A tagset is a list of part-of-speech tags (POS tags for short), i.e. labels used to indicate the part of speech and sometimes also other grammatical categories (case, tense etc.) of each token in a text corpus.

Afrikaans part-of-speech tagset

This Afrikaans part-of-speech tagset is used in Afrikaans corpora annotated by one of two taggers:

  • the NCHLT Tagger (derived from HunPOS), developed at North-West University (NWU) in Potchefstroom, South Africa
  • Stanza, trained on the UD Afrikaans AfriBooms treebank

Both taggers use the same tagset, developed by Pilon (2005). Stanza’s training data comes from the same NCHLT corpora as the NCHLT Tagger.

Differences between the taggers. The tables below list the tags produced by the NCHLT Tagger. Stanza uses the same tags but can also produce tags not listed here:

  • Less specific tags, where some positions are left out, e.g. PD or PDHE instead of PDHENP (third person masculine personal subject pronoun).
  • More specific punctuation tags, e.g. ZEL/ZER and ZML/ZMR, which distinguish left and right variants of ZE and ZM.
  • A small number of other tags, e.g. LH, SPS, US, or tags with repeated positions such as PDEEPP.

Because of this, exact-match queries such as [tag="PDHENP"] may miss some tokens in Stanza-tagged corpora. To find all tokens of a category, use the regular expressions from the basic tagset summary, e.g. [tag="PD.*"] for all third-person pronouns. You can check which tagger was used for a corpus on its corpus info page.

Afrikaans corpora

available in Sketch Engine

about Sketch Engine

An Example of a tag in the CQL concordance search box: [tag="NSE"] finds all common singular nouns in base form, e.g. lid, dag, diens, … (note: please make sure that you use straight double quotation marks)

Basic tagset summary

Description Part-of-speech tag
adjective A.*|VVH.*
adverb B.*
conjunction K.
article L.
noun N.*
pronoun P.*
miscellaneous R.*
preposition SVS
particle UP.
numeral T.*
unique U[DEX].*
verb V.*
interjection W
punctuation Z.*

Full tagset summary

Description POS tag 1st slot 2nd slot 3rd slot 4th slot 5th slot 6th slot Example(s)
common noun NSE noun common singular base form     stoel
common noun, plural NSM noun common plural base form     stoele
common noun, diminutive NSED noun common singular diminutive     stoeltjie
common noun, plural, diminutive NSMD noun common plural diminutive     stoeltjies
proper noun NEE noun proper singular base form     Koos
proper noun, plural NEM noun proper plural base form     Kose
proper noun, diminutive NEED noun proper singular diminutive     Kosie
proper noun, plural, diminutive NEMD noun proper plural diminutive     Kosies
mass noun NM noun mass         goud
collective noun NVE noun collective singular base form     trop
collective noun, plural NVM noun collective plural base form     troppe
collective noun, diminutive NVED noun collective singular diminutive     troppie
collective noun, plural, diminutive NVMD noun collective plural diminutive     troppies
measure noun NME noun measure singular base form     teelepel
measure noun, plural NMM noun measure plural base form     teelepels
measure noun, diminutive NMED noun measure singular diminutive     teelepeltjie
measure noun, plural, diminutive NMMD noun measure plural diminutive     teelepeltjies
abstract noun NA noun abstract         liefde
separable transitive verb VTHSG verb unmarked main separable transitive   Jy moet opskryf wat ek sê
inseparable transitive verb VTHOG verb unmarked main inseparable transitive   Jy moet die brief pos
participle of inseparable transitive verb VVHOG verb marked main inseparable transitive   Jy het die brief gepos
separable intransitive verb VTHSO verb unmarked main separable intransitive   Ek wil wegloop
inseparable intransitive verb VTHOO verb unmarked main inseparable intransitive   Die kind eet
participle of inseparable intransitive verb VVHOO verb marked main inseparable intransitive   Sy het weggeloop/geëet
copula VTHOK verb unmarked main inseparable copular   Ek is moeg
past tense copula VVHOK verb marked main inseparable copular   Ek was moeg
prepositional verb VTHOV verb unmarked main inseparable prepositional   Sy hou van wortelsap
participle of prepositional verb VVHOV verb marked main inseparable prepositional   Sy het van wortelsap gehou
modal auxiliary VTUOM verb present auxiliary inseparable modality   Jy kan my help
past tense of modal auxiliary VVUOM verb past auxiliary inseparable modality   Jy kon my help
past tense auxiliary VUOT verb   auxiliary inseparable temporal   Ek sal droom
linking verb VTUOA verb present auxiliary inseparable aspect   Ek help haar leer
past tense of linking verb VVUOA verb past auxiliary inseparable aspect   Ek het gehelp leer
passive voice auxiliary VTUOP verb present auxiliary inseparable voice   Daar word gedrink
past tense of passive voice auxiliary VVUOP verb past auxiliary inseparable voice   Daar is gedrink
attributive adjective ASA adjective declarative attributive       lelike meisie
comparative form of attributive adjective AVA adjective comparative attributive       leliker meisie
superlative form of attributive adjective AOA adjective superlative attributive       lelikste meisie
predicative adjective ASP adjective declarative predicative       die meisie is lelik
comparative form of predicative adjective AVP adjective comparative predicative       hierdie meisie is leliker
superlative form of predicative adjective AOP adjective superlative predicative       hierdie een is die lelikste
demonstrative pronoun PA pronoun         demonstrative hierdie
indefinite pronoun PO pronoun         indefinite niemand
first person possessive pronoun PEEB pronoun first   singular   possessive myne; myns insiens
second person possessive pronoun PTEB pronoun second   singular   possessive joune; jous insiens
third person masculine possessive pronoun PDHEB pronoun third masculine singular   possessive syne
third person feminine possessive pronoun PDVEB pronoun third feminine singular   possessive hare
first person possessive pronoun plural PEMB pronoun first   plural   possessive dit is ons boek; onses insiens
second person possessive pronoun plural PTMB pronoun second   plural   possessive dit is julle boek
third person masculine possessive pronoun plural PDMB pronoun third   plural   possessive dit is hulle boek
interrogative pronoun PV pronoun         interrogative wie
first person reflexive pronoun PEEW pronoun first   singular   reflexive ek sny myself
second person reflexive pronoun PTEW pronoun second   singular   reflexive jy sny jouself
third person masculine reflexive pronoun PDHEW pronoun third masculine singular   reflexive hy sny homself
third person feminine reflexive pronoun PDVEW pronoun third feminine singular   reflexive sy sny haarself
third person neutral reflexive pronoun PDOEW pronoun third neuter singular   reflexive dit hou sigself besig met…
first person reflexive pronoun plural PEMW pronoun first   plural   reflexive ons sny onsself
second person reflexive pronoun plural PTMW pronoun second   plural   reflexive julle sny julleself
third person masculine reflexive pronoun plural PDMW pronoun third   plural   reflexive hulle sny hulleself
first person personal subject pronoun PEENP pronoun first   singular unmarked personal ek slaap
second person personal subject pronoun PTENP pronoun second   singular unmarked personal jy slaap
third person masculine personal subject pronoun PDHENP pronoun third masculine singular unmarked personal hy slaap
third person feminine personal subject pronoun PDVENP pronoun third feminine singular unmarked personal sy slaap
third person neutral personal subject pronoun PDOENP pronoun third neuter singular unmarked personal dit slaap
first person personal pronoun, plural PEMP pronoun first   plural   personal ons slaap
second person personal pronoun, plural PTMP pronoun second   plural   personal julle slaap
third person masculine personal pronoun, plural PDMP pronoun third   plural   personal hulle slaap
first person personal object pronoun PEEDP pronoun first   singular marked personal jy sien my
second person personal object pronoun PTEDP pronoun second   singular marked personal ek sien jou
third person masculine personal object pronoun PDHEDP pronoun third masculine singular marked personal ek sien hom
third person feminine personal object pronoun PDVEDP pronoun third feminine singular marked personal sy sien haar
reciprocal pronoun PW pronoun         reciprocal ons help mekaar
relative pronoun PB pronoun         relative die man wat daar loop
definite article LB article definite         die (der, des, den, ter, ten, ‘t)
indefinite article LO article indefinite         ʼn
declarative form of adverb BS adverb declarative       baie
comparative form of adverb BV adverb comparative       sy skryf leliker as hy
superlative form of adverb BO adverb superlative       sy skryf die lelikste
preposition SVS preposition           op (op die stoep)
coordinating conjunction KN conjunction coordinating         en
subordinating conjunction KO conjunction subordinating         aangesien
cardinal numeral functioning as adjective THAB numeral main adjective definite     twee (twee meisies)
cardinal numeral functioning as pronoun THPB numeral main pronoun definite     twee (daar was net twee)
cardinal numeral functioning as noun THNB numeral main noun definite     twee (twee is beter)
cardinal numeral functioning as adverb THBB numeral main adverb definite     twee (twee honderd)
indefinite cardinal numeral functioning as adjective THAO numeral main adjective indefinite     horde
indefinite cardinal numeral functioning as pronoun THPO numeral main pronoun indefinite     hordes
indefinite cardinal numeral functioning as adverb THBO numeral main adverb indefinite     meer (meer opwindend)
ordinal numeral functioning as adjective TRAB numeral ordinal adjective definite     eerste
ordinal numeral functioning as pronoun TRPB numeral ordinal pronoun definite     eerstes
ordinal numeral functioning as adverb TRBB numeral ordinal adverb definite     eerstens
indefinite ordinal numeral functioning as pronoun TRPO numeral ordinal pronoun indefinite     laastes
indefinite ordinal numeral functioning as adjective TRAO numeral ordinal adjective indefinite     soveelste
indefinite ordinal numeral functioning as adverb TRBO numeral ordinal adverb indefinite     laastens
interjection W interjection           Eina!
contraction form UDS unique contraction         dis baie oulik
enclitic form UE unique enclitic form         daar’s
existential “daar” (there) UXD unique existential “daar”       daar (Daar word beweer dat…)
linking particle UPE unique particle linking       en (Hy sit en slaap)
genitive particle UPS unique particle genitive       se; van (Piet se boek; die boek van Piet)
similative particle UPV unique particle similative       so; soos; nes (vet soos ‘n vark)
negative particle UPO unique particle negative       nie (Ek ken nie die antwoord nie)
partitive particle UPD unique particle partitive       van (een/twee/’n klomp van die studente)
relative particle UPB unique particle relative       so/wat (So/Wat ‘n mooi dag!)
comparative particle UPG unique particle comparative       te (Hier is te veel mense)
infinitive particle UPI unique particle infinitive       te (besig om te werk; iets te ete/drinke/lese)
verbal particle UPW unique particle verbal       oor; in; op; ens. (skryf dit teen die bord op)
other language RV miscellaneous foreign word         facto
formula RF miscellaneous formula         a+b
symbol RS miscellaneous symbol         %
acronym RK miscellaneous acronym         ABSA
abbreviation RA miscellaneous abbreviation         mv
initialism RL miscellaneous initialism         AA
unclassified RO miscellaneous unclassified         ???
prefix RPF miscellaneous prefix         on (dit is (on)waarskynlik)
suffix RSF miscellaneous suffix         e (die moord(e) is gepleeg deur)
morpheme RWD miscellaneous morpheme         fakulteits- (op die fakulteits- en universiteitsraad)
punctuation at sentence end ZE punctuation end of sentence         . ! ?
punctuation in middle of sentence ZM punctuation middle of sentence         , : ;
left parentheses ZPL punctuation parenthesis left       ( [ { “
right parentheses ZPR punctuation parenthesis right       ) ] } ”

Bibliography

The tagset was developed as part of an MA study.

Pilon, S. 2005. Outomatiese Afrikaanse woordsoortetikettering. MA Dissertation, North-West University, Potchefstroom.

Visual and updated information on POS categories in Afrikaans is maintained at https://gerhard.pro/teaching/taxonomy-of-afrikaans-part-of-speech-categories/