is [: has] - query wrong verb

[Sophie Brook]

Hi there, 

Participant is describing a drawn picture of a baby sitting on the floor playing with a car. 

In a transcription we have:

*PAR: an(d) the baby it is [: has] [* ] a truck [: car] [* s:r]. [+ sem] [+ gram] •18119_22729•

How do we error code on word level? 

Couldn't find something relevant in CLAN part 1 for when a verb "is" has been used for another main verb "has". 

Please could you let me know what you think? Thank you. 

Best, 

Sophie 

[Leonid Spektor]

Hi Sophie,

Perhaps I don't understand the meaning of "on word level". Let me know if that is the case.

Here are 4 FREQ commands that link error codes with corresponding words.

freq test.cha +sm**

freq test.cha +s"[\**]"

freq test.cha +s"<\**>"

freq test.cha +s"<\**>" +d6

I ran those commands on sample file listed below:

@Begin

@Languages: eng

@Participants: PAR Participant

@ID: eng|sample|PAR|||||Participant|||

*PAR: an(d) the baby it is [: has] [*] a truck [: car] [* s:r] . [+ sem] [+ gram]

%mor: coord|and det:art|the n|baby pro:per|it aux|have&3S det:art|a n|car .

%gra: 1|0|INCROOT 2|3|DET 3|1|COORD 4|7|SUBJ 5|7|AUX 6|7|DET 7|3|CMOD 8|1|PUNCT

@End

Leonid.

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[Brian Macwhinney]

Sophie,

    This may look like a morphological error, but it is really a semantic error and I would use [* s:r].  Make sure you are looking at section 18.1.2 in the current (online) version of the CHAT manual.

— Brian MacWhinney

Teresa Heinz Professor of Cognitive Psychology, 

Language Technologies and Modern Languages, CMU 

[Sophie Brook]

Hi Lenoid, 

Thanks so much for investigating, 

'on word level' means the individual word within the utterance, as opposed to 'utterance level' which is reserved for [+ ] postcodes .eg., [+ gram].

so specifically honing in on the word "is" in the sentence PAR: an(d) the baby it is [: has] [*] a truck [: car] [* s:r] . [+ sem] [+ gram]

I think what i'm trying to see is if any of the error codes in the CLAN manual part 1 from P.108 can be assigned to this as currently we have be very conservative and used an asterisk in square brackets to denote an error at word level occurred but we can't specify. I have pasted below for ease.  

Thank you. 

----

18.1.2 Semantic errors [* s]

s:r related word, target known, as in mother for father

s:ur unrelated word, target known, as in comb for umbrella

s:uk word, unknown target, as in “I go wolf”

s:per perseveration, as in “he kicked the ball through the ball”

For errors with related words for known targets, one can add these additional distinctions:

s:r:prep wrong preposition, as in on for in or off for out

s:r:seg word that is a partial segment of the target, as in fire for fireman

s:r:der derivational error using a real word, as in assess for assessment or humbleness for humility

Errors involving grammatical categories, such as number, case, definiteness, or gender are

coded as [* s:r:gc]. These can be further coded using the relevant part of speech, such as

“art” for article or “pro” for pronoun, and “der” for derivation, as in these examples:

s:r:gc:art definite for indefinite, indefinite for definite, definite for zero

s:r:gc:pro his for her, your for yours, my for mine

Part 1: CHAT 109

18.1.3 Neologisms [* n]

n:k neologism, known target, does not meet phonological error criteria

n:uk neologism, unknown target

n:k:s neologism, known target, stereotypy (recurring non-word)

n:uk:s neologism, unknown target, stereotypy (recurring non-word)

n:k:der neologism, known target, as in integrativity for integration, or foundament for foundation

18.1.4 Morphological errors [* m:a]

For the coding of morphological errors, these nine abbreviations can be used:

-ing progressive

-3s 3rd person singular

-ed past

-en perfective

-s noun plural

-'s possessive

-s' possessive plural

-er comparative

-est superlative

Missing regular forms, in which the base lemma appears with no suffix, are coded with

m:0, as in m:0ing missing progressive suffix

m:03s *missing 3rd person singular suffix

m:0ed missing regular past suffix

m:0s *missing regular plural suffix

m:0's missing possessive suffix

m:0s' missing possessive plural suffix

However, the two codes marked above with * should usually be coded instead as agreement. errors, as noted below.

Substitutions of the base form for irregulars, with omission of the expected marking, are coded with m:base:*, as in

m:base:s child for children, ox for oxen

m:base:ed come for came, bring for brought

m:base:en take for taken or freeze for frozen

m:base:er badder for worse

m:base:est baddest for worst

Substitutions of an irregular for the base form are coded with m:irr:* in this way:

m:irr:s children for child

m:irr:ed found for find

m:irr:en taken for take

Substitutions between past and perfective irregulars are coded with m:sub:* in this way:

m:sub:ed frozen for froze, seen for saw

Part 1: CHAT 110

m:sub:en froze for frozen, saw for seen

Overregularizations of irregulars are coded in this way:

m:=ed overregularized -ed past, as in seed for saw

m:=en overregularized -en perfective, as in taked for taken

m:=s overregularized –s plural, as in childs for children

Superfluous markings of regulars are coded in this way:

m:+ing superfluous progressive, as in running for run

m:+3s *superfluous 3rd person singular –s suffix, as in goes for go

m:+ed superfluous regular past, as in walked for walk

m:+en superfluous perfective, as in taken for take

m:+s *superfluous plural, as in gowns for gown

m:+'s superfluous possessive or plural possessive, as in John's for John.

However, the two codes marked above with * should usually be coded as agreement errors,

as noted below.

Double markings of regulars and irregulars are coded in this way:

m:++ing runninging

m:++3s wantses

m:++ed talkeded

m:++en changeded

m:++s sevenses

m:++'s boys's's

Double markings of irregulars are marked using the above codes plus a final :i

m:++ed:i tooked

m:++en:i brokened, takenen

m:++s:i feets

Agreement errors for irregulars are marked in this way:

m:vsg:a verb 3rd singular for unmarked:

has for have, is for are, was for were

m:vun:a verb unmarked for 3rd singular

have for has, are for is, were for was

When agreement errors involve regulars, the :a should be added to the basic code, as in

m:03s:a he want for he wants

m:+3s:a we wants for we want

m:0s:a noun singular for plural, as in two dog for two dogs

m:+s:a noun plural for singular, as in this dogs for this dog

Allomorphy errors in the stem or base are coded in this way:

m:allo knifes for knives, an for a

------------------------------------

[Leonid Spektor]

Hi Sophie,

I am not a linguist, so I can't definitively recommend any error code to you.

However, as Brian MacWhinney replied to your original email on Aug 7, 2025, 4:57, he suggested that this is a semantic error and should be coded with [* s:r] error code.

Maybe someone with higher pay grade than me can answer this better.

Leonid.

On Aug 14, 2025, at 12:34, Sophie Brook <sophiem...@gmail.com> wrote:

Hi Leonid, 

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