Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xv.--what Happened At Okuni When Anyone Was Killed By Accident., sentence 97
Some little distance off he saw a creature like a gigantic frog covered with hair, sitting down with its head bent down, as he watched the cow and other animals walked past the monster, and as they looked in its eyes they fell down dead, one after the other.
Who acts: little distance, distance, cow · What happens: see, cover, sit down, bend down, watch, walk · To what, where: creature, gigantic frog, head, eyes
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 (little distance, distance, cow), 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 | Some | some | DET | PronType=Ind | 3 distance | det |
| 2 | little | little | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 3 distance | amod |
| 3 | distance | distance | NOUN | Number=Sing | 6 saw | nsubj |
| 4 | off | off | ADP | _ | 6 saw | mark |
| 5 | he | he | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 6 saw | nsubj |
| 6 | saw | see | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 7 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 8 creature | det |
| 8 | creature | creature | NOUN | Number=Sing | 6 saw | obj |
| 9 | like | like | ADP | _ | 12 frog | case |
| 10 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 12 frog | det |
| 11 | gigantic | gigantic | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 12 frog | amod |
| 12 | frog | frog | NOUN | Number=Sing | 8 creature | nmod |
| 13 | covered | cover | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 12 frog | acl |
| 14 | with | with | ADP | _ | 15 hair | case |
| 15 | hair | hair | NOUN | Number=Sing | 13 covered | obl |
| 16 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 17 sitting | punct |
| 17 | sitting | sit | VERB | Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part | 6 saw | conj |
| 18 | down | down | ADV | _ | 17 sitting | advmod |
| 19 | with | with | ADP | _ | 21 head | case |
| 20 | its | its | PRON | Case=Gen Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 21 head | nmod:poss |
| 21 | head | head | NOUN | Number=Sing | 17 sitting | obl |
| 22 | bent | bend | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 21 head | acl |
| 23 | down | down | ADP | _ | 22 bent | compound:prt |
| 24 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 27 watched | punct |
| 25 | as | as | SCONJ | _ | 27 watched | mark |
| 26 | he | he | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 27 watched | nsubj |
| 27 | watched | watch | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 6 saw | parataxis |
| 28 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 29 cow | det |
| 29 | cow | cow | NOUN | Number=Sing | 33 walked | nsubj |
| 30 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 32 animals | cc |
| 31 | other | other | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 32 animals | amod |
| 32 | animals | animal | NOUN | Number=Plur | 29 cow | conj |
| 33 | walked | walk | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 27 watched | parataxis |
| 34 | past | past | ADP | _ | 36 monster | case |
| 35 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 36 monster | det |
| 36 | monster | monster | NOUN | Number=Sing | 33 walked | obl |
| 37 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 41 looked | punct |
| 38 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 41 looked | cc |
| 39 | as | as | SCONJ | _ | 41 looked | mark |
| 40 | they | they | PRON | Case=Nom Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs | 41 looked | nsubj |
| 41 | looked | look | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 27 watched | conj |
| 42 | in | in | ADP | _ | 44 eyes | case |
| 43 | its | its | PRON | Case=Gen Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 44 eyes | nmod:poss |
| 44 | eyes | eye | NOUN | Number=Plur | 41 looked | obl |
| 45 | they | they | PRON | Case=Nom Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs | 46 fell | nsubj |
| 46 | fell | fall | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 44 eyes | acl:relcl |
| 47 | down | down | ADV | _ | 48 dead | advmod |
| 48 | dead | dead | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 46 fell | advcl |
| 49 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 50 one | punct |
| 50 | one | one | NUM | NumForm=Word NumType=Card | 41 looked | conj |
| 51 | after | after | ADP | _ | 53 other | case |
| 52 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 53 other | det |
| 53 | other | other | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 50 one | nmod |
| 54 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 6 saw | punct |
Pragmatics
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | see | past | some little distance | a creature | like a gigantic frog; distance nsubj | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer creature=Stimulus | |||
| 2 | cover | participle | a gigantic frog not said here | with hair | vn fill-9.8-1 «NP V NP PP.theme»: agent=Agent with hair=Theme | ||||
| 3 | sit down | gerund | some little distance not said here | with hair's head; down property | vn assuming_position-50 «NP V»: agent=Agent | ||||
| 4 | bend down | participle | hair's head not said here | vn assuming_position-50 «NP V»: agent=Agent | |||||
| 5 | watch | past | distance | vn search-35.2 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent | |||||
| 6 | walk | past | the cow and other animals | past the monster | vn run-51.3.2-2-1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme past monster=Trajectory | ||||
| 7 | look | past | cow | in monster's eyes; one after the other conj | vn peer-30.3 «NP V PP.theme»: agent=Agent in eye=Theme | ||||
| 8 | fall down | past | cow | monster's eyes not said here | vn become-109.1-1 «NP V ADJ»: agent=Patient eye=Result |
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/pg70959/12/97/