tikz-qtree does not work with node

Question

I am trying to create a tree using the tikz-qtree package. But I keep getting the following error. ! Paragraph ended before \@@@@litlabel was complete. Here is my tex-file:

\documentclass[a4paper, 12pt]{scrartcl}
\usepackage[english, french, ngerman]{babel}
\usepackage[T1]{fontenc}
\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}

\usepackage{tikz}
\usepackage{tikz-qtree}
\usetikzlibrary{positioning}
\usepackage{rotating}

\begin{document}

\begin{tikzpicture}[level distance=40pt]
\tikzset{every tree node/.style={align=center,anchor=north}}
\Tree [.IP 
        [.DP [.D $\emptyset$ ]
         [.NP [.N Sue ] ] ]
         [.I' [.I \node(i){has}; ]
          [.VP [.V \node(v){ }; ]
           [.VP [.V been ]
            [.VP [.VP [.V cooking ]
             [.DP [.D $\emptyset$ ]
              [.NP [.N pasta ] ] ] ]
               [.PP [.P in ]
                [.DP [.D the ]
                 [.NP [.N kitchen ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ]

\draw[semithick,->] (v)..controls +(east:1) and +(south:1)..(i);
\end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}

However, if I am deleting the nodes inside the tree everyting compiles perfectly.

\begin{tikzpicture}[level distance=40pt]
\tikzset{every tree node/.style={align=center,anchor=north}}
\Tree [.IP 
       [.DP [.D $\emptyset$ ]
        [.NP [.N Sue ] ] ]
         [.I' [.I has ] [.VP [.V ]
          [.VP [.V been ]
           [.VP [.VP [.V cooking ]
            [.DP [.D $\emptyset$ ]
             [.NP [.N pasta ] ] ] ]
              [.PP [.P in ]
               [.DP [.D the ]
                [.NP [.N kitchen ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ]
\end{tikzpicture}

The solution provided in this thread does not help. Any ideas?

Answer 1

You are a victim of babel. Add \usetikzlibrary{babel} to escape.

\documentclass[a4paper, 12pt]{scrartcl}
\usepackage[english, french, ngerman]{babel}
\usepackage[T1]{fontenc}
\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}

\usepackage{tikz}
\usepackage{tikz-qtree}
\usetikzlibrary{positioning,babel}    %%<-------------------
\usepackage{rotating}

\begin{document}

\begin{tikzpicture}[level distance=40pt]
\tikzset{every tree node/.style={align=center,anchor=north}}
\Tree [.IP
        [.DP [.D $\emptyset$ ]
         [.NP [.N Sue ] ] ]
         [.I' [.I \node(i){has}; ]
          [.VP [.V \node(v){ }; ]
           [.VP [.V been ]
            [.VP [.VP [.V cooking ]
             [.DP [.D $\emptyset$ ]
              [.NP [.N pasta ] ] ] ]
               [.PP [.P in ]
                [.DP [.D the ]
                 [.NP [.N kitchen ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ]

\draw[semithick,->] (v)..controls +(east:1) and +(south:1)..(i);
\end{tikzpicture}

\end{document}

It seems, you have old tikz. If you can't update put this in preamble.

\tikzset{
      every picture/.prefix style={
        execute at begin picture=\shorthandoff{;}
      }
    }

Code:

\documentclass[a4paper, 12pt]{scrartcl}
\usepackage[english, french, ngerman]{babel}
\usepackage[T1]{fontenc}
\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}

\usepackage{tikz}
\usepackage{tikz-qtree}
\usetikzlibrary{positioning}
\usepackage{rotating}

\tikzset{
  every picture/.prefix style={
    execute at begin picture=\shorthandoff{;}
  }
}

\begin{document}

\begin{tikzpicture}[level distance=40pt]
\tikzset{every tree node/.style={align=center,anchor=north}}
\Tree [.IP
        [.DP [.D $\emptyset$ ]
         [.NP [.N Sue ] ] ]
         [.I' [.I \node(i){has}; ]
          [.VP [.V \node(v){ }; ]
           [.VP [.V been ]
            [.VP [.VP [.V cooking ]
             [.DP [.D $\emptyset$ ]
              [.NP [.N pasta ] ] ] ]
               [.PP [.P in ]
                [.DP [.D the ]
                 [.NP [.N kitchen ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ]

\draw[semithick,->] (v)..controls +(east:1) and +(south:1)..(i);
\end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}