From Categories to Decisions: A Framework for Attitudinal Analysis of Evaluative Language

Jiamei Zeng, Haitao Wang, Harry Bunt, Xinyu Cao, Min Dong, Tianyong Hao, Kiyong Lee, James Pustejovsky, Laurent Romary, Jianfang Zong, François Claude Rey, Sylviane Cardey, Yangli Jia, Shengqing Liao, Alex Chengyu Fang


Abstract
The study reported in this paper aims to contribute to the development of an annotation scheme for evaluative language, based on Appraisal Theory, that addresses key sources of classification problems. In particular. it aims to develops a unified annotation scheme that proposes (1) a three-component annotation model comprising Appraiser, Appraised and Appraisal Element, (2) the operationalised distinction between Affect and Appreciation governed by a criterion of experiencer salience and a criterion distinguishing personal emotions from evaluations of conduct, and (3) a decision framework for the Judgement-Appreciation distinction structured on the target and lexis types operating through override conditions and substitution tests. The revised framework is illustrated with examples selected from a corpus of news discourse in English and is designed to be replicable across future Appraisal-based studies of evaluative language.
Anthology ID:
2026.isa-1.14
Volume:
Proceedings of the 22nd Joint ACL - ISO Workshop on Interoperable Semantic Annotation and Representation (ISA-22) @ LREC 2026
Month:
May
Year:
2026
Address:
Palma, Mallorca (Spain)
Editor:
Harry Bunt
Venues:
ISA | WS
SIG:
Publisher:
ELRA Language Resources Association (ELRA)
Note:
Pages:
134–143
Language:
External URL:
https://lrec.elra.info/lrec2026-ws-isa-14
DOI:
10.63317/4sv645t72r82
Bibkey:
Cite (ACL):
Jiamei Zeng, Haitao Wang, Harry Bunt, Xinyu Cao, Min Dong, Tianyong Hao, Kiyong Lee, James Pustejovsky, Laurent Romary, Jianfang Zong, François Claude Rey, Sylviane Cardey, Yangli Jia, Shengqing Liao, and Alex Chengyu Fang. 2026. From Categories to Decisions: A Framework for Attitudinal Analysis of Evaluative Language. In Proceedings of the 22nd Joint ACL - ISO Workshop on Interoperable Semantic Annotation and Representation (ISA-22) @ LREC 2026, pages 134–143, Palma, Mallorca (Spain). ELRA Language Resources Association (ELRA).
Cite (Informal):
From Categories to Decisions: A Framework for Attitudinal Analysis of Evaluative Language (Zeng et al., ISA 2026)
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