Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xviii.--how the River Came Into Existence; Or, Why a Crab Has No Head., sentence 5
Now the crab was a poor thing and could not walk fast, neither could he use a bow and arrow, so he took a long net with him into the forest and waited for the animals to run into it.
Who acts: crab · What happens: be, not walk, use, take, wait, run · To what, where: poor thing, bow, long net, forest
This is a sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Xviii.--how the River Came Into Existence; Or, Why a Crab Has No Head.. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (crab), 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 | Now | now | ADV | PronType=Dem | 3 crab | advmod |
| 2 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 3 crab | det |
| 3 | crab | crab | NOUN | Number=Sing | 7 thing | nsubj |
| 4 | was | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 7 thing | cop |
| 5 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 7 thing | det |
| 6 | poor | poor | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 7 thing | amod |
| 7 | thing | thing | NOUN | Number=Sing | root | root |
| 8 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 11 walk | cc |
| 9 | could | could | AUX | VerbForm=Fin | 11 walk | aux |
| 10 | not | not | PART | Polarity=Neg | 11 walk | advmod |
| 11 | walk | walk | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 7 thing | conj |
| 12 | fast | fast | ADV | Degree=Pos | 11 walk | advmod |
| 13 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 17 use | punct |
| 14 | neither | neither | CCONJ | Polarity=Neg | 17 use | cc:preconj |
| 15 | could | could | AUX | VerbForm=Fin | 17 use | aux |
| 16 | he | he | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 17 use | nsubj |
| 17 | use | use | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 11 walk | parataxis |
| 18 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 19 bow | det |
| 19 | bow | bow | NOUN | Number=Sing | 17 use | obj |
| 20 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 21 arrow | cc |
| 21 | arrow | arrow | NOUN | Number=Sing | 19 bow | conj |
| 22 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 25 took | punct |
| 23 | so | so | ADV | _ | 25 took | advmod |
| 24 | he | he | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 25 took | nsubj |
| 25 | took | take | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 17 use | parataxis |
| 26 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 28 net | det |
| 27 | long | long | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 28 net | amod |
| 28 | net | net | NOUN | Number=Sing | 25 took | obj |
| 29 | with | with | ADP | _ | 30 him | case |
| 30 | him | he | PRON | Case=Acc Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 28 net | nmod |
| 31 | into | into | ADP | _ | 33 forest | case |
| 32 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 33 forest | det |
| 33 | forest | forest | NOUN | Number=Sing | 25 took | obl |
| 34 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 35 waited | cc |
| 35 | waited | wait | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 25 took | conj |
| 36 | for | for | ADP | _ | 38 animals | case |
| 37 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 38 animals | det |
| 38 | animals | animal | NOUN | Number=Plur | 35 waited | obl |
| 39 | to | to | PART | _ | 40 run | mark |
| 40 | run | run | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 35 waited | advcl |
| 41 | into | into | ADP | _ | 42 it | case |
| 42 | it | it | PRON | Case=Acc Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 40 run | obl |
| 43 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 7 thing | punct |
Pragmatics
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | is a | past | the crab | a poor thing | tree rules | ||||
| 2 | not walk | could | the crab not said here | fast property | vn run-51.3.2-2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | ||||
| 3 | use | could | crab | a bow and arrow | vn eat-39.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent bow=Patient | ||||
| 4 | take | past | crab | a long net | the forest | with elephant | vn bring-11.3 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent net=Theme into forest=Destination | ||
| 5 | wait | past | crab not said here | for the animals | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | ||||
| 6 | run | to-infinitive | crab not said here | forest | vn run-51.3.2-2-1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme into it=Destination |
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/pg70959/13/5/