Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xxii.--a Story of the Great Famine., sentence 24
When he said that he was swimming from the island towards the land the alligator caught him, saying, “I want you to do me a service first, and then I will let you go.”
Who acts: fish, alligator, you · What happens: say, swim, catch, want, do, let · To what, where: island, fish, you, service · Speech: someone speaks here
This is a sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Xxii.--a Story of the Great Famine.. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (fish, alligator, you), 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 | 3 said | advmod |
| 2 | he | he | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 3 said | nsubj |
| 3 | said | say | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 4 | that | that | SCONJ | _ | 7 swimming | mark |
| 5 | he | he | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 7 swimming | nsubj |
| 6 | was | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 7 swimming | aux |
| 7 | swimming | swim | VERB | Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part | 3 said | advcl |
| 8 | from | from | ADP | _ | 10 island | case |
| 9 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 10 island | det |
| 10 | island | island | NOUN | Number=Sing | 7 swimming | obl |
| 11 | towards | towards | ADP | _ | 13 land | case |
| 12 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 13 land | det |
| 13 | land | land | NOUN | Number=Sing | 7 swimming | obl |
| 14 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 15 alligator | det |
| 15 | alligator | alligator | NOUN | Number=Sing | 16 caught | nsubj |
| 16 | caught | catch | VERB | Mood=Ind Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 13 land | acl:relcl |
| 17 | him | he | PRON | Case=Acc Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 16 caught | obj |
| 18 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 19 saying | punct |
| 19 | saying | say | VERB | Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part | 3 said | advcl |
| 20 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 23 want | punct |
| 21 | “ | " | PUNCT | _ | 23 want | punct |
| 22 | I | I | PRON | Case=Nom Number=Sing Person=1 PronType=Prs | 23 want | nsubj |
| 23 | want | want | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=1 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 19 saying | ccomp |
| 24 | you | you | PRON | Case=Acc Person=2 PronType=Prs | 23 want | obj |
| 25 | to | to | PART | _ | 26 do | mark |
| 26 | do | do | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 23 want | xcomp |
| 27 | me | I | PRON | Case=Acc Number=Sing Person=1 PronType=Prs | 26 do | iobj |
| 28 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 29 service | det |
| 29 | service | service | NOUN | Number=Sing | 26 do | obj |
| 30 | first | first | ADV | NumForm=Word NumType=Ord | 26 do | advmod |
| 31 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 36 let | punct |
| 32 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 36 let | cc |
| 33 | then | then | ADV | PronType=Dem | 36 let | advmod |
| 34 | I | I | PRON | Case=Nom Number=Sing Person=1 PronType=Prs | 36 let | nsubj |
| 35 | will | will | AUX | VerbForm=Fin | 36 let | aux |
| 36 | let | let | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 3 said | ccomp |
| 37 | you | you | PRON | Case=Acc Person=2 PronType=Prs | 36 let | obj |
| 38 | go | go | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 36 let | xcomp |
| 39 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 36 let | punct |
| 40 | ” | " | PUNCT | _ | 36 let | punct |
Pragmatics
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | say speech: assert | past | fish | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic | |||||
| 2 | swim | past · progressive | fish | the island | towards the land | vn run-51.3.2-1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme towards land=Destination | |||
| 3 | catch | past | the alligator | fish | vn get-13.5.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent he=Theme | ||||
| 4 | say speech: assert | gerund | fish not said here | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic | |||||
| 5 | want in a quote | present | fish | you | tree rules | ||||
| 6 | do not said to happen, in a quote | to-infinitive | you not said here | a service | fish | first property | tree rules | ||
| 7 | let in a quote | future | fish | you | then | tree rules | |||
| 8 | go in a quote | infinitive | you not said here | 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.
This page in Markdown → https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/16/24/