The VerboWeb is a database dedicated to the syntactic-semantic description of Brazilian Portuguese verbs.
Its central principle is that syntax and semantics are related: aspects of a verb’s meaning help explain its syntactic structure, its argument organization, the alternations it participates in, and the different constructions in which it can occur.
In other words: VerboWeb does not present only the meaning of verbs. The aim is to show how different semantic properties relate to different syntactic behaviors.
The same verb can present two or more different syntactic-semantic senses.
When this occurs, each sense is treated separately in the database and identified by a numbering system, such as V1, V2, V3....
Two senses of the same verb may present different syntactic and semantic properties and, therefore, receive distinct classifications.
For each analyzed sense, VerboWeb provides:
The same verbal meaning can be observed from different analytical perspectives. Each perspective focuses on a specific dimension of the verb’s semantic and syntactic organization.
Every verb necessarily has classification in three fundamental perspectives:
Event structure — represents how the eventuality expressed by the verb is internally organized.
Thematic role structure — represents the semantic relationships established between the verb and its arguments.
Lexical aspect — characterizes the type of eventuality expressed by the verb, considering properties such as dynamicity, duration, change, culmination, and state.
In addition to these three obligatory perspectives, a verb may have classifications in other perspectives, depending on the properties relevant for its description.
Each perspective presents a list of verb classes. A class groups verbs that share certain semantic and syntactic characteristics.
Some classes exhibit a more detailed organization. A class can be divided into subclasses and, in certain cases, one of these subclasses can further be divided into a more specific subclass.
General organization:
Perspective → Class → Subclass → More specific subclass → Properties → Verbs
Not all classes have all these levels.
The VerboWeb classes do not function merely as labels. They aim to represent generalizations about the relationship between semantic properties and syntactic properties.
Each class is related to a set of properties that helps explain why certain verbs were grouped into that class.
Perspective = dimension of analysis.
Class = group of verbs that share certain characteristics.
Property = syntactic or semantic behavior that helps characterize the class.
Perspectives, classes, and properties have their own explanations in VerboWeb.
These explanations are presented in popup windows. Thus, during the consultation, the user can click on a perspective, class, or property to better understand what it means, which criteria are used in the analysis, and, when relevant, which bibliographic references support the description.
The popup allows consulting this information without leaving the page being analyzed.
VerboWeb uses two types of examples: constructed examples and attested examples.
Constructed examples are sentences specifically crafted to illustrate a particular property. Their function is to control the data and make the syntactic-semantic phenomenon being analyzed more evident.
Attested examples are sentences found in actual usage, especially on the web and other consulted sources. Their function is to show that a given verb, sense, or construction effectively occurs in language data.
On the homepage, the user can access the database through different pathways, depending on what they wish to investigate.
Search by Verb
Use this option when you want to analyze a specific verb. When the verb has more than one sense, the senses are identified as V1, V2, V3... Upon opening an entry, the example of the analyzed sense, the syntactic structure, the perspectives, the classes, and the properties are presented.
Search by Semantic Perspective
Use this option when you want to start from an analytical dimension.
Search by Class
Use this option when you want to directly consult a verbal class.
Search by Property
Use this option to start from a specific syntactic or semantic behavior.
VerboWeb 3.0 is under development. The insertion, review, and expansion of data are carried out gradually.
For this reason, some entries may present more complete information than others. Certain verbs, senses, properties, attested examples, translations, or references may still be in the process of being filled in or reviewed.
VerboWeb should be understood as a continuously developing and updating database.