Tagging with TreeTagger

How to get started

• download the zip-file with TreeTagger, GUI and parameter files for English, German and French
• unpack the zip-file on your computer or on a USB-stick
• it creates a directory TreeTagger containing:
  • directories: bin (program files), lib (parameter files)
  • files: INSTALL.txt, README.txt
• if you do not have a Perl interpreter installed you need to install one (normally this is the case)

Tag your first text with TreeTagger

• download the sample files and unpack them on your computer or USB-stick
• go to the directory TreeTagger/bin
• open the TreeTagger GUI by double-clicking on wintreetagger.exe
• this should open a pop-up window
  • the instructions here will use the English language setting. If you prefer German you can click on the small German flag at the bottom right.

• the GUI gives access to all parameters of the TreeTagger grouped in:
  • Language, Task, Output for each token, Input Options, Tokenization Options, Tagging Options
• we will need to change the Language as the sample files are in Latin-1
  • choose the second English
  • you will see that the Model information below the Language-box changes to Model english-par, Trained on Latin-1
• load a plain-text-file by clicking in the window below Input File
  • a pop-up window for browsing your file system will open
  • go to the directory were you unpacked the sample files and choose grimm_sample.txt
  • click on Open or Öffnen
• set a name for the output file by clicking in the window below Output File
  • a pop-up window for browsing your file system will open
  • you will already be in the directory were you choose the input file from
  • choose grimm_sample.txt and append a .tagged so that the output file will be grimm_sample.txt.tagged
  • click on Save or Speichern
• click on Run
• once the TreeTagger is finished, you will wee a small pop-up window reading TreeTagger finished
• click on OK
• the tagged file will not pop up, but it has been written to the directory you have chosen

Tagging text with XML/SGML tags

• the sample file grimm_sample.txt contained plain-text only
• the sample file grimm_sample.xml additionally contains meta-data information and annotations using XML/SGML tags
• What happens if you tag the text grimm_sample.xml with the same settings we used for grimm_sample.txt? - give it a try!
  • the XML/SGML tags are treaded by TreeTagger as if they were normal words and are assigned a part-of-speach tag and a lemma
• however, what we want TreeTagger to do is ignore the XML/SGML tags, leaving them as they are
• in order to tell TreeTagger to ignore the XML/SGML tags, we need to tick the Input Option SGML tags present
  • the XML/SGML tags have to be on a separate line!
• tag grimm_sample.xml with this option and have a look at the output file.