Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Opening, sentence 76
It is always possible, of course, in these cases, that poison may have been administered, but it is most difficult to get any proof.
Who acts: ju · What happens: be, administer, get · To what, where: poison, cases, proof
This is a sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Opening. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (ju), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree.
Mova's own parse. This tree may be wrong.
The tree
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | It | it | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 4 possible | nsubj |
| 2 | is | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 4 possible | cop |
| 3 | always | always | ADV | PronType=Tot | 4 possible | advmod |
| 4 | possible | possible | ADJ | Degree=Pos | root | root |
| 5 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 7 course | punct |
| 6 | of | of | ADP | _ | 7 course | case |
| 7 | course | course | NOUN | Number=Sing | 4 possible | obl |
| 8 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 18 administered | punct |
| 9 | in | in | ADP | _ | 11 cases | case |
| 10 | these | this | DET | Number=Plur PronType=Dem | 11 cases | det |
| 11 | cases | case | NOUN | Number=Plur | 18 administered | obl |
| 12 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 11 cases | punct |
| 13 | that | that | DET | Number=Sing PronType=Dem | 14 poison | det |
| 14 | poison | poison | NOUN | Number=Sing | 18 administered | nsubj |
| 15 | may | may | AUX | VerbForm=Fin | 18 administered | aux |
| 16 | have | have | AUX | VerbForm=Inf | 18 administered | aux |
| 17 | been | be | AUX | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part | 18 administered | aux:pass |
| 18 | administered | administer | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 4 possible | conj |
| 19 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 24 difficult | punct |
| 20 | but | but | CCONJ | _ | 24 difficult | cc |
| 21 | it | it | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 24 difficult | expl |
| 22 | is | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 24 difficult | cop |
| 23 | most | most | ADV | Degree=Sup | 24 difficult | advmod |
| 24 | difficult | difficult | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 4 possible | conj |
| 25 | to | to | PART | _ | 26 get | mark |
| 26 | get | get | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 24 difficult | csubj |
| 27 | any | any | DET | PronType=Ind | 28 proof | det |
| 28 | proof | proof | NOUN | Number=Sing | 26 get | obj |
| 29 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 4 possible | punct |
Pragmatics
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | is | present | ju | of course; always, possible property | tree rules | ||||
| 2 | administer | may · perfect · passive | that poison | this cases | vn contribute-13.2-1-1 «NP V NP.theme (PP)»: subject=Theme | ||||
| 3 | is | present | ju not said here | difficult property | tree rules | ||||
| 4 | get | to-infinitive | any proof | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer proof=Stimulus |
One row per clause the reader finds. «not said here»: a role filled from the clause above. «roles by»: a VerbNet class and frame when one fits the verb, else the reader's rules on the tree.
Text: «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Project Gutenberg book 70959 (public domain in the USA). Tree: Mova's own parse, Elamur Cosmic License. Frames: Mova's frames reader (prag), the chapter read in order.
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