Ordinals and :ord   (AMR annotation guidance)

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An ordinal number defines a thing's position in a series, e.g. first, second, or third. We use the role :ord and the corresponding cardinal number (1, 2, 3) to express an ordinal. Ordinals can be qualified (e.g. first in 10 years), so we include a concept ordinal-entity to accommodate both the primary value as well as any qualifications.

Basic Ordinals

Example:  the second planet
     (p / planet
           :ord (o / ordinal-entity :value 2))

Note: In the AMR Editor, you can just type in   p :ord 2   as a  shortcut  for   p :ord ordinal-value   and   o :value 2

Example:  He was the first to do this.
     (p / person
           :ord (o / ordinal-entity :value 1)
           :ARG0-of (d / do-02
                 :ARG1 (t / this))
           :domain (h / he))

Example:  When I met her for the first time, Mary still worked for Goldman Sachs.
     (w / work-01
           :ARG0 (p / person :wiki -
                 :name (n / name :op1 "Mary"))
           :ARG2 (c / company :wiki "Goldman_Sachs"
                 :name (n2 / name :op1 "Goldman" :op2 "Sachs"))
           :mod (s / still)
           :time (m / meet-03
                 :ARG0 (i / i)
                 :ARG1 p
                 :ord (o / ordinal-entity :value 1)))

Ordinals with :range

Example:  our first visit in 10 years
     (v / visit-01
           :ARG0 (w / we)
           :ord (o / ordinal-entity :value 1
                 :range (t / temporal-quantity :quant 10
                       :unit (y / year))))

Example:  first victory in 12 games
     (w / win-01
           :ord (o / ordinal-entity :value 1
                 :range (g / game :quant 12)))

Intervals of Ordinals

As an alternative to a simple value, AMR also also offers a value-interval, including an open interval:

Example:  second to fourth week
     (w / week
           :ord (o / ordinal-entity
                 :value (v / value-interval :op1 2 :op2 4)))

Example:  floors 3 and higher
     (f / floor
           :ord (o / ordinal-entity
                 :value (v / value-interval :op1 3)))

Last Ordinals

For expressions such as "second to last", AMR uses a negative ordinal value:

Example:  the second to last episode
     (e / episode
           :ord (o / ordinal-entity :value "-2"))

Example:  We sat in the preantepenultimate pew.
     (s / sit-01
           :ARG1 (w / we)
           :ARG2 (p / pew
                 :ord (o / ordinal-entity :value "-4")))

Ordinals and Superlatives

Example combining an ordinal and a superlative

Example:  Texas is the second largest state in the U.S.
     (h / have-degree-91
           :ARG1 (s / state :wiki "Texas" :name (n / name :op1 "Texas"))
           :ARG2 (l / large)
           :ARG3 (m / most
                 :ord (o / ordinal-entity :value 2))
           :ARG5 (s2 / state
                 :location (c / country :wiki "United_States" :name (n2 / name :op1 "U.S."))))

However, we don't use ordinals for plain superlatives, i.e. is :ord (o / ordinal-entity :value 1) is understood as a default.

Example:  "the brightest boy"
     (b / boy
           :ARG1-of (h / have-degree-91
                 :ARG2 (b2 / bright-03
                       :ARG1 b)
                 :ARG3 (m / most)))

"Fuzzy Ordinals"

But don't use :ord for "fuzzy ordinals" such as:

Example:  Canada is one of the largest countries in the world.
     (i2 / include-91
           :ARG1 (c / country :wiki "Canada" :name (n / name :op1 "Canada"))
           :ARG2 (c3 / country
                 :ARG1-of (h / have-degree-91
                       :ARG2 (l / large)
                       :ARG3 (m / most)
                       :ARG5 (c2 / country
                             :part-of (w / world)))))

Example:  Canada and the U.S. are among the largest countries in the world.
     (i2 / include-91
           :ARG1 (a / and
                 :op1 (c / country :wiki "Canada" :name (n / name :op1 "Canada"))
                 :op2 (c2 / country :wiki "United_States" :name (n2 / name :op1 "U.S.")))
           :ARG2 (c4 / country
                 :ARG1-of (h / have-degree-91
                       :ARG2 (l / large)
                       :ARG3 (m / most)
                       :ARG5 (c3 / country
                             :part-of (w / world)))))

When not to use :ord

But do not use :ord for last in the sense of previous as in "I bought a new car last week." or for first in the sense of initially as in "I first had to get used to it."

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