depþS

depþS is a hypothetical notation used in discussions of computational linguistics and formal semantics to annotate dependency relations with a compact symbol set. The term combines dep, indicating dependency; þ, the thorn letter historically used to represent the voiceless interdental fricative, here repurposed as a generic marker for a special dependency-related feature; and S, signifying a supervisory span or selection condition. The concept is not part of standard annotation schemes but is employed in theoretical papers and thought experiments to illustrate how non-Latin symbols could encode structural constraints.

Notation and interpretation: In practice, a depþS tag is described as an annotation attached to tokens or edges in a dependency network that signals a dependent relation under a specific supervision context S. The exact semantics of depþS depend on the framework and may denote constraints such as syntactic mood, agreement, or semantic-role alignment. Some proponents treat depþS as a compact label to explore label compactness and compositionality, while others emphasize that its meanings would need precise definition within a given theory.

Applications and evaluation: depþS is used primarily as a conceptual device in theoretical exploration, cross-linguistic annotation discussions, and hypothetical parsing schemes. It serves to illustrate how alternative symbol sets could encode complex dependencies, but it has not become a widely adopted standard in practical annotation or tooling. Critics argue that the presence of non-ASCII symbols and ambiguous semantics can hinder readability and interoperability.

See also: dependency grammar, annotation schemes, linguistic notation, thorn (character).