Frequently Asked Questions

What do the punctuation marks mean in the tdl files?
(A very basic guide to tdl syntax.)

tdl (Type Description Language), like any computer language, has a particular syntax that must be followed. If you deviate from the accepted syntax, you'll either get an error as the LKB tries to load your grammar, or the LKB will interpret what you wrote differently from how you intended.

Typical type definitions looks like this:

type-name := supertype1 & supertype2 &
  [ FEATURE1 value1,
    FEATURE2 [ FEATURE3 value2 ]].

foo := bar &
  [ BAZ #coref & quux,
    ZXC #coref ].

another-type := some-type &
  [ ZXC spqr &
        [ WOMBAT foo ]].

Some things to note:

In addition to the basic syntax above, there are some further variations:

Related topics


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