There are some new menu options in Dochoa, but you'll need to sync before they show up. They are: "edit tags", "save", and "save and exit" (formerly just "exit").
Note 1: There are two ways to save your data now -- both whilst you are working, and when you close Dochoa. Please save your results at least semi-regularly, to prevent catastrophes.
Note 2: Don't forget that part of the assignment involves syncing with the server during/after you do your work. This will not only save a backup of your work, but also update your portion of the data, and let Michal and I know how you've been progressing.
This assignment involves going through the sessions you have and determining the inflection of all the verbs, and marking all the subjects. To facilitate this, everything that the automatic parser recognized as a verb has been highlighted in blue, but keep in mind the following points:
(1) The automatic parser is not perfect. It may have marked some non-verbs as verbs, and probably will have missed a few verbs completely (and thus, they will not show up highlighted in blue). Keep an eye out for these things, and correct them when you come across them.
(2) None of the subjects are highlighted. When you come across a verb, it's up to you to determine which noun (or pronoun), if any, is the subject and mark it accordingly.
To change the coding, simply click on the coding and select the appropriate option. The following is the list that will appear (people working in French will see something a little different):
bare stem (eg. play)
infinitive (eg. to play)
s-form (eg. plays)
past, ambiguous (eg. played)
past, unambiguous (eg. ate)
participle (eg. eaten, has played)
ing (eg. playing)
auxiliary
subject
other
We are interested in what children actually do, as opposed to what they meant to do, probably wanted to do, or were supposed to do. So, go with whatever your child says and code it appropriately.
Several of these marking are straightforward, and purely a matter of keeping track of the appropriate word-endings. If the verb has an "-s" suffix, it's the s-form. If it has an "-ing" suffix, it's the ing form. If it's in its bare form and preceded by "to", then it's the infinitive (to work, to labor, to struggle, to correct, etc). Go with these as defaults even if your child does something interesting with 'irregular' verbs, like:
He wents. (s form)
He is wenting. (ing)
I got to went. (infinitive)
If the verb is in its basic, uninflected form, and not preceded by "to", then it's the bare stem, even if through context it could be understood as past tense, etc (remember, we're looking at what children actually do).
Yesterday I drink. (bare stem)
If the verb has a "regular" past tense form (ends with "-ed"), then it's marked as past, ambiguous -- unless it is preceded by an auxiliary (has, have, was, is, etc), in which case it's the participle form. This will also be the case with some 'irregular' verbs which have the same past and participle forms (eg. hit, put), as well as any form that your child regularizes (like "readed").
Mommy worked hard. (past, ambiguous)
I have readed that book. (participle)
If the verb has an "irregular" past tense form (swim/swam/swum, run/ran, etc), then it is marked either as past, unambiguous, or as participle. The participle form is the one that adults would only use after an auxiliary (have, has, etc). The past form is the one that adults would not use after an auxiliary. This is important because your child might not include auxiliaries:
I eaten. (participle)
I have eaten. (participle)
I ate. (past, unambiguous)
I have ate. (past, unambiguous)
Notice that some 'irregular' verbs are identical to the stem form. Unless the presence of an auxiliary hints otherwise, this is simply the bare stem form.
I run. (bare stem).
The auxiliaries are a special case. In cases where there is a main verb, this will be easy -- just mark them auxiliary and don't worry about inflection. When an auxiliary form like "is" or "can" appears by itself, however, there's a trick to determining if it's an auxiliary or a main verb. Just negate the verb using "not". If "not" appears after the verb, then mark the verb as an auxiliary.
There is (not) a banana!
There (*not) is a banana!
There (*do not) is a banana!
If "not" works best before the verb, however (usually also requiring that you insert 'do'), then the verb is a main verb and should be marked for inflection as above (here, it would be bare stem).
I (do not) have a banana!
I have (*not) a banana!
Please stick to modern English when attempting to negate your verbs! (don't read Shakespeare right before correcting your transcriptions or your intuitions will be shot)
Determining what the 'subject' of a verb is, will sometimes require a little thought. Generally speaking the subject is the actor or agent of action in a sentence, and English is usually kind enough to put the subject at the front of the sentence, before the verb. Keep in mind that there are some exceptions to this, however.
(1) Expletive subjects. Some sentences have an 'empty' or 'filler' subject, almost always the words there or it, as in the following:
It is raining cats and dogs.
There is water all over me.
(2) Subject of a question. Remember that questions in English move the auxiliary in front of the subject, and the WH-word as well, if there is one. Just to keep things from being too simple, of course, sometimes that WH-word is the subject of the sentence!
Has Ken updated the website?
When will the lazy bugger do so?
And who ate the last slice of pizza?
(3) Passive sentences. Fortunately these sorts of sentences aren't used a lot by little kids, but there will probably be a few examples in your data. In a passive, the object ends up in front of the verb, while the subject might completely disappear:
Indiana Jones was woken by his father.
Marcus had been kidnapped! (no overt subject)
(4) Imperatives. This was covered in the last lecture as an example of a 'null subject' sentence. Imperatives not only tend to drop subjects, but also generally lack verbal inflection.
Go to sleep. (no overt subject)
Stop, or I'll say stop again. (no overt subject)
You drink your milk!
Naturally, things get even more interesting when you get combinations of these four, such as:
Where is it?
Been kidnapped by who?
And if your kids decide that a verb isn't particularly important in a sentence, you could easily get something like (note that because the verb is missing in this case, this is a 'borderline' case):
What dat?
Remember that if you run across anything that is marked incorrectly, just change the marking. Since we are looking only at verbs and subjects, anything incorrectly coded that doesn't fall into one of those two categories should be marked other.
Good luck!