correct annotation of 'close to' + quantity?

[AngledLuffa]

specifically in the [PUD] sentence

# newdoc id = w01043
# sent_id = w01043027
# text = By 1340, Cairo had a population of close to half a million, making it the largest city west of China.
6       a       a       DET     DT      Definite=Ind|PronType=Art       7       det     7:det   _
7       population      population      NOUN    NN      Number=Sing     5       obj     5:obj   _
8       of      of      ADP     IN      _       13      case    13:case _
9       close   close   ADJ     JJ      Degree=Pos      13      advmod  13:advmod       _
10      to      to      ADP     IN      _       13      case    13:case _
11      half    half    DET     PDT     NumForm=Word|NumType=Frac|PronType=Ind  13      compound        13:compound     _
12      a       a       DET     DT      Definite=Ind|PronType=Art       13      det     13:det  _
13      million million NUM     CD      NumForm=Word|NumType=Card       7       nmod    7:nmod:of       SpaceAfter=No

[nschneid]

Consolidating this under EWT as the main place for discussion of English-specific guidelines.

Also raised in #541, and discussed in reference to PUD—I wrote:

Originally posted by @nschneid in UniversalDependencies/UD_English-PUD#64 (comment)

BTW if we're going to extend the approximator list to add "close to" ('approximately') what about "greater than" (similar to "more than"), "in excess of", "in the ballpark of"...seems like it's actually a semi-open class.

[nschneid]

"Up to" is listed as fixed and on the surface, "close to" looks similar. Thinking about flexibility of the expression, though, "close to" exhibits adjectival tendencies:

• They offered close to half a million dollars in cash.
• They offered very close to half a million dollars in cash.
• No, they offered closer to half a million dollars.
• ?No, they offered closer to half a million dollars than to a quarter of a million dollars.

Could we analyze this as internally an adjective phrase with stranded obl preposition, so the degree modification/inflection is as usual for adjectives, but attach as advmod with ExtPos=ADV?

[AngledLuffa]

Got it, so, not fixed based on the possible derivations of the phrase?

…

On Fri, Jan 3, 2025, 2:31 PM Nathan Schneider ***@***.***> wrote: "Up to" is listed as fixed and on the surface, "close to" looks similar. Thinking about flexibility of the expression, though, "close to" exhibits adjectival tendencies: - They offered close to half a million dollars in cash. - They offered very close to half a million dollars in cash. - No, they offered closer to half a million dollars. - ?No, they offered closer to half a million dollars than to a quarter of a million dollars. Could we analyze this as internally an adjective phrase with stranded obl preposition, so the degree modification/inflection is as usual for adjectives, but attach as advmod with ExtPos=ADV? — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#567 (comment)>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AA2AYWMM5M47EAENQT6LJOT2I3XTRAVCNFSM6AAAAABUSJDTHGVHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43OSLTON2WKQ3PNVWWK3TUHMZDKNRZG43TSNRZGY> . You are receiving this because you authored the thread.Message ID: ***@***.***>

[AngledLuffa]

One request: can we document similar expressions on the fixed expression page with explanations for why they aren't fixed?