Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xv.--what Happened At Okuni When Anyone Was Killed By Accident., sentence 32
As Oghabi only had one good friend he did not want to promise what the ju-ju man asked, but his wife, who had great faith in the ju-ju man, at last persuaded him to pass his word.
Who acts: OGHABI, ju man, wife, man · What happens: have, not want, promise, ask, persuade, pass · To what, where: great faith, man, last, word · 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 (OGHABI, ju man, wife, man), 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 | As | as | ADP | _ | 2 Oghabi | case |
| 2 | Oghabi | Oghabi | PROPN | Number=Sing | 4 had | obl |
| 3 | only | only | ADV | _ | 4 had | advmod |
| 4 | had | have | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=1 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 5 | one | one | NUM | NumForm=Word NumType=Card | 7 friend | nummod |
| 6 | good | good | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 7 friend | amod |
| 7 | friend | friend | NOUN | Number=Sing | 11 want | vocative |
| 8 | he | he | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 11 want | nsubj |
| 9 | did | do | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 11 want | aux |
| 10 | not | not | PART | Polarity=Neg | 11 want | advmod |
| 11 | want | want | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 4 had | ccomp |
| 12 | to | to | PART | _ | 13 promise | mark |
| 13 | promise | promise | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 11 want | xcomp |
| 14 | what | what | PRON | PronType=Int | 20 asked | obj |
| 15 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 19 man | det |
| 16 | ju | ju | NOUN | Number=Sing | 18 ju | compound |
| 17 | - | - | PUNCT | _ | 16 ju | punct |
| 18 | ju | ju | NOUN | Number=Sing | 19 man | compound |
| 19 | man | man | NOUN | Number=Sing | 20 asked | nsubj |
| 20 | asked | ask | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 13 promise | ccomp |
| 21 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 39 persuaded | punct |
| 22 | but | but | CCONJ | _ | 39 persuaded | cc |
| 23 | his | his | PRON | Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 24 wife | nmod:poss |
| 24 | wife | wife | NOUN | Number=Sing | 39 persuaded | nsubj |
| 25 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 27 had | punct |
| 26 | who | who | PRON | PronType=Rel | 27 had | nsubj |
| 27 | had | have | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 24 wife | acl:relcl |
| 28 | great | great | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 29 faith | amod |
| 29 | faith | faith | NOUN | Number=Sing | 27 had | obj |
| 30 | in | in | ADP | _ | 35 man | case |
| 31 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 35 man | det |
| 32 | ju | ju | NOUN | Number=Sing | 34 ju | compound |
| 33 | - | - | PUNCT | _ | 32 ju | punct |
| 34 | ju | ju | NOUN | Number=Sing | 35 man | compound |
| 35 | man | man | NOUN | Number=Sing | 27 had | obl |
| 36 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 39 persuaded | punct |
| 37 | at | at | ADP | _ | 38 last | case |
| 38 | last | last | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 39 persuaded | obl |
| 39 | persuaded | persuade | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 4 had | conj |
| 40 | him | he | PRON | Case=Acc Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 39 persuaded | obj |
| 41 | to | to | PART | _ | 42 pass | mark |
| 42 | pass | pass | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 39 persuaded | advcl |
| 43 | his | his | PRON | Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 44 word | nmod:poss |
| 44 | word | word | NOUN | Number=Sing | 42 pass | obj |
| 45 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 4 had | punct |
Pragmatics
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | have | past | as Oghabi | tree rules | |||||
| 2 | not want | past · do-support | OGHABI | one good friend vocative | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP S_INF»: agent=Pivot clause=Theme | ||||
| 3 | promise speech: promise not said to happen | to-infinitive | OGHABI not said here | vn promise-37.13 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic | |||||
| 4 | ask speech: ask | past | the ju man | what obj | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent what=Recipient | ||||
| 5 | have | past | man's wife | great faith | in the ju man | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent faith=Patient | |||
| 6 | persuade | past | man's wife | man | last | vn compel-59.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent he=Patient | |||
| 7 | pass | to-infinitive | man's wife not said here | man's word | vn escape-51.1-1-3 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme word=Trajectory | ||||
| 8 | word | man | nom word «communication transitive»: poss=agent |
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/pg70959/12/32/