Create dependency graphs between characters

Question

I was asked in thread 139691 to open a new question - so here we go:

I need to create dependency graphs between characters in LaTex.

As the output shall be processed via "pdflatex" later on, I opted for "TikZ" being said to be compatible with "pdflatex". As "TikZ" itself seems to be to "a science unto itself", I tried out "TikZ-dependency" like depicted in thread 139691.

Nevertheless, I was unable to achieve with "TikZ-dependency" what I want (cf. example drawn in Freeoffice below).

Additionally, one has to bear in mind that there might be more complex examples than the one shown, where alliterations resp. assonances intersect, so that a second row of annotation boxes "Alliteration" resp. "Assonance" with arrows pointing to characters would be needed (like in the examples shown in the package documentation of "tikz-dependency"). However the arrows of the second row's annotations should of course not cross the first row of annotation boxes in front, but in the background behind.

I would be glad if anyone could give me a manageable solution to this challenge. Manageable is meant in terms of simple applicability to a large number of examples.

Answer 1

Here's one possibility; more than one level can be used:

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{xparse}
\usepackage{tikz}
\usetikzlibrary{calc}

\newcommand\TMark[2]{\tikz[remember picture,baseline=(#1.base)]\node[inner sep=0pt,outer sep=0pt] (#1) {#2};}

\tikzset{
common/.style={
  draw,
  rounded corners,
  minimum height=20pt,
  fill=white
  }
}

\newcounter{alltmp}
\newcounter{asstmp}

\def\shiftSign{+}

\NewDocumentCommand\Allit{O{2.5\baselineskip}O{black}mm}{%
\stepcounter{alltmp}%
  \foreach \Value [count=\xi] in {#4} {};
  \node[common] 
    at ([yshift=#1]{ $ (all#31)!0.5!(all#3\xi) $ }|-all#31.base) 
    (alli-\thealltmp) {Alliteration};
  \foreach \Value [count=\j] in {#4}
  {
    \path[draw,->,#2] 
    let 
    \p1=(alli-\thealltmp),
    \p2=(\Value.north)
    in
    node 
      {\ifdim\x1>\x2\relax
          \gdef\ShiftSign{-}%
          \gdef\Angle{210}%
          \gdef\Xshift{0em}%
          \gdef\Mult{30}%
        \else
          \gdef\ShiftSign{+}%
          \gdef\Angle{300}%
          \gdef\Xshift{0em}%
          \gdef\Mult{0}%
          \fi
        }
    (alli-\thealltmp.\Angle-\ShiftSign\j*\Mult) .. controls ++(\Xshift,-1em) and ++(0,1em) .. ([yshift=.5ex]\Value.north);
  }  
}

\newenvironment{verseanalysis}
  {\begin{tikzpicture}[remember picture,overlay,>=latex]}
  {\end{tikzpicture}}

\NewDocumentCommand\Asson{O{2.5\baselineskip}mm}{%
\stepcounter{asstmp}%
  \foreach \Value [count=\xi] in {#3} {};
  \node[common] 
    at ([yshift=-#1]{ $ (ass#21)!0.5!(ass#2\xi) $ }) 
    (asso-\theasstmp) {Assonance};
  \foreach \Value [count=\j] in {#3}
  {
    \path[draw,->] 
    let 
    \p1=(asso-\theasstmp),
    \p2=(\Value.south)
    in
    node 
      {\ifdim\x1>\x2\relax
          \gdef\ShiftSign{-}%
          \gdef\Angle{60}%
          \gdef\Xshift{0em}%
          \gdef\Mult{60}%
        \else
          \gdef\ShiftSign{+}%
          \gdef\Angle{100}%
          \gdef\Xshift{0em}%
          \gdef\Mult{20}%
          \fi
        }
    (asso-\theasstmp.\Angle-\ShiftSign\j*\Mult) .. controls ++(\Xshift,1em) and ++(0,-1em) .. ([yshift=-0.5ex]\Value.south);
  }  
}

\begin{document}

\TMark{all11}{L}azy \TMark{all12}{l}\TMark{ass11}{oo}ns are \TMark{all13}{l}\TMark{ass12}{oo}king at squ\TMark{ass21}{i}rrels and \TMark{all21}{b}\TMark{ass22}{i}rds in \TMark{all22}{b}\TMark{ass23}{i}rch trees

\begin{verseanalysis}
\Allit{1}{all11,all12,all13}
\Allit{2}{all21,all22}
\Asson{1}{ass11,ass12}
\Asson{2}{ass21,ass22,ass23}
\end{verseanalysis}

\vspace*{4cm}

On a pr\TMark{all11}{ou}d wh\TMark{all21}{i}te h\TMark{all22}{i}gh r\TMark{all12}{ou}nd n\TMark{all23}{i}ght cl\TMark{all13}{ou}d 

\begin{verseanalysis}
\Allit[5\baselineskip][red!70!black]{2}{all21,all22,all23}
\Allit{1}{all11,all12,all13}
\end{verseanalysis}

\end{document}

Answer 2

You could use tikzmark. For example:

\documentclass[tikz,border=10pt]{standalone}
\usetikzlibrary{tikzmark,positioning,fit,shadows,arrows.meta,bending}
\tikzset{
    ling feat/.style={draw, rounded corners, thick, inner color=gray!10, outer color=gray!20, drop shadow},
    ling feat above/.style={ling feat, above=10mm of #1, anchor=south},
    ling feat below/.style={ling feat, below=10mm of #1, anchor=north},
    ling feat line/.style={-{Stealth[bend]}, semithick}
}
\begin{document}
\begin{tikzpicture}[remember picture]
  \node (sent) {\subnode{a1c}{L}azy \subnode{a2c}{l}\subnode{b1c}{oo}ns are \subnode{a3c}{l}\subnode{b2c}{oo}king at squ\subnode{c1c}{i}rrels and \subnode{d1c}{b}\subnode{c2c}{i}rds in \subnode{d2c}{b}\subnode{c3c}{i}rch trees.};
  \foreach \i in {a1,a2,a3,b1,b2,c1,c2,c3,d1,d2}
  \node (\i) [fit=(\i c), inner sep=0pt] {};
  \node (A1) [ling feat above=a2.north] {Alliteration};
  \node (D1) [ling feat above=d1 |- a2.north] {Alliteration};
  \node (B1) [ling feat below=b2.south] {Assonance};
  \node (C1) [ling feat below=c2 |- b2.south] {Assonance};
  \foreach \i/\j in {A1.240/a1,A1.320/a2,A1.330/a3,D1.240/d1,D1.300/d2}
    \draw [ling feat line] (\i) [out=-90, in=90] to (\j);
  \foreach \i/\j in {C1.150/c1,C1.140/c2,C1.60/c3,B1.110/b1,B1.30/b2}
    \draw [ling feat line] (\i) [out=90, in=-90] to (\j);
\end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}

Answer 3

Here's the code I tried:

\documentclass{scrartcl}
\usepackage[T1]{fontenc}
\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}
\usepackage{tikz-dependency}

\begin{document}
    \begin{dependency}[theme=default]
        \begin{deptext}[column sep=-.5ex]
            \& L \& azy \& l \& oo \& ns are \& l \& oo \& king at \dots \\
        \end{deptext}
        \depedge[<->]{1}{3}{6}{Alliteration}
        \depedge[<->]{4}{7}{Assonance}
    \end{dependency}
\end{document}

The result was:

Apparent shortcomings:

• Third node at position 6 not interpreted correctly
• Arrows not pointing to the correct positions
• Spaces also within the words and not only between them
• Distance between text line and annotation boxes too long, i.o.w. arrows too long
• Both annotation boxes on top of text line and not one above and the other below

Answer 4

Here's an idea using the text effects along path decoration. In this example, each character is typeset in a node named c-<word>-<letter>. The code for the arrows is, however, a bit crude and could probably be done more efficiently.

\documentclass[tikz,border=5]{standalone}
\usetikzlibrary{decorations.text, positioning}
\begin{document}
\begin{tikzpicture}
\path [decoration={text effects along path,
  text=Lazy Loons are looking at squirrels and birds in birch trees.,
  text effects/.cd,
    path from text, text along path,
    word count=\w, letter count=\l, 
    characters/.append={text height=1.5ex, name=c-\w-\l}}, 
    decorate] (0,0);
\node [draw, above=1em of c-2-4] (a1) {Alliteration};
\foreach \i [count=\j] in {1-1, 2-1, 4-1}
 \draw[->] (a1.150+\j*60) .. controls ++(0,-1em) and ++(0,1em) .. (c-\i.north);
\node [draw, above=1em of c-8-5] (a2) {Alliteration};
\foreach \i [count=\j] in {8-1, 10-1}
 \draw[->] (a2.180+\j*60) .. controls ++(0,-1em) and ++(0,1em) .. (c-\i.north);
\node [draw, below=1em of c-3-1] (a3) {Assonance};
\foreach \i [count=\j] in {2-2, 4-2}
 \draw[->] (a3.180-\j*60) .. controls ++(0,1em) and ++(0,-1em) .. (c-\i.south);
\node [draw, below=1em of c-8-1] (a4) {Assonance};
\foreach \i [count=\j] in {6-4, 8-2, 10-2}
 \draw[->] (a4.210-\j*60) .. controls ++(0,1em) and ++(0,-1em) .. (c-\i.south);
\end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}