Semantic labeling with fulfillers in multilingual contexts

Abstract

This article introduces a novel approach to semantic labeling grounded in the fulfiller concept—a cognitive-semantic theory that highlights the role of absent but contextually inferred elements in meaning construction. We argue that the prevailing semantic labeling practices often neglect this essential aspect of meaning, especially in typologically diverse languages where semantic roles may be implicit, elided, or heavily reliant on contextual inference. Drawing on a small pilot multilingual corpus, we undertake a qualitative, manually annotated study to identify and classify fulfillers—semantic roles that are not overtly expressed but are grammatically, discursively, or culturally implied. Our analysis focuses on languages with pro-drop characteristics, argument ellipsis, and context-dependent expression, revealing systematic patterns in how meaning is fulfilled through absence. The findings suggest that accounting for fulfillers can deepen our understanding of cross-linguistic variation in argument realization and semantic structure. The authors discuss the implications for typological theory, annotation methodology, and potential future integration into computational models. This work opens a new direction in semantic labeling by foregrounding the cognitive and typological relevance of semantic absences.