# Text Span Annotation Guidelines

This document describes how the text side of the **bidirectional concept
correspondence** dataset is annotated. The task is defined over an image–text
pair: the goal is to recover all correspondences between visually referential
text spans and instance-level image masks. The image side is a set of binary
instance segmentation masks (one per visual entity). These guidelines cover the
**text side only** — what counts as a valid text span and how spans are grouped
by entity instance.

---

## Overview

The text annotation for one image–text pair is a set of **groups**:

```
{
  G1: [[start, end), [start, end), ...],   ← all text spans mentioning entity 1
  G2: [[start, end), [start, end), ...],   ← all text spans mentioning entity 2
  ...
}
```

Each group corresponds to **one visual entity instance** and collects every
character span in the text that mentions that entity — including the first
noun phrase, subsequent pronouns, and any repeated references. A group maps
one-to-one with one instance mask on the image side.

**Character spans** are `[start, end)` half-open intervals over the text string.
Indices are **0-based Unicode code points**, equivalent to Python `str` indexing
(`text[start:end]` extracts the span text). Not UTF-8 bytes.

**Multiple spans per group** is the norm, not the exception. A caption like
"A woman sits at a table. She reads a book." produces a Woman group with two
spans: `"A woman"` and `"She"`. There is no restriction to a single contiguous
span — all character regions that mention the same entity belong together.

**Cross-group overlap** is allowed and expected. A shared type anchor like
"Two dogs" appears in both Dog-A and Dog-B groups. A possessive like "his"
overlaps with "his phone" across groups. The key invariant is **within a single
group, no two spans may overlap**.

---

## 1. What to Annotate

Annotate all **concrete, tangible, visually groundable** entities — entities
that correspond to a segmentable region in the image.

### Annotate

- **People and animals**: man, woman, child, dog, cat, bird, horse
- **Objects**: car, phone, umbrella, ball, cup, book, surfboard
- **Furniture and structures**: table, bench, chair, building, fence, bridge
- **Tools and vehicles**: hammer, bicycle, truck, boat
- **Natural features (countable)**: river, tree, mountain, hill, lake, rock,
  cloud — treated as **things** (see §3.3)
- **Tangible body parts**: hand, face, leg, eye, wing, beak — annotated as
  **separate entities** with their own groups (see §3.6)
- **Stuff classes**: sky, water, grass, road, snow, sand, ocean, pavement,
  floor, ceiling, wall, ground, field, fog, mud, ice — always a **single
  group** per stuff type (see §3.3)
- **Named entities**: John, Mary, London; multi-word proper nouns with `of`
  ("University of Washington", "Statue of Liberty") as a single span (§2.8.4)
- **Indefinite pronouns (existential)**: `someone`, `something`, `somebody`
  — refer to a specific (unknown) entity in the scene
- **Reflexive / reciprocal pronouns**: `himself`, `herself`, `themselves`,
  `each other` — placed in the antecedent's group via coreference (§3.4)
- **Demonstrative pronouns (standalone)**: `this`, `that`, `these`, `those`
  used pronominally ("these are nice", "that is a dog") — placed in the
  referent's group via §3.4
- **First / second person pronouns**: `I`, `me`, `we`, `us`, `you`
  — valid spans when they refer to a visible person in the scene. Skip generic /
  impersonal `you` ("you can see the dog" — no specific referent)

### Do NOT Annotate

- **Meta-references to the image medium**: photograph, image, picture, frame,
  photo, shot, capture
- **Abstract/spatial concepts**: background, foreground, scene, corner, side,
  center, area, edge, the left, the right, view, atmosphere, mood, setting
- **Universal / negative indefinite pronouns**: `nobody`, `nothing`, `no one`,
  `everyone`, `everybody`, `everything`
- **Negative-determiner NPs**: `no dog`, `no people`, `not a single hat`
- **Verbs and function words**: running, is, are, there (existential)
- **Pleonastic pronouns**: "it" in "it is raining"
- **Punctuation**

**Gerunds**: Annotate a `-ing` form only when it functions as a noun referring
to a concrete entity ("the building" the noun). Do not annotate when it is a
verb ("they are building a house").

**Never skip annotation.** Every text containing at least one concrete entity
must be annotated. Vague plurals, generic references, and stuff classes all
receive groups.

---

## 2. Span Boundaries

Each span covers **the head noun phrase plus its premodifiers only**. This
section defines exactly what goes inside a span and what does not.

### 2.1 Span Types

| Type | Pattern | Examples |
|------|---------|---------|
| **Noun phrase** | (article \| quantifier \| count \| demonstrative \| possessive)? + attribute(s)? + head noun | "the dog", "a red car", "an umbrella", "Two dogs", "Several people", "another man", "this dog", "all the people", "a couple of dogs", "ice-cream", "John" |
| **Pronoun** | Personal pronoun or standalone demonstrative as entity reference | "he", "she", "it", "they", "him", "her", "them", "that" (in "that is mine") |
| **Selector** | Selector alone or with article — no spatial modifier, no PP, no participle | "one", "other", "another", "the other", "the third", "the first", "this one", "that one" |
| **Possessive** | Possessive determiner or `'s` form — alone or combined with a head noun | "his", "his phone", "her", "her bag", "John's", "John's phone" |

Premodifiers (article, quantifier, count, demonstrative, possessive, attributes)
are all part of a **single span** with the head noun. "the red car" is one span
`[start_of_the, end_of_car)`, not three separate spans.

### 2.2 Article Inclusion

Articles (`the`, `a`, `an`) are **always included** in entity spans when they
directly precede the noun phrase.

| Text | Span | NOT this |
|------|------|---------|
| "the dog" | "the dog" | ~~"dog"~~ |
| "a red car" | "a red car" | ~~"red car"~~ |
| "an umbrella" | "an umbrella" | ~~"umbrella"~~ |
| "the other" | "the other" | ~~"other"~~ |
| "the third" | "the third" | ~~"third"~~ |
| "a cup of coffee" (cup as entity) | "a cup of coffee" | ~~"cup of coffee"~~ |

Demonstratives ("this", "that") are determiners, not articles — already included
in v1 and continue to be. "this dog" is one span; "that one" is one span.

Quantifier + article: "all the people" → one span "all the people"; "both the
dogs" → one span "both the dogs".

### 2.3 Premodifier-Only Rule

A span covers the head noun and its **premodifiers only**:

```
[ article | quantifier | count | demonstrative | possessive ]?
[ attribute(s) ]?
HEAD NOUN
× nothing after the head noun
```

Everything **after** the head noun is excluded: PPs, postmodifying participles,
postmodifying spatial words, relative clauses, and further appended attributes.

| Text | Span | Why |
|------|------|-----|
| "a barking dog" | `a barking dog` | Premodifier participle — included |
| "a dog barking" | `a dog` | Postmodifier participle — excluded |
| "a tall man" | `a tall man` | Premodifier attribute — included |
| "a man with a hat" | `a man` + `a hat` | Postmodifier PP — excluded; hat is its own entity |
| "one in front" | `one` | Postmodifier spatial — excluded |
| "the third on the left" | `the third` | Postmodifier PP — excluded |
| "a man holding a phone" | `a man` + `a phone` | Postmodifier participle — excluded |
| "the dog that I saw" | `the dog` | Relative clause — excluded |

The only postmodifiers ever kept inside a span are the two compound-NP patterns
in §2.8.

Also exclude from all spans:
- **Prepositions**: on, in, near, between, to, at
- **Conjunctions**: and, but, or, while
- **Standalone spatial regions**: "the left", "the right", "the background"
- **Existential "there"**: as in "there are three dogs"
- **Pleonastic "it"**: as in "it is raining"
- **Punctuation and whitespace**

### 2.4 Within-Group No-Overlap

Within a single group, no two spans may overlap or nest.

When two spans would be generated where one subsumes the other, keep only
the **longer** span.

| Text | Wrong | Right |
|------|-------|-------|
| "this tree" | ["this tree", "tree"] | ["this tree"] |
| "the dog" | ["the dog", "dog"] | ["the dog"] |
| "his phone" | ["his phone", "phone"] | ["his phone"] |

Cross-group overlap is always allowed — see §2.5 (possessives) and §2.8
(compound NPs).

### 2.5 Possessives (Cross-Group Overlap)

Possessive determiners and possessive nouns create cross-group overlap:

- **Possessive alone** ("his", "her", "its", "John's") → goes in the
  **possessor's** group
- **Possessive + noun phrase** ("his phone", "John's phone") → goes in the
  **possessed entity's** group

Example:
- "his" [start_of_his, end_of_his) → in Person's group
- "his phone" [start_of_his, end_of_phone) → in Phone's group
- These spans overlap across groups — this is expected and correct

### 2.6 Compound NPs — Two Exceptions to §2.3

These are the **only** postmodifier exceptions.

#### 2.6.1 Counter + Content — Fixed Single Span

`<counter> of <noun>` → whole phrase is one span for the content entity:

- "a pair of glasses" → `a pair of glasses` in Glasses group
- "a stack of books" → `a stack of books` in Books group
- "a herd of cows" → `a herd of cows` in Cows group
- "all of them" / "all of the dogs" → single span (universal quantifier `all`
  covers the whole set — contrast with partitive selectors in §2.7)

No choice here: counter phrases always stay attached.

#### 2.6.2 Container + Content — Context-Dependent (Three Patterns)

`<container> of <content>` where both are visually groundable ("a cup of
coffee", "a bottle of wine") — choose one of three patterns:

**Pattern A — Container only**: "She lifted **a cup** of coffee" → span `a cup`
in Cup group only.

**Pattern B — Content only**: "She sipped the **coffee**" → span `the coffee`
in Coffee group.

**Pattern C — Both entities, full phrase shared**: "A cup of coffee sits on the
table" → span `A cup of coffee` appears in Cup group AND Coffee group (cross-group
overlap).

When in doubt and both are visually grounded, use Pattern C. Other PPs are never
combined this way ("the man with a dog" → `the man` + `a dog` separately).

#### 2.6.3 Named Entities with `of` — Single Span

`<PROPN> of <PROPN>` proper nouns are a fixed single span:

- "University of Washington" → `University of Washington`
- "Statue of Liberty" → `Statue of Liberty`
- "the Statue of Liberty" → includes the article per §2.2

### 2.7 Partitive Constructions — Two Spans Required

`<partitive head> of <NP>` produces **two separate spans**, never combined:

| Text | Spans | Notes |
|------|-------|-------|
| "one of them" | `one`, `them` | `them` co-refers to its antecedent group |
| "one of the dogs" | `one`, `the dogs` | |
| "two of the dogs" | `two`, `the dogs` | Cardinals behave like selectors |
| "the third of them" | `the third`, `them` | Ordinal selector |
| "some of the cars" | `some`, `the cars` | |
| "both of them" | `both`, `them` | |
| "each of the children" | `each`, `the children` | |

**Trigger forms:** cardinals (one, two, …, ten), ordinal selectors (first,
second, …, tenth, other, another, former, latter), quantifier selectors (some,
many, few, several, both, each, none, most, any, either, neither).

**Exception — `all`**: "all of them" → **single span** (§2.6.1). `all` covers
the whole set; it is not a subset selector.

Both sides must be annotated. If only one side is present, the other is a missing
span.

---

## 3. Grouping Rules

A group = one visual entity instance = one image mask on the image side.
All text spans that mention the same instance go in the same group.

### 3.1 Same-Type Instance Splitting

When a text mentions a specific count of same-type entities AND provides instance
markers, create **separate groups** sharing a type anchor:

- **Trigger**: explicit count + instance selectors (one/other, first/second/third,
  this/that)
- **Shared type anchor**: The count phrase (e.g., "Two dogs") appears in **all**
  groups for that entity type
- **Instance markers**: Each selector goes only in its respective group

**Count without selectors** ("Two dogs are playing") → single group, one span
"Two dogs". Count alone is not enough to split.

Example: "Two dogs, one is big and the other is small"
- G1 (Dog A): spans `"Two dogs"` and `"one"`
- G2 (Dog B): spans `"Two dogs"` and `"the other"`

#### 3.1.1 Distributive Adjective Coordination

When coordinated adjectives modify a shared head noun and the modifiers are
mutually exclusive (one entity cannot have both properties), the construction
refers to **two distinct entities** with the head noun elided on one side:

| Caption | Span 1 | Span 2 |
|---------|--------|--------|
| "the rightmost and leftmost bus" | `rightmost bus` (Bus A) | `leftmost` (Bus B, elided head) |
| "the wooden and metal chair" | `wooden chair` (Chair A) | `metal` (Chair B, elided head) |

Contrast: "red and white fringe" → 1 Fringe (co-occurring properties on the
same entity). Annotate as a single span.

### 3.2 Vague/Generic Plurals

No explicit count or distinguishing markers → **single group**:

- "Several people" → 1 group
- "Dogs playing in the yard" → 1 group
- "many cars", "few children", "all the people" → 1 group each

### 3.3 Stuff vs. Things

**Stuff classes** (amorphous, uncountable): sky, water, grass, road, snow, sand,
pavement, floor, ceiling, wall, ocean, ground, field, fog, mud, ice. Always a
single group:
- "the sky" → 1 group; "the snow on the ground" → 2 groups (Snow, Ground)

**Things, not stuff** (reclassified from v1): river, mountain, tree, hill, lake,
cloud, rock. Follow §3.1 / §3.2:
- "a river" → 1 thing group
- "Two mountains, one on the left, one on the right" → 2 thing groups

Forest is treated as stuff. Individual trees are things.

### 3.4 Coreference — Multiple Spans Per Group

All mentions of the same entity go in the same group:

- **Repeated references**: "A dog ran by. The dog was fast." → `"A dog"` +
  `"The dog"` both in Dog's group
- **Pronouns**: "A woman sat down. She smiled." → `"A woman"` + `"She"` in
  Woman's group
- **Synonyms**: only when they unambiguously co-refer in this text

Pleonastic pronouns ("it is raining") have no referent and are not annotated.

**Anaphoric `one` / `ones`** is NOT coreference. It introduces a NEW INSTANCE:
- "the red ball, not the blue **one**" → `the red ball` in Ball-A group;
  `the blue one` in Ball-B group (different instances)

Personal pronouns (`it` / `they` / `them`) DO refer to the same instance and
merge via coreference.

### 3.5 Compound Possessives

Apply §2.5 to any possessor, including non-human entities:
- "the dog's" → Dog group; "the dog's tail" → Tail group

### 3.6 Body Parts

Body parts are separate entities with their own groups:
- "A man raises his hand" → Man group + Hand group (separate)
- "his hand" → full phrase in Hand's group; "his" alone in Man's group

**Paired body parts** follow thing rules (§3.1 / §3.2):
- "his eyes" / "her hands" (bare plural, no markers) → **1 group** each
- "his two hands, one holding a cup and the other a phone" → 2 Hand groups

---

## 4. Examples

All spans below are verified: `text[start:end]` equals the listed text.

### Example 1: Multiple Spans Per Group (Coreference)

**Text**: `"A woman sits at a table. She reads a book."`

| Span text | Positions |
|-----------|-----------|
| A woman | [0, 7) |
| a table | [16, 23) |
| She | [25, 28) |
| a book | [35, 41) |

**Groups:**
- G1 (Woman): `[[0,7], [25,28]]` — "A woman" + "She"
- G2 (Table): `[[16,23]]`
- G3 (Book): `[[35,41]]`

**Key points:** The Woman group has **two spans** at different positions because
"She" co-refers to "A woman". This multi-span group maps to a single woman mask
on the image side.

---

### Example 2: Shared Type Anchor (Cross-Group Overlap)

**Text**: `"Two dogs are playing near a river while one chases a ball and the other watches."`

| Span text | Positions |
|-----------|-----------|
| Two dogs | [0, 8) |
| a river | [26, 33) |
| one | [40, 43) |
| a ball | [51, 57) |
| the other | [62, 71) |

**Groups:**
- G1 (Dog A): `[[0,8], [40,43]]` — "Two dogs" + "one"
- G2 (Dog B): `[[0,8], [62,71]]` — "Two dogs" + "the other"
- G3 (River): `[[26,33]]`
- G4 (Ball): `[[51,57]]`

**Key points:** "Two dogs" at [0,8) appears in BOTH G1 and G2 — this is
cross-group overlap. Each dog group maps to its own instance mask.

---

### Example 3: Three Instances with Selectors

**Text**: `"Three people stand on a sidewalk; one holds an umbrella, another checks a phone, and the third looks away."`

| Span text | Positions |
|-----------|-----------|
| Three people | [0, 12) |
| a sidewalk | [22, 32) |
| one | [34, 37) |
| an umbrella | [44, 55) |
| another | [57, 64) |
| a phone | [72, 79) |
| the third | [85, 94) |

**Groups:**
- G1 (Person A): `[[0,12], [34,37]]`
- G2 (Person B): `[[0,12], [57,64]]`
- G3 (Person C): `[[0,12], [85,94]]`
- G4 (Sidewalk): `[[22,32]]`
- G5 (Umbrella): `[[44,55]]`
- G6 (Phone): `[[72,79]]`

---

### Example 4: Selector + Noun Combined

**Text**: `"A man walks down a street while another man waits at a bench."`

| Span text | Positions |
|-----------|-----------|
| A man | [0, 5) |
| a street | [17, 25) |
| another man | [32, 43) |
| a bench | [53, 60) |

**Groups:**
- G1 (Man A): `[[0,5]]`
- G2 (Man B): `[[32,43]]`
- G3 (Street): `[[17,25]]`
- G4 (Bench): `[[53,60]]`

**Key points:** "another man" is one combined span. No shared type anchor —
each man is referred to individually.

---

### Example 5: Attributes in Spans

**Text**: `"A red car is parked next to a blue car near a tall building."`

| Span text | Positions |
|-----------|-----------|
| A red car | [0, 9) |
| a blue car | [28, 38) |
| a tall building | [44, 59) |

**Groups:**
- G1 (Car A): `[[0,9]]`
- G2 (Car B): `[[28,38]]`
- G3 (Building): `[[44,59]]`

---

### Example 6: Vague Plural

**Text**: `"Several people are walking near some trees and a fountain."`

| Span text | Positions |
|-----------|-----------|
| Several people | [0, 14) |
| some trees | [32, 42) |
| a fountain | [47, 57) |

**Groups:**
- G1 (People): `[[0,14]]` — single group, vague plural
- G2 (Trees): `[[32,42]]` — single group, vague plural thing
- G3 (Fountain): `[[47,57]]`

---

### Example 7: Stuff Classes

**Text**: `"A dog runs across a sandy beach under a cloudy sky near the ocean."`

| Span text | Positions |
|-----------|-----------|
| A dog | [0, 5) |
| a sandy beach | [18, 31) |
| a cloudy sky | [37, 50) |
| the ocean | [56, 65) |

**Groups:**
- G1 (Dog): `[[0,5]]`
- G2 (Beach): `[[18,31]]` — stuff class, 1 group
- G3 (Sky): `[[37,50]]` — stuff class, 1 group
- G4 (Ocean): `[[56,65]]` — stuff class, 1 group

---

### Example 8: Possessives and Body Parts

**Text**: `"A man raises his hand to wave his phone."`

| Span text | Positions |
|-----------|-----------|
| A man | [0, 5) |
| his (1st) | [13, 16) |
| his hand | [13, 21) |
| his (2nd) | [30, 33) |
| his phone | [30, 39) |

**Groups:**
- G1 (Man): `[[0,5], [13,16], [30,33]]` — "A man" + both "his"
- G2 (Hand): `[[13,21]]`
- G3 (Phone): `[[30,39]]`

**Key points:** "his" at [13,16) is in Man's group AND overlaps with "his hand"
at [13,21) in Hand's group (cross-group overlap). The Man group has three spans.

---

### Example 9: Compound Noun Phrases

**Text**: `"A cup of coffee sits on a wooden shelf next to a pair of glasses."`

**Pattern C (both salient):**

| Span text | Positions |
|-----------|-----------|
| A cup of coffee | [0, 15) |
| a wooden shelf | [24, 38) |
| a pair of glasses | [47, 64) |

- G1 (Cup): `[[0,15]]`
- G2 (Coffee): `[[0,15]]` — same span, different group (cross-group overlap)
- G3 (Shelf): `[[24,38]]`
- G4 (Glasses): `[[47,64]]` — counter+content fixed span (§2.6.1)

---

### Example 10: Selectors with Excluded Postmodifiers

**Text**: `"Two cyclists ride past a café; one in front is faster than one behind."`

| Span text | Positions |
|-----------|-----------|
| Two cyclists | [0, 12) |
| a café | [23, 29) |
| one (1st) | [31, 34) |
| one (2nd) | [59, 62) |

**Groups:**
- G1 (Cyclist A): `[[0,12], [31,34]]`
- G2 (Cyclist B): `[[0,12], [59,62]]`
- G3 (Café): `[[23,29]]`

**Key points:** "in front" and "behind" are excluded (postmodifier spatial words,
§2.3). The two `"one"` spans at [31,34) and [59,62) are distinguishable by
position. "é" in "café" is 1 Unicode code point — use code-point indices.

---

### Example 11: Paired Body Parts

**Text**: `"A woman covers her eyes with her hands."`

| Span text | Positions |
|-----------|-----------|
| A woman | [0, 7) |
| her (1st) | [15, 18) |
| her eyes | [15, 23) |
| her (2nd) | [29, 32) |
| her hands | [29, 38) |

**Groups:**
- G1 (Woman): `[[0,7], [15,18], [29,32]]`
- G2 (Eyes): `[[15,23]]` — 1 group (paired body part, vague plural)
- G3 (Hands): `[[29,38]]` — 1 group (paired body part, vague plural)

---

### Example 12: Possessive Noun (`'s`)

**Text**: `"John's dog chases Mary's cat across the lawn."`

| Span text | Positions |
|-----------|-----------|
| John's | [0, 6) |
| John's dog | [0, 10) |
| Mary's | [18, 24) |
| Mary's cat | [18, 28) |
| the lawn | [36, 44) |

**Groups:**
- G1 (John): `[[0,6]]`
- G2 (Dog): `[[0,10]]`
- G3 (Mary): `[[18,24]]`
- G4 (Cat): `[[18,28]]`
- G5 (Lawn): `[[36,44]]`

---

## 5. Quick Reference

| Pattern | Rule | Span |
|---------|------|------|
| "the dog" | Article included | "the dog" |
| "a red car" | Article + attributes | "a red car" |
| "an umbrella" | Article included | "an umbrella" |
| "the other" | Article + selector | "the other" |
| "the third" | Article + selector | "the third" |
| "another man" | Selector + noun = one span | "another man" |
| "one" (standalone) | Selector alone | "one" |
| "one in front" | Postmodifier excluded (§2.3) | "one" |
| "one behind" | Postmodifier excluded (§2.3) | "one" |
| "this one" | Demonstrative + selector = one span | "this one" |
| "this dog" | Demonstrative + noun = one span | "this dog" |
| "that" (entity ref) | Demonstrative pronoun | "that" |
| "a cup of coffee" | Container + content (§2.6.2) | A/B/C per context |
| "a pair of glasses" | Counter + content (§2.6.1) — fixed | "a pair of glasses" |
| "a stack of books" | Counter + content (§2.6.1) — fixed | "a stack of books" |
| "all of them" | Universal quantifier — single span (§2.6.1) | "all of them" |
| "one of them" | Partitive — TWO spans (§2.7) | "one" + "them" |
| "one of the dogs" | Partitive — TWO spans (§2.7) | "one" + "the dogs" |
| "two of the dogs" | Partitive — TWO spans (§2.7) | "two" + "the dogs" |
| "some of the cars" | Partitive — TWO spans (§2.7) | "some" + "the cars" |
| "both of them" / "each of them" | Partitive — TWO spans (§2.7) | quantifier + "them" |
| "someone" / "something" | Indefinite pronoun — annotate | the pronoun |
| "nobody" / "everyone" / "nothing" | Universal/negative — NOT annotated | — |
| "no dog" / "not a single hat" | Negative-determiner NP — NOT annotated | — |
| "himself" / "each other" | Reflexive/reciprocal — in antecedent's group | the pronoun |
| "the blue one" (anaphoric) | New instance — SEPARATE group from antecedent | "the blue one" |
| "the rightmost and leftmost bus" | Distributive ADJ (§3.1.1) — TWO spans | "rightmost bus" + "leftmost" |
| "these" / "those" (standalone) | Demonstrative pronoun | the demonstrative |
| "I" / "me" / "you" (referential) | 1st/2nd person — valid when referring to visible person | the pronoun |
| "you" (generic) | Generic — NOT annotated | — |
| "University of Washington" | Named entity with `of` — single span (§2.6.3) | "University of Washington" |
| "a barking dog" | Premodifier participle — included | "a barking dog" |
| "a dog barking" | Postmodifier participle — excluded | "a dog" |
| "a man with a hat" | PP excluded; hat is its own entity | "a man" + "a hat" |
| "the dog that I saw" | Relative clause excluded | "the dog" |
| "Two dogs" | Count + noun = one span | "Two dogs" |
| "2 dogs" | Digit count behaves the same | "2 dogs" |
| "Several people" | Quantifier + noun | "Several people" |
| "all the people" | Quantifier + article + noun | "all the people" |
| "a couple of dogs" | Multi-word quantifier | "a couple of dogs" |
| "his" | Possessive → possessor's group | in Person group |
| "his phone" | Possessive + noun → possessed entity's group | in Phone group |
| "John's phone" | Possessive noun + noun → possessed entity's group | in Phone group |
| "she" / "he" / "it" | Pronoun → merged into referent's group | same group |
| "Two dogs" only (no markers) | Count alone → single group | 1 group |
| "Two dogs" + selectors | Count + markers → split | separate groups, shared anchor |
| "sky" / "water" | Stuff class → 1 group | always 1 group |
| "river" / "mountain" / "tree" | Things (reclassified v2) — follow §3.1/§3.2 | per instance count |
| "his eyes" / "her hands" | Paired body part → 1 group (vague plural) | 1 group per type |
| "ice-cream" / "T-shirt" | Hyphenated entity = one span | whole token |
| "the building" (noun) | Gerund-as-noun → annotated | "the building" |
| "they are building" (verb) | Gerund-as-verb → not annotated | — |
| "photograph" / "image" | Meta-reference — not annotated | — |
| "background" / "the left" | Abstract/spatial — not annotated | — |
| "it is raining" ("it") | Pleonastic — not annotated | — |
| "café" length | "é" = 1 code point | use code-point indices |