Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xv.--what Happened At Okuni When Anyone Was Killed By Accident., sentence 89
When the day was about to break, and there was no message from any of his people, Chief Alankor became thoroughly frightened, and called the rest of his slaves together, and having armed them with bows and arrows to protect themselves, he sent them off after the others and warned them to be very careful how they went.
Who acts: day, message, Chief, slaves · What happens: be, break, become, frighten, call, have · To what, where: rest, slaves · 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 (day, message, Chief, slaves), 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 | When | when | ADV | PronType=Int | 5 about | advmod |
| 2 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 3 day | det |
| 3 | day | day | NOUN | Number=Sing | 5 about | nsubj |
| 4 | was | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 5 about | cop |
| 5 | about | about | ADJ | Degree=Pos | root | root |
| 6 | to | to | PART | _ | 7 break | mark |
| 7 | break | break | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 5 about | xcomp |
| 8 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 11 was | punct |
| 9 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 11 was | cc |
| 10 | there | there | PRON | PronType=Dem | 11 was | expl |
| 11 | was | be | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 5 about | parataxis |
| 12 | no | no | DET | PronType=Neg | 13 message | det |
| 13 | message | message | NOUN | Number=Sing | 11 was | nsubj |
| 14 | from | from | ADP | _ | 15 any | case |
| 15 | any | any | DET | PronType=Ind | 13 message | nmod |
| 16 | of | of | ADP | _ | 18 people | case |
| 17 | his | his | PRON | Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 18 people | nmod:poss |
| 18 | people | people | NOUN | Number=Plur | 15 any | nmod |
| 19 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 22 became | punct |
| 20 | Chief | Chief | PROPN | Number=Sing | 22 became | nsubj |
| 21 | Alankor | Alankor | PROPN | Number=Sing | 20 Chief | flat |
| 22 | became | become | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 13 message | parataxis |
| 23 | thoroughly | thoroughly | ADV | _ | 24 frightened | advmod |
| 24 | frightened | frighten | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 22 became | xcomp |
| 25 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 27 called | punct |
| 26 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 27 called | cc |
| 27 | called | call | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 22 became | conj |
| 28 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 29 rest | det |
| 29 | rest | rest | NOUN | Number=Sing | 27 called | obj |
| 30 | of | of | ADP | _ | 32 slaves | case |
| 31 | his | his | PRON | Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 32 slaves | nmod:poss |
| 32 | slaves | slave | NOUN | Number=Plur | 29 rest | nmod |
| 33 | together | together | ADV | _ | 27 called | advmod |
| 34 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 36 having | punct |
| 35 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 36 having | cc |
| 36 | having | have | VERB | Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part | 27 called | advcl |
| 37 | armed | armed | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 36 having | xcomp |
| 38 | them | they | PRON | Case=Acc Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs | 37 armed | obj |
| 39 | with | with | ADP | _ | 40 bows | case |
| 40 | bows | bow | NOUN | Number=Plur | 36 having | obl |
| 41 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 42 arrows | cc |
| 42 | arrows | arrow | NOUN | Number=Plur | 40 bows | conj |
| 43 | to | to | PART | _ | 44 protect | mark |
| 44 | protect | protect | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 36 having | advcl |
| 45 | themselves | themselves | PRON | Case=Acc Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs Reflex=Yes | 44 protect | obj |
| 46 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 48 sent | punct |
| 47 | he | he | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 48 sent | nsubj |
| 48 | sent | send | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 22 became | conj |
| 49 | them | they | PRON | Case=Acc Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs | 48 sent | obj |
| 50 | off | off | ADP | _ | 48 sent | compound:prt |
| 51 | after | after | ADP | _ | 53 others | case |
| 52 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 53 others | det |
| 53 | others | other | NOUN | Number=Plur | 48 sent | obl |
| 54 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 55 warned | cc |
| 55 | warned | warn | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 22 became | conj |
| 56 | them | they | PRON | Case=Acc Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs | 55 warned | obj |
| 57 | to | to | PART | _ | 60 careful | mark |
| 58 | be | be | AUX | VerbForm=Inf | 60 careful | cop |
| 59 | very | very | ADV | _ | 60 careful | advmod |
| 60 | careful | careful | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 55 warned | ccomp |
| 61 | how | how | ADV | PronType=Int | 63 went | advmod |
| 62 | they | they | PRON | Case=Nom Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs | 63 went | nsubj |
| 63 | went | go | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 60 careful | advcl |
| 64 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 5 about | punct |
Pragmatics
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | is | past | the day | about property | tree rules | ||||
| 2 | break | to-infinitive | the day not said here | vn hurt-40.8.3-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Patient | |||||
| 3 | be | past | no message from any of message's people | there | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | ||||
| 4 | become | past | Chief | tree rules | |||||
| 5 | frighten | participle | Chief not said here | thoroughly property | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Experiencer | ||||
| 6 | call | past | Chief not said here | the rest of message's slaves | together property | vn initiate_communication-37.4.2-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent rest=Recipient | |||
| 7 | have | gerund | Chief not said here | with bows and arrows; armed property | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent | ||||
| 8 | protect | to-infinitive | Chief not said here | slaves = slave | vn defend-72.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent themselves=Beneficiary | ||||
| 9 | send off | past | message | slaves = slave | after the others | vn confine-92-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent they=Theme | |||
| 10 | warn speech: warn | past | Chief not said here | slaves = slave | vn advise-37.9-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent they=Recipient | ||||
| 11 | is | to-infinitive | careful property | tree rules | |||||
| 12 | go | past | slaves = slave | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=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.
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