Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xxii.--a Story of the Great Famine., sentence 4
The hare (Nchigga) was very curious to know how it was that the parrot always managed to get food, so he went to him pretending to be a great friend of his, but could never find him at home in the daytime, so he went in the evening and met the parrot returning home carrying his bag, full of palm nuts as usual.
Who acts: hare, it, plenty, parrot · What happens: be, know, get, go, pretend, not find · To what, where: food, Nchigga, great friend, plenty, home, parrot · 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 (hare, it, plenty, parrot), 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 | The | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 2 hare | det |
| 2 | hare | hare | NOUN | Number=Sing | 8 curious | nsubj |
| 3 | ( | ( | PUNCT | _ | 4 Nchigga | punct |
| 4 | Nchigga | Nchigga | PROPN | Number=Sing | 2 hare | appos |
| 5 | ) | ) | PUNCT | _ | 4 Nchigga | punct |
| 6 | was | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 8 curious | cop |
| 7 | very | very | ADV | _ | 8 curious | advmod |
| 8 | curious | curious | ADJ | Degree=Pos | root | root |
| 9 | to | to | PART | _ | 10 know | mark |
| 10 | know | know | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 8 curious | csubj |
| 11 | how | how | ADV | PronType=Int | 18 managed | advmod |
| 12 | it | it | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 18 managed | nsubj |
| 13 | was | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 18 managed | cop |
| 14 | that | that | SCONJ | _ | 18 managed | mark |
| 15 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 16 parrot | det |
| 16 | parrot | parrot | NOUN | Number=Sing | 18 managed | nsubj |
| 17 | always | always | ADV | PronType=Tot | 18 managed | advmod |
| 18 | managed | manage | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 10 know | ccomp |
| 19 | to | to | PART | _ | 20 get | mark |
| 20 | get | get | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 18 managed | xcomp |
| 21 | food | food | NOUN | Number=Sing | 20 get | obj |
| 22 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 25 went | punct |
| 23 | so | so | ADV | _ | 25 went | advmod |
| 24 | he | he | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 25 went | nsubj |
| 25 | went | go | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 18 managed | parataxis |
| 26 | to | to | ADP | _ | 27 him | case |
| 27 | him | he | PRON | Case=Acc Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 25 went | obl |
| 28 | pretending | pretend | VERB | Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part | 25 went | advcl |
| 29 | to | to | PART | _ | 33 friend | mark |
| 30 | be | be | AUX | VerbForm=Inf | 33 friend | cop |
| 31 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 33 friend | det |
| 32 | great | great | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 33 friend | amod |
| 33 | friend | friend | NOUN | Number=Sing | 28 pretending | xcomp |
| 34 | of | of | ADP | _ | 35 his | case |
| 35 | his | his | PRON | Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 33 friend | nmod:poss |
| 36 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 40 find | punct |
| 37 | but | but | CCONJ | _ | 40 find | cc |
| 38 | could | could | AUX | VerbForm=Fin | 40 find | aux |
| 39 | never | never | ADV | PronType=Neg | 40 find | advmod |
| 40 | find | find | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 28 pretending | conj |
| 41 | him | he | PRON | Case=Acc Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 40 find | obj |
| 42 | at | at | ADP | _ | 43 home | case |
| 43 | home | home | NOUN | Number=Sing | 40 find | obl |
| 44 | in | in | ADP | _ | 46 daytime | case |
| 45 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 46 daytime | det |
| 46 | daytime | daytime | NOUN | Number=Sing | 43 home | nmod |
| 47 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 50 went | punct |
| 48 | so | so | ADV | _ | 50 went | advmod |
| 49 | he | he | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 50 went | nsubj |
| 50 | went | go | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 18 managed | parataxis |
| 51 | in | in | ADP | _ | 53 evening | case |
| 52 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 53 evening | det |
| 53 | evening | evening | NOUN | Number=Sing | 50 went | obl |
| 54 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 55 met | cc |
| 55 | met | meet | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 50 went | conj |
| 56 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 57 parrot | det |
| 57 | parrot | parrot | NOUN | Number=Sing | 55 met | obj |
| 58 | returning | return | VERB | VerbForm=Ger | 57 parrot | acl |
| 59 | home | home | ADV | _ | 58 returning | advmod |
| 60 | carrying | carry | VERB | Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part | 58 returning | advcl |
| 61 | his | his | PRON | Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 62 bag | nmod:poss |
| 62 | bag | bag | NOUN | Number=Sing | 60 carrying | obj |
| 63 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 64 full | punct |
| 64 | full | full | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 62 bag | amod |
| 65 | of | of | ADP | _ | 67 nuts | case |
| 66 | palm | palm | NOUN | Number=Sing | 67 nuts | compound |
| 67 | nuts | nut | NOUN | Number=Plur | 64 full | obl |
| 68 | as | as | ADP | _ | 69 usual | case |
| 69 | usual | usual | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 60 carrying | obl |
| 70 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 8 curious | punct |
Pragmatics
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | is | past | the hare | curious property | tree rules | ||||
| 2 | know | to-infinitive | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V how S_INF»: agent=Experiencer clause=Stimulus | ||||||
| 3 | is | past | it | the parrot nsubj; always, manage property | tree rules | ||||
| 4 | get | to-infinitive | food | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer food=Stimulus | |||||
| 5 | go | past | plenty | Nchigga | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial_location»: agent=Theme to he=Initial_Location | ||||
| 6 | pretend | gerund | plenty not said here | tree rules | |||||
| 7 | is a | to-infinitive | plenty not said here | plenty's great friend | plenty nmod:poss | tree rules | |||
| 8 | not find | could | plenty not said here | plenty | home in the daytime | vn get-13.5.1 «NP V NP PP.source NP.asset»: agent=Agent he=Theme at home=Asset | |||
| 9 | go | past | plenty | evening | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | ||||
| 10 | meet | past | plenty not said here | the parrot | vn meet-36.3-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent parrot=Co-Agent | ||||
| 11 | return | gerund | the parrot not said here | home property | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | ||||
| 12 | carry | gerund | the parrot not said here | plenty's bag | as usual | vn carry-11.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent bag=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/pg70959/16/4/