Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xv.--what Happened At Okuni When Anyone Was Killed By Accident., sentence 29
She said she thought there must be something wrong about what had happened the night before as it was not usual for a snake to try and swallow a man, she therefore advised Oghabi’s wife to consult a ju-ju man upon the matter.
Who acts: wife, something, it · What happens: say, think, be, happen, not be, try · To what, where: man, wife, ju man · Speech: someone speaks here
This is a sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Xv.--what Happened At Okuni When Anyone Was Killed By Accident.. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (wife, something, it), 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 | She | she | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 2 said | nsubj |
| 2 | said | say | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 3 | she | she | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 4 thought | nsubj |
| 4 | thought | think | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 2 said | ccomp |
| 5 | there | there | PRON | PronType=Dem | 7 be | expl |
| 6 | must | must | AUX | VerbForm=Fin | 7 be | aux |
| 7 | be | be | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 4 thought | ccomp |
| 8 | something | something | PRON | Number=Sing PronType=Ind | 7 be | nsubj |
| 9 | wrong | wrong | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 8 something | amod |
| 10 | about | about | SCONJ | _ | 13 happened | mark |
| 11 | what | what | PRON | PronType=Int | 13 happened | nsubj |
| 12 | had | have | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 13 happened | aux |
| 13 | happened | happen | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part | 9 wrong | advcl |
| 14 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 15 night | det |
| 15 | night | night | NOUN | Number=Sing | 13 happened | obl:unmarked |
| 16 | before | before | ADV | _ | 21 usual | advmod |
| 17 | as | as | SCONJ | _ | 21 usual | mark |
| 18 | it | it | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 21 usual | nsubj |
| 19 | was | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 21 usual | cop |
| 20 | not | not | PART | Polarity=Neg | 21 usual | advmod |
| 21 | usual | usual | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 13 happened | advcl |
| 22 | for | for | ADP | _ | 24 snake | case |
| 23 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 24 snake | det |
| 24 | snake | snake | NOUN | Number=Sing | 21 usual | obl |
| 25 | to | to | PART | _ | 26 try | mark |
| 26 | try | try | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 21 usual | csubj |
| 27 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 28 swallow | cc |
| 28 | swallow | swallow | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 26 try | conj |
| 29 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 30 man | det |
| 30 | man | man | NOUN | Number=Sing | 28 swallow | obj |
| 31 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 34 advised | punct |
| 32 | she | she | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 34 advised | nsubj |
| 33 | therefore | therefore | ADV | _ | 34 advised | advmod |
| 34 | advised | advise | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 28 swallow | advcl |
| 35 | Oghabi | Oghabi | PROPN | Number=Sing | 37 wife | nmod:poss |
| 36 | ’s | 's | PART | _ | 35 Oghabi | case |
| 37 | wife | wife | NOUN | Number=Sing | 34 advised | obj |
| 38 | to | to | PART | _ | 39 consult | mark |
| 39 | consult | consult | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 34 advised | ccomp |
| 40 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 44 man | det |
| 41 | ju | ju | NOUN | Number=Sing | 43 ju | compound |
| 42 | - | - | PUNCT | _ | 41 ju | punct |
| 43 | ju | ju | NOUN | Number=Sing | 44 man | compound |
| 44 | man | man | NOUN | Number=Sing | 39 consult | obj |
| 45 | upon | upon | ADP | _ | 47 matter | case |
| 46 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 47 matter | det |
| 47 | matter | matter | NOUN | Number=Sing | 44 man | nmod |
| 48 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 2 said | punct |
Pragmatics
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | say speech: assert | past | wife | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic | |||||
| 2 | think speech: other | past | wife | vn consider-29.9-2 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent clause=Theme | |||||
| 3 | be | must | something | there | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | ||||
| 4 | happen | past · perfect | night | what nsubj | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | ||||
| 5 | not is | past | it | for a snake; before, usual property | tree rules | ||||
| 6 | try | to-infinitive | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Experiencer | ||||||
| 7 | swallow | infinitive | a man | vn gobble-39.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent man=Patient | |||||
| 8 | advise speech: other | past | wife | Oghabi's wife | therefore property | vn advise-37.9-1 «NP V NP how S_INF»: agent=Agent wife=Recipient clause=Topic | |||
| 9 | consult not said to happen | to-infinitive | a ju man | upon the matter | vn assessment-34.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent man=Theme |
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.
This page in Markdown → https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/12/29/