VBP     Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin   23      aux     23:aux  _
23      moving  move    VERB    VBG     Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part        17      advcl   17:advcl:because        _
24      or      or      CCONJ   CC      _       25      cc      25:cc   _
25      whatever        whatever        DET     WDT     PronType=Int    9       conj    4:obl:at|9:conj:or      SpaceAfter=No

[amir-zeldes]

An example of the error you have in mind is this, where it's the head of the noun phrase?

Yes, of the three conllu examples in your post, I think only the middle one should be WDT, because it acts as a determiner. The others have typical head deprels.

[nschneid]

The WH-ever pronouns enter into some tricky constructions involving interrogative/relative clauses with particular meanings. I have not yet figured out what to do with these dependent WH cases from #278. See also the "no matter" subsection of the English RC guidelines (still TBD).

Regarding WDT vs. WP, though, the PTB guidelines are clear:

[nschneid]

And: I suspect the 1 UH token is an error.

[AngledLuffa]

I suspect the 1 UH token is an error.

How would you label "Whatever" as a complete sentence, then?

[nschneid]

WP. I am guessing that "boy" in "Oh boy!" and "Dude!" would both be tagged as nouns, and "Amazing!" as an adjective, though they head an utterance with exclamatory meaning.

[amir-zeldes]

Fixed in GUM upstream

[nschneid]

WP. I am guessing that "boy" in "Oh boy!" and "Dude!" would both be tagged as nouns, and "Amazing!" as an adjective, though they head an utterance with exclamatory meaning.

Though I am keeping INTJ as the UPOS at least for now (cf. #429) because I am not sure what features would be appropriate if tagged as PRON.

[nschneid]

Note that the structure of "whatever" adjuncts is still up in the air (are they relative or interrogative?)—related to "no matter" (#376).