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# Fitting Fixed Expressions into the UD Mould: Swedish as a Use Case

**Authors:** [Lars Ahrenberg](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/papers/authors/lars-ahrenberg/) · **Year:** 2024 · **Venue:** Proceedings of the Joint Workshop on Multiword Expressions and Universal Dependencies (MWE-UD) @ LREC-COLING 2024 **Link:** [aclanthology.org/2024.mwe-1.6](https://aclanthology.org/2024.mwe-1.6/) · **Licence:** [CC BY-NC 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) (LREC proceedings) — summary only

[**0** citations](https://openalex.org/works?filter=cites:W7131790209) openalex · 2026-10-19[**1** citations in our library](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/papers/cited-by/ud-2024-ahrenberg-fitting-fixed-expressions-into-ud/) of the 140673 papers whose bibliographies we read[Proceedings of the Joint Workshop on Multiword Expressions and Universal Dependencies (MWE-UD) @ LREC-COLING 2024](https://aclanthology.org/volumes/2024.mwe-1/)[licence](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/)

- [Publisher's page](https://aclanthology.org/2024.mwe-1.6/)
- [PDF](https://aclanthology.org/2024.mwe-1.6.pdf)
- [DOI 10.63317/3chtzfj7n2h3](https://doi.org/10.63317/3chtzfj7n2h3)
- [OpenAlex](https://openalex.org/W7131790209)

**Authors (1)**

1. [Ahrenberg, Lars](https://openalex.org/A5067870406) [ORCID](https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2490-7411) · [Semantic Scholar](https://www.semanticscholar.org/author/2256367521) · h 17 · 2124 citations · 124 works

Citations and author metrics from openalex (2026-10-19); authors with the same name are not always told apart.

## What it is about

UD marks some multiword expressions with the relation fixed. The paper analyses 439 Swedish expressions that are annotated as fixed in two Swedish UD treebanks, to see which of them match the definition. Prepositional phrases make up almost 40% of the set. About 17% (75) can be written with or without spaces, and 96 show no variation at all; counting collapsed and abbreviated forms gives 146 rigid expressions. Only 71 expressions are shared by the two treebanks, and 216 occur once. The paper argues that many of these expressions have a transparent syntax that the single relation hides, and suggests Construction Grammar as a model for them.

## Ideas

- I1. `en/src/lexgen.rs` and `en/src/dict.rs`: list English multiword entries (of course, at first, by and large) with their variants. Count how many have a collapsible spelling and how many are rigid. Measure on EWT test, and fix the list before looking at any parser output.
- I2. English has the same split-or-joined spelling problem as the paper's Swedish cases: *any more / anymore*, *every day / everyday*, *in to / into*, *a lot / alot*. Make a test list of such pairs and check with `en parse-eval` that both spellings get the same lemma, tags and relation to the head; report the mismatch count.
- I3. `en/src/parse.rs`: count the arcs labelled fixed and flat in EWT test and see which share of them are prepositional phrases. Measure the LAS of those arcs before any change of the label set.

## For Mova

The chapter is [19. The lexicon: vocabulary, multiword expressions and register](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/languages/en/19-lexicon-mwe-register/), with [21. The simple clause](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/languages/en/21-clause-structure/) for the transparent syntax of such expressions. The code is `en/src/lexgen.rs`, `en/src/tok.rs` and `en/src/parse.rs`. The paper's data is Swedish and the licence is NC, so it gives no English numbers; English figures must come from EWT test.

Topics: [Universal Dependencies](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/papers/topics/universal-dependencies/) · [Treebanks](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/papers/topics/treebanks/)

## Cite

The paper itself, not this card. BibTeX from the library's record of the work. [DOI 10.63317/3chtzfj7n2h3](https://doi.org/10.63317/3chtzfj7n2h3)

```
@inproceedings{ahrenberg2024fitting,
  title = {{Fitting Fixed Expressions into the UD Mould: Swedish as a Use Case}},
  author = {Ahrenberg, Lars},
  booktitle = {Proceedings of the Joint Workshop on Multiword Expressions and Universal Dependencies (MWE-UD) @ LREC-COLING 2024},
  year = {2024},
  doi = {10.63317/3chtzfj7n2h3},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.63317/3chtzfj7n2h3}
}
```

- [← previous Data-driven Parsing Evaluation for Child-Parent Interactions](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/papers/ud-2023-liu-data-driven-parsing-evaluation-child/)
- [next → From YCOE to UD: Rule-based Root Identification in Old English](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/papers/ud-2024-villa-ycoe-ud-rule-based-root/)
- [↑ back to English](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/papers/en/)

## References

18 references, 2 of them with a card of ours. ↗ leads to the work, «find» searches for one we have no id for yet.

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4. Lars Borin, Markus Forsberg, Benjamin Lyngfelt, Julia Prentice, Rudolf Rydstedt, Emma Sköldberg, and Sofia Tingsell. 2012. Growing a Swedish constructicon in lexical soil. In Proceedings of SLTC 2012. (The Fourth Swedish Language Technology Conference), pages 10– 11. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Lars+Borin%2C+Markus+Forsberg%2C+Benjamin+Lyngfelt%2C+Julia+Prentice%2C+Rudolf+Rydstedt%2C+Emma+Sk%C3%B6ldberg%2C+and+Sofia+Tingsell%2E+2012%2E+Growing+a+Swedish+constructicon+in+lexical+soil%2E+In+Proceedings+of+SLTC+2012%2E)
5. Marie-Catherine de Marneffe, Christopher D. Manning, Joakim Nivre, and Daniel Zeman. 2021. Universal dependencies. Computational Linguistics, 47(2):255–308. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Marie%2DCatherine+de+Marneffe%2C+Christopher+D%2E+Manning%2C+Joakim+Nivre%2C+and+Daniel+Zeman%2E+2021%2E+Universal+dependencies%2E+Computational+Linguistics%2C+47%282%29%3A255%E2%80%93308%2E) [our card](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/papers/demarneffe-2021-universal-dependencies/)
6. Charles J. Fillmore, Paul Kay, and Mary Catherine O’Connor. 1988. Regularity and idiomaticity in grammatical constructions: The case of let alone. Language, 64(3):501–538. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Charles+J%2E+Fillmore%2C+Paul+Kay%2C+and+Mary+Catherine+O%E2%80%99Connor%2E+1988%2E+Regularity+and+idiomaticity+in+grammatical+constructions%3A+The+case+of+let+alone%2E+Language%2C+64%283%29%3A501%E2%80%93538%2E)
7. Kim Gerdes and Sylvain Kahane. 2016. Dependency annotation choices: Assessing theoretical and practical issues of Universal Dependencies. In Proceedings of the 10th Linguistic Annotation Workshop held in conjunction with ACL 2016 (LAW-X 2016), pages 131–140, Berlin, Germany. Association for Computational Linguistics. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Kim+Gerdes+and+Sylvain+Kahane%2E+2016%2E+Dependency+annotation+choices%3A+Assessing+theoretical+and+practical+issues+of+Universal+Dependencies%2E+In+Proceedings+of+the+10th+Linguistic+Annotation+Workshop+held)
8. Thomas Hoffmann. 2022. Construction Grammar: The Structure of English. Cambridge University Press. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Thomas+Hoffmann%2E+2022%2E+Construction+Grammar%3A+The+Structure+of+English%2E+Cambridge+University+Press%2E)
9. Sylvain Kahane, Marine Courtin, and Kim Gerdes. 2017. Multi-word annotation in syntactic treebanks: Propositions for universal dependencies. In Proceedings of the 16th International Workshop on Treebanks and Linguistic Theories, pages 181–189, Prague, Czech Republic. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Sylvain+Kahane%2C+Marine+Courtin%2C+and+Kim+Gerdes%2E+2017%2E+Multi%2Dword+annotation+in+syntactic+treebanks%3A+Propositions+for+universal+dependencies%2E+In+Proceedings+of+the+16th+International+Workshop+on+Treeba)
10. Hans Luthman. 2020. Svenska idiom: 5000 vardag-suttryck (Swedish idioms: 5000 everyday expressions). Folkuniversitetets förlag. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Hans+Luthman%2E+2020%2E+Svenska+idiom%3A+5000+vardag%2Dsuttryck+%28Swedish+idioms%3A+5000+everyday+expressions%29%2E+Folkuniversitetets+f%C3%B6rlag%2E)
11. Benjamin Lyngfelt. 2021. Valens och konstruktioner - om samspelet mellan lexikon och grammatik (valency and constructions - on the interplay of lexicon and grammar. In Johan Brandtler and Mikael Kalm, editors, Nyanser av grammatik. Gränser, mångfald, fördjupning. Studentlitteratur. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Benjamin+Lyngfelt%2E+2021%2E+Valens+och+konstruktioner+%2D+om+samspelet+mellan+lexikon+och+grammatik+%28valency+and+constructions+%2D+on+the+interplay+of+lexicon+and+grammar%2E+In+Johan+Brandtler+and+Mikael+Kalm%2C)
12. Benjamin Lyngfelt, Linnéa Bäckström, Lars Borin, Anna Ehrlemark, and Rudolf Rydstedt. 2018. Constructicography at work: Theory meets practice in the Swedish constructicon. In B. Lyngfelt, L. Borin, K. Ohara, and T. T. Torrent, editors, Constructicography: Constructicon development across languages, pages 41–106. John Benjamins, Amsterdam. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Benjamin+Lyngfelt%2C+Linn%C3%A9a+B%C3%A4ckstr%C3%B6m%2C+Lars+Borin%2C+Anna+Ehrlemark%2C+and+Rudolf+Rydstedt%2E+2018%2E+Constructicography+at+work%3A+Theory+meets+practice+in+the+Swedish+constructicon%2E+In+B%2E+Lyngfelt%2C+L%2E+Borin%2C+K%2E)
13. Francesca Masini. 2019. Multi-word expressions and morphology. In Mark Aronoff, editor, Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Linguistics. Oxford University Press,. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Francesca+Masini%2E+2019%2E+Multi%2Dword+expressions+and+morphology%2E+In+Mark+Aronoff%2C+editor%2C+Oxford+Research+Encyclopedia+of+Linguistics%2E+Oxford+University+Press%2C%2E)
14. Stian Rødven Eide, Nina Tahmasebi, and Lars Borin. 2016. The Swedish Culturomics Gigaword Corpus: A one billion word Swedish reference dataset for nlp. In Digital Humanities 2016. From Digitization to Knowledge 2016: Resources and Methods for Semantic Processing of Digital Works/Texts, pages 3–36, Krakow, Poland. John Benjamins Publishing Company. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Stian+R%C3%B8dven+Eide%2C+Nina+Tahmasebi%2C+and+Lars+Borin%2E+2016%2E+The+Swedish+Culturomics+Gigaword+Corpus%3A+A+one+billion+word+Swedish+reference+dataset+for+nlp%2E+In+Digital+Humanities+2016%2E+From+Digitization+to)
15. Ivan A. Sag, Timothy Baldwin, Frances Bond, Ann Copestake, and Dan Flickinger. 2002. Multiword expressions: A pain in the neck for nlp. In Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Intelligent Text Processing and Computational Linguistics (CICLing-2002), pages 1–15, Mexico City, Mexico. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Ivan+A%2E+Sag%2C+Timothy+Baldwin%2C+Frances+Bond%2C+Ann+Copestake%2C+and+Dan+Flickinger%2E+2002%2E+Multiword+expressions%3A+A+pain+in+the+neck+for+nlp%2E+In+Proceedings+of+the+3rd+International+Conference+on+Intelligen) [our card](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/papers/idioms-2002-sag-multiword-expressions-pain-neck-nlp/)
16. Agata Savary, Cherifa Ben Khelil, Carlos Ramisch, and et al. 2023a. Parseme corpus release 1.3. In Proceedings of The 19th Workshop on Multiword Expressions (MWE 2023), pages 24–35. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Agata+Savary%2C+Cherifa+Ben+Khelil%2C+Carlos+Ramisch%2C+and+et+al%2E+2023a%2E+Parseme+corpus+release+1%2E3%2E+In+Proceedings+of+The+19th+Workshop+on+Multiword+Expressions+%28MWE+2023%29%2C+pages+24%E2%80%9335%2E)
17. Agata Savary, Sara Stymne, Verginica Barbu Mititelu, Nathan Schneider, Carlos Ramisch, and Joakim Nivre. 2023b. Parseme meets universal dependencies: Getting on the same page in representing multiword expressions. Northern European Journal of Language Technology, 9(1). [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Agata+Savary%2C+Sara+Stymne%2C+Verginica+Barbu+Mititelu%2C+Nathan+Schneider%2C+Carlos+Ramisch%2C+and+Joakim+Nivre%2E+2023b%2E+Parseme+meets+universal+dependencies%3A+Getting+on+the+same+page+in+representing+multiword)
18. Emma Sköldberg. 2004. Korten på bordet: Innehålls- och uttrycksmässig variation hos svenska idiom (Cards on the table. Variations in content and expression in Swedish idioms). Ph.D. thesis, University of Gothenburg. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Emma+Sk%C3%B6ldberg%2E+2004%2E+Korten+p%C3%A5+bordet%3A+Inneh%C3%A5lls%2D+och+uttrycksm%C3%A4ssig+variation+hos+svenska+idiom+%28Cards+on+the+table%2E+Variations+in+content+and+expression+in+Swedish+idioms%29%2E+Ph%2ED%2E+thesis%2C+University)