In this section we list the patterns for verbs whose arguments are constrained to be entities in the basic ontology. For each verb, we present the pattern. We list its syntactic variations, Where the possible variations are Middle, Symmetric, Action Nominalization, and Actor Nominalization. We then give several examples of the use of the verb or one of its related forms. The verb and the heads of its arguments are italicized in each of the examples. In many of the examples, some arguments are syntactically implicit but present elsewhere in the sentence. In these cases, they are also italicized, even though it would not be easy for a natural language system to discover that they are the arguments.
analyse: Person analyses {Industry Commodity Financial-Instrument}
Syntactic Patterns: Action Nominalization: analysis. Actor Nominalization: analyst.
Examples:
Walter Kirchberger, an analyst with PaineWebber Inc., said that offering holders a higher, $70-a-share price is ``a fairly effective method of blocking'' the Stena-Tiphook bid.
Shaken by tumbling stock prices and pessimistic projections of U.S. economic growth, currency analysts around the world have toned down their assessments of the dollar's near-term performance.
``Everyone else is going to catch up'' with Nissan's innovative designs, says A. Rama Krishna, auto analyst at First Boston (Japan) Ltd. Nissan's pace of new-model hits will slow, he adds, just as arch-rival Toyota unleashes its own batch of new cars.
build: Coperorg builds {Real-Estate Good}
Syntactic Patterns: Actor Nominalization: builder.
Examples:
Mr. Nakamura cites the case of a customer who wants to build a giant tourism complex in Baja and has been trying for eight years to get around Mexican restrictions on foreign ownership of beachfront property.
Last week, Miami-based Carnival disclosed that Waertsilae Marine Industries, the Finnish shipyard that is building Carnival's new cruise ships, planned to file for bankruptcy.
buy: Coperorg buys {Company Financial-Instrument Good} from Coperorg
Syntactic Patterns: Actor Nominalization: buyer.
Examples:
Sea Containers Ltd., in a long-awaited move to repel a hostile takeover bid, said it will sell $1.1 billion of assets and use some of the proceeds to buy about 50% of its common shares for $70 apiece.
This system produced boring, boxy cars that consumers just weren't buying.
First of all, it is a friendly acquisition in which Rockefeller sought out Mitsubishi Estate and asked it to buy a majority share.
construct: {Govt Company} constructs Real-Estate
Syntactic Patterns: Action Nominalization: construction.
Examples:
Under the agreement, Healthcare, a manager of health-care facilities, said it would pay HealthVest $3.9 million in overdue rent and mortgage payments and repay $1.1 million in funds that HealthVest advanced for construction work on facilities.
The idea was to buffet building products from cycles in new-home construction.
Private construction spending was down, but government building activity was up.
contract: Coperorg contracts with {Govt Company Person}
Syntactic Patterns: Symmetric. Action Nominalization: contract. Actor Nominalization: contractor.
Examples:
Pinkerton's had locked itself into low-price contracts to win new business, with no hope of profitability until the contracts expired, he adds.
In an interest-rate options contract, a client pays a fee to a bank for custom-tailored protection against adverse interest-rate swings for a specified period.
The pilots' contract with Eastern calls for a mutually acceptable private arbitrator to resolve such grievances.
International Lease Finance Corp. announced a leasing contract with charter carrier American Trans Air Inc., in a transaction involving six Boeing Co. 757-200s.
Under terms of the three-year contract, Martin Marietta said it will make and install 267 of the new machines at 156 postal offices.
control: {Company Person} controls Company
Syntactic Patterns: Action Nominalization: control.
Examples:
Together with the 3.6 million shares currently controlled by management, subsidiaries and directors, the completed tender offer would give Sea Containers a controlling stake.
Shortly after Texas Air took control of Eastern, some Machinists union supervisors received a 20% pay raise.
Hees is a merchant bank controlled by Toronto financiers Peter and Edward Bronfman.
Giovanni Agnelli & Co. announced a transaction that will strengthen its indirect control of Fiat S.p.A. and will admit Prince Karim Aga Khan as its first non-family shareholder.
cost: {Good Services} costs Coperorg Money
Syntactic Patterns: Actor Nominalization: cost.
Examples:
Both the AFL-CIO and the National Association of Manufacturers are calling for measures to control rising costs, improve quality and provide care to the 31 million Americans who currently lack health insurance.
Chrysler Corp. estimates that health costs add $700 to the price of each of its cars, about $300 to $500 more per car than foreign competitors pay for health.
The court often weighs deductions of sideline-business costs: Do they stem from a profit-seeking activity or a nondeductible hobby?
The restyled 300ZX costs as much as $33,000 and is squared off against the Porche 944, which begins at $41,900.
The new S&L bailout law allows $50 billion to be spent to sell or merge sick S&Ls and their assets, but that is a net cost.
deliver: {Coperorg Market} delivers {Good Financial-Instrument} to Coperorg
Syntactic Patterns: Action Nominalization: delivery.
Examples:
Two of the 757-200s are new aircraft to be delivered to American Trans Air, the main subsidiary of Amtran Inc., in December 1991 and January 1992.
Posted yields on 30-year mortgage commitments for delivery within 30 days. 9.78%, standard conventional fixed-rate mortgages; 7.875%, 2% rate capped one-year adjustable rate mortgages.
The Soviet Union wants much of it delivered by January, which would be a strain in most years.
Heating oil for November delivery ended at 58.64 cents a gallon, up one cent on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
direct: Person directs {Org Part-of-Co}
Syntactic Patterns: Action Nominalization: direction. Actor Nominalization: director.
Examples:
``It's really bizarre,'' says Albert Lerman, creative director at the Wells Rich Greene ad agency.
And it's adding 15 to 20 new outlets a day, says Greg Ricca, sales director at La Lecheria.
earn: {Company Person} earns Money {for from} {Good Services}
Syntactic Patterns: Actor Nominalization: earning.
Examples:
Under de Havilland's previous contract, the company said production and office workers earned an average of 14.60 dollars an hour, and certain skilled-trades and technical employees received about 16 dollars an hour.
Reebok International Inc. said that third-quarter earnings will not be as high as anticipated, because production was hurt by labor disputes in South Korea, where 70% of its shoes are made.
Last year, the company earned $10 million, or 60 cents a share, on sales of $93.6 million.
The maker of razor blades, pens and toiletries said the sale won't have a material effect on earnings.
The drop, which began Tuesday, was sparked by two widely followed computer industry analysts cutting their full-year earnings estimates, apparently with some guidance from IBM.
exchange: Coperorg exchanges {Person Good Financial-Instrument}
Syntactic Patterns: Action Nominalization: exchange.
Examples:
On the Commodity Exchange in New York, gold for current delivery dropped $3.10 to $374.70 an ounce in moderate trading.
Last year, J&B Scotch offered 500 TWA frequent flier miles in exchange for a label.
Jaguar shares skyrocketed yesterday after Mr. Ridley's announcement, following their temporary suspension on London's Stock Exchange.
Mr. Nixon also proposed that China restore its participation in the Fulbright Program, a U.S. government-funded academic exchange.
export: {Company Country} exports Good to Country
Syntactic Patterns: Action Nominalization: export. Actor Nominalization: export.
Examples:
Only if inflation is tamed, analysts say, will the country remain a viable base for exports, such as the 80,000 Volkswagen Fox models sent this year to the U.S. for the first time.
Economically, he puts off repaying lenders who won't give him more money until he can increase oil-export capacity.
Some analysts said the move was an attempt to bring Kuwait's output within the quota agreed on by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.
farm: Person farms {Commodoties Farms}
Syntactic Patterns: Actor Nominalization: farmer.
Examples:
To use the nematodes, farmers will only have to drop a pack of dried worms into a sprayer, add water to revive the organisms, and apply to fields or orchards.
In the Pacific Northwest, fruit farmers are unable to attract enough workers to harvest their crops.
fire: Org fires Person
Syntactic Patterns: None.
Examples:
Domestic sales have collapsed, more than 12,000 auto workers have been fired, and cars are lined up in showrooms waiting for buyers.
Mr. Junger was fired.
This indicates that management intends to fire striking workers and replace them with new, non-unionized, ones.
head: {Person Company} head {Part-of-Co Org}
Syntactic Patterns: Actor Nominalization: head.
Examples:
The head trader of Chemical Banking Corp.'s interest-rate options group has left the company, following valuation errors that resulted in a $33 million charge against its third-quarter results.
Mr. Azoff resigned as head of MCA Records, a unit of MCA Inc., in September, and had been discussing a joint venture with both Warner and MCA.
Moreover, as a member of the Mitsubishi group, which is headed by one of Japan's largest banks, it is sure to win a favorable loan.
hire: {Person Org} hires {Person Company}
Syntactic Patterns: Actor Nominalization: hire.
Examples:
Such wage structures have been a nightmare for unions; they can be very divisive because new hires are paid less than senior workers.
What employers seem to dislike most is the added paperwork the new law requires on every new hire.
``I don't hire foreigners.''
import: {Country Company} imports Good from {Country Company}
Syntactic Patterns: Actor Nominalization: importer, import.
Examples:
The group didn't say in the filing why it sold its stock in the Atlanta operator of convenience craft and import stores.
And only if import bans on computers and many electronic goods are lifted can Brazil produce world-class cars incorporating the latest technologies.
Although Subaru moved the costs of some fourth-quarter incentives into the third quarter, analysts still raised their estimates for the fourth-quarter loss, because the company will still have to pay for incentives on cars yet to be imported from Japan.
invest: Coperorg invests Money in {Financial-Instrument Market Country Company}
Syntactic Patterns: Action Nominalization: investment. Actor Nominalization: investor, investment.
Examples:
The company said its directors, management and subsidiaries will remain long-term investors and won't tender any of their shares under the offer.
Mexico is sending a number of missions to Japan looking for a major breakthrough investment in telecommunications, petrochemicals or tourism.
The bill would thwart a recent Labor Department opinion that investing individual-retirement-account funds to earn free checking violates the law.
``Japanese companies need to invest in overseas real estate for diversification,'' says Yoshio Shima, an industry analyst at Goldman Sachs (Japan) Corp.
loan: {Bank Govt Country} {lends loans} Money to Coperorg
Syntactic Patterns: Action Nominalization: loan. Actor Nominalization: lender, loan.
Examples:
He already has finagled a $2 billion loan from the Japanese government.
The issue is 6% to 7% overcollateralized, and 75% of the loans are covered by a General Electric pool policy covering losses of as much as 10% of the original principal balance of the loans.
The holding company said it has been ``unfairly associated'' with other banks in New England that have had major loan losses in recent quarters.
manage: {Company Person} manages {Money Financial-Instrument Company Part-of-Co}
Syntactic Patterns: Action Nominalization: management. Actor Nominalization: manager, management.
Examples:
Together with the 3.6 million shares currently controlled by management, subsidiaries and directors, the completed tender offer would give Sea Containers a controlling stake.
Robert White, a vice president and manager of corporate trade at First Interstate of California, agreed with that view and predicted the U.S. federal funds rate will drop to between 7 3/4% and 8% within 60 days from its current level at 8 13/16%.
Nissan handled the die-hards in a typically Japanese fashion: They weren't fired but instead ``were neglected,'' says Kouji Hori, the personnel manager at the Nissan Technical Center.
A SEC proposal to ease reporting requirements for some company executives would undermine the usefulness of information on insider trades as a stock-picking tool, individual investors and professional money managers contend.
manufacture: {Company Facility Person} manufactures Good
Syntactic Patterns: Action Nominalization: manufacture. Actor Nominalization: manufacturer
Examples:
And in July, Nissan's Tennessee manufacturing plant beat back a United Auto Workers organizing effort with aggressive tactics that have left some workers bitter.
The company has been manufacturing carpet since 1967.
Martin Marietta Corp. said it won a $38.2 million contract from the U.S. Postal Service to manufacture and install automated mail-sorting machines.
Workers represented by the unions primarily work in GE's manufacturing businesses, including aircraft engine, major appliances, defense, aerospace, turbine, lighting and electrical motors.
market: {Company Person} markets {Good Financial-Instrument} to Person
Syntactic Patterns: Actor Nominalization: market.
Examples:
Five years of rapid expansion under American Brands, with an emphasis on marketing the agency's services instead of improving them, had hurt Pinkerton's profits, Mr. Wathen claims.
He spent most of his career formulating marketing strategies, but became best-known for chipping away at ad agency compensation.
But at a time of mounting concern over alcohol abuse, some liquor marketers consider Seagram's frequent buyer promotion risky.
meet: Coperorg meets Coperorg
Syntactic Patterns: Symmetric. Action Nominalization: meeting.
Examples:
Sea Containers will soon set a date for its annual shareholder meeting to seek holder approval for the offer.
Asked about the possibility of greater economic cooperation among Asia-Pacific nations, which will be discussed Nov. 6 and 7 at a ministerial meeting in Canberra, Mr. Lee said the goal ``is to have a free and open world trading system.''
The unusual seaborne meeting won't disrupt plans for a formal summit meeting next spring or summer, at which an arms-control treaty is likely to be completed.
merge: {Company Part-of-Co} merges with Company
Syntactic Patterns: Symmetric. Action Nominalization: merger.
Examples:
Before their merger, Ford do Brasil incurred a loss of $109.1 million in 1985 and $11.3 million in 1986, while Volkswagen do Brasil incurred losses of $35 million and $134 million in the same years.
AMC said its AMC Entertainment U.K. Ltd. unit would be merged into the as-yet unnamed venture, which will be managed as a stand-alone company by AMC's European management team.
Shawmut Corp. and Hartford National Corp. agreed to merge in a stock swap valued at about $2 billion.
operate: {Company Person} operates {Company Part-of-Co}
Syntactic Patterns: Action Nominalization: operation.
Examples:
Mr. Mingo was hospitalized Sept. 23 and died Monday, according to Samuel J. Chisholm, the agency's president and chief operating officer.
That compared with an operating loss of $1.9 million on sales of $27.4 million in the year-earlier period.
John R. Stevens, 49 years old, was named senior executive vice president and chief operating officer, both new positions.
own: {Person Company} owns {Assets Company}
Syntactic Patterns: Action Nominalization: ownership. Actor Nominalization: owner.
Examples:
Then there were two gold watches once owned by Allan Pinkerton, who founded the company in Chicago in 1850.
Moreover, such a sale could help Armstrong reassure its investors and deter the Belzbergs, who own a 9.85% stake in the Lancaster, Pa., company.
The two partners merely had to falsify the true ownership of the corporation.
pay: Coperorg pays {Money attention} to Coperorg for {Good Services debt Assets Company}
Syntactic Patterns: Action Nominalization: payment. Actor Nominalization: payment.
Examples:
The expected average life of the certificates is 10 years, with the final scheduled payment in October, 2001.
Like any other creditor, the pilots will have to apply to the court for payment of their claim.
The UAW also charged that the state applied its own standards for determining pay in a discriminatory manner.
Manville, a forest and building products concern, has offered to pay the trust $500 million for a majority of Manville's convertible preferred stock.
Two years later, he wrote to complain that the interest he was paying on an unsecured $10,000 loan was ``absolutely onerous.''
perform: {Company Person Financial-Instrument debt} performs
Syntactic Patterns: Action Nominalization: performance. Actor Nominalization: performer.
Examples:
But such operations typically aren't performed because there is no sign right after an injury that surgery would be beneficial.
Armstrong, which has faced a takeover threat from the Belzberg family of Canada since July, said that disposing of the carpet business would improve ``total financial performance.''
Indexing - Many investors, mainly institutions, follow an investment strategy of buying and holding a mix of stocks to match the performance of a broad stock-market barometer such as the S&P 500.
Performing loans.
price: {Person Org} prices {Financial-Instrument Good Services} at {Money Percent}
Syntactic Patterns: Actor Nominalization: price.
Examples:
Chrysler Corp. estimates that health costs add $700 to the price of each of its cars, about $300 to $500 more per car than foreign competitors pay for health.
Newsprint results continued to be depressed, the company added, because of industrywide price discounting.
Nissan instead has kept its new Stanza a bit smaller than that and cut the base price 6%; at $11,450, Stanza prices start $749 below the predecessor model yet have a more-powerful engine.
The first part, consisting of $151 million of 13 3/4% senior subordinated reset notes, was priced at 99.75.
produce: {Country Person Company Facility} produces Good
Syntactic Patterns: Action Nominalization: production. Actor Nominalization: producer, produce, product.
Examples:
This system produced boring, boxy cars that consumers just weren't buying.
A spokesman for Borden Inc., the nation's largest milk producer, concedes Goya may be on to something.
Warner Communications Inc., which is being acquired by Time Warner, has filed a $1 billion breach-of-contract suit against Sony and the two producers.
provide: Coperorg provides {Good Services Money} {to for} Coperorg
Syntactic Patterns: Actor Nominalization: provider.
Examples:
Whirpool will provide capital for the joint venture, as well as technical assistance and support in the design and manufacture of major appliances.
NRM Energy will also provide certain credit facilities for the new company.
Southwestern Bell's strategy has been to provide a single directory for the Washington area, which includes the District of Columbia and nearby communities in Virginia and Maryland.
purchase: Coperorg purchases {Company Real-Estate Financial-Instrument}
Syntactic Patterns: Action Nominalization: purchase. Actor Nominalization: pruchaser, purchase.
Examples:
More importantly, the volume of options written exceeded those purchased by almost 2-to-1.
Israeli officials confirmed that Energy Minister Moshe Shahal and his Canadian counterpart, Jake Epp, discussed a possible Israeli purchase of a $1.1 billion Canadian nuclear reactor for producing electricity.
Repeat customers also can purchase luxury items at reduced prices.
regulate: {Person Org} regulates {Company Financial-Instrument}
Syntactic Patterns: Action Nominalization: regulation. Actor Nominalization: regulator.
Examples:
The utilities commission ``isn't exactly a fertile ground from which to run for public office,'' he says, citing a recent poll that shows most people in Ohio think the commission is in the pocket of the utilities it regulates.
As previously reported, the investigation of Matthews & Wright has led to an unprecedented examination of the largely unregulated municipal bond industry.
In their ruling, the justices said, ``It is now for the Legislature to decide what, if any, authority it will give the commissioner to regulate the underwriting practices of life, health and accident insurers.''
restructure: {Person Org} restructures {Company Part-of-Co}
Syntactic Patterns: None.
Examples:
Gillette Co., Boston, said it is planning to restructure its South African subsidiary.
News of the restructuring plan sent Sea Containers' shares up $1 to $62 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading.
Analysts said the fall in pretax profit was due to the group's recent restructuring and sale of peripheral units, and that its remaining businesses are performing well.
While Mrs. Ward fired and restructured staff and struggled to improve curriculum, Mrs. Yeargin worked 14-hour days and fast became a student favorite.
retire: Person retires
Syntactic Patterns: Action Nominalization: retirement. Actor Nominalization: retiree.
Examples:
In Sao Paulo state, one retired military police officer was recently found to be earning more than $16,000 a month.
Sen. Proxmire's decision to retire signals the beginning of a political free-for-all among both Democrats and Republicans for his seat.
retire: Company retires debt
Syntactic Patterns: Action Nominalization: retirement.
Examples:
In November 1986 the utility retired $76,909,000 of the bonds through a tender offer.
The Oct. 1 redemption will retire the entire $100 million issue.
save: {Person Org Event} saves {Money job Person}
Syntactic Patterns: None.
Examples:
``I will save the money until I marry,'' says the 29-year-old civil servant.
In addition, if future interest rates are lower than the portable mortgage's rate, a homeowner might save money by getting a new mortgage.
Curtis Smith, a 51-year-old press operator, was forced to sacrifice pension benefits to save his job.
The computerization of such tasks as distribution of documents to all lawyers on the Xerox team, retrieval of documents, and document storage that allows the lawyers to build on past work has saved $15 million in legal fees this year, Mr. Banks estimates.
sell: {Org Person} sells {Assets Good} to {Company Person}
Syntactic Patterns: Middle. Action Nominalization: sale. Actor Nominalization: seller.
Examples:
It has long been rumored that Ocean Drilling would sell the unit to concentrate on its core oil and gas business.
Trinity Industries Inc. said it reached a preliminary agreement to sell 500 railcar platforms to Trailer Train Co. of Chicago.
The Treasury plans to sell $30 billion in notes and bonds next week but will delay the auction unless Congress quickly raises the debt ceiling.
A computer using the more-advanced Intel Corp. 386 microprocessor, with four megabytes of memory and a 100-megabyte hard disk now sells for $5,699, down from $6,799.
strike: {Person Org} strikes Company
Syntactic Patterns: Action Nominalization: strike. Actor Nominalization: striker.
Examples:
It also is the target for a possible strike should negotiations fail, while the non-target company usually gets an indefinite contract extension without a walkout.
BLACK MINERS AGREED to end their three-week strike in South Africa.
strike: Country strikes Country
Syntactic Patterns: None.
Examples:
Iraqi officials say their primary financiers, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, tell them to limit their attacks, to avoid pushing Iran into strikes against the two vulnerable kingdoms.
takeover: {Company Person} takes over Company
Syntactic Patterns: Action Nominalization: takeover.
Examples:
The company, which has 13.8 million common shares outstanding, said in mid-June that it was considering a restructuring to ward off a hostile takeover attempt by two European shipping concerns.
In a surprise move, the British government cleared the way for a bidding war for Jaguar PLC by agreeing to remove an obstacle to a takeover of the auto maker.
Georgia Gulf received a new takeover bid from investor Harold Simmons and NL Industries of $50 a share, or about $1.1 billion.
talk: Coperorg talks with Coperorg
Syntactic Patterns: Symmetric. Action Nominalization: talk.
Examples:
It's George Bush wanting to meet a foreign leader and talk to him directly.''
Aside from the Soviet economic plight and talks on cutting strategic and chemical arms, one other issue the Soviets are likely to want to raise is naval force reductions.
People close to the GM-Jaguar talks agreed that Ford now may be able to shut out General Motors.
trade: {Person Country Company} trades {Financial-Instrument Good} with {Person Country Company}
Syntactic Patterns: Symmetric. Action Nominalization: trade. Actor Nominalization: trader.
Examples:
Mr. Gorbachev has for months been publicly urging the U.S. to drop its restrictions on Soviet trade.
The project is one of a select group of public projects opened to U.S. firms under a U.S.-Japan construction trade agreement reached last year.
Despite the modest gains, traders said the market remains dull, with investors remaining cautiously on the sidelines.
underwrite: Company underwrites {debt Financial-Instrument}
Syntactic Patterns: Actor Nominalization: underwriter.
Examples:
Eppler, Guerin & Turner Inc. is the lead underwriter for the offering.
Senate Banking Chairman Proxmire will press legislation giving banks authority to underwrite certain securities.
Matthews & Wright disclosed earlier this month that it had been the underwriter of 44 of the 74 bond issues named in an SEC subpoena it received in July.
yield: {Financial-Instrument Farms} yield {Money Percent Commodoties}
Syntactic Patterns: Action Nominalization: yield. Actor Nominalization: yield.
Examples:
Continental Cablevision Inc. - $350 million of senior subordinated debentures, due Nov. 1, 2004, was priced at par to yield 12 7/8%.
Both the Series 1989 A and Series 1989 B bonds were priced to yield from 6% in 1991 to 7.15% in 2008-2009, according to a Merrill Lynch official.
The first hybrid corn seeds produced using this mechanical approach were introduced in the 1930s and they yielded as much as 20% more corn than naturally pollinated plants.