Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xxii.--a Story of the Great Famine., sentence 59
When the hare got home, he went to the parrot and told him what had happened to him, and warned the parrot that he should do his best to kill him for leaving him on the palm-tree to the danger of his life, unless for the future the parrot lived by the waterside, as that was where he got his food from.
Who acts: hare, iguana, parrot, that · What happens: get, go, tell, happen, warn, do · To what, where: iguana, parrot, best, palm tree, food · 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, iguana, parrot, that), 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 | 4 got | advmod |
| 2 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 3 hare | det |
| 3 | hare | hare | NOUN | Number=Sing | 4 got | nsubj |
| 4 | got | get | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 8 went | advcl |
| 5 | home | home | ADV | _ | 4 got | advmod |
| 6 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 4 got | punct |
| 7 | he | he | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 8 went | nsubj |
| 8 | went | go | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 9 | to | to | ADP | _ | 11 parrot | case |
| 10 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 11 parrot | det |
| 11 | parrot | parrot | NOUN | Number=Sing | 8 went | obl |
| 12 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 13 told | cc |
| 13 | told | tell | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 8 went | conj |
| 14 | him | he | PRON | Case=Acc Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 13 told | iobj |
| 15 | what | what | PRON | PronType=Int | 17 happened | nsubj |
| 16 | had | have | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 17 happened | aux |
| 17 | happened | happen | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part | 13 told | ccomp |
| 18 | to | to | ADP | _ | 19 him | case |
| 19 | him | he | PRON | Case=Acc Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 17 happened | obl |
| 20 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 22 warned | punct |
| 21 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 22 warned | cc |
| 22 | warned | warn | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 8 went | conj |
| 23 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 24 parrot | det |
| 24 | parrot | parrot | NOUN | Number=Sing | 22 warned | obj |
| 25 | that | that | SCONJ | _ | 28 do | mark |
| 26 | he | he | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 28 do | nsubj |
| 27 | should | should | AUX | VerbForm=Fin | 28 do | aux |
| 28 | do | do | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 22 warned | ccomp |
| 29 | his | his | PRON | Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 30 best | nmod:poss |
| 30 | best | good | ADJ | Degree=Sup | 28 do | obj |
| 31 | to | to | PART | _ | 32 kill | mark |
| 32 | kill | kill | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 30 best | csubj |
| 33 | him | he | PRON | Case=Acc Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 32 kill | obj |
| 34 | for | for | SCONJ | _ | 35 leaving | mark |
| 35 | leaving | leave | VERB | Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part | 32 kill | advcl |
| 36 | him | he | PRON | Case=Acc Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 35 leaving | obj |
| 37 | on | on | ADP | _ | 41 tree | case |
| 38 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 41 tree | det |
| 39 | palm | palm | NOUN | Number=Sing | 41 tree | compound |
| 40 | - | - | PUNCT | _ | 39 palm | punct |
| 41 | tree | tree | NOUN | Number=Sing | 35 leaving | obl |
| 42 | to | to | ADP | _ | 44 danger | case |
| 43 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 44 danger | det |
| 44 | danger | danger | NOUN | Number=Sing | 35 leaving | obl |
| 45 | of | of | ADP | _ | 47 life | case |
| 46 | his | his | PRON | Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 47 life | nmod:poss |
| 47 | life | life | NOUN | Number=Sing | 44 danger | nmod |
| 48 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 55 lived | punct |
| 49 | unless | unless | SCONJ | _ | 55 lived | mark |
| 50 | for | for | ADP | _ | 52 future | case |
| 51 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 52 future | det |
| 52 | future | future | NOUN | Number=Sing | 55 lived | obl |
| 53 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 54 parrot | det |
| 54 | parrot | parrot | NOUN | Number=Sing | 55 lived | nsubj |
| 55 | lived | live | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 22 warned | conj |
| 56 | by | by | ADP | _ | 58 waterside | case |
| 57 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 58 waterside | det |
| 58 | waterside | waterside | NOUN | Number=Sing | 55 lived | obl |
| 59 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 65 got | punct |
| 60 | as | as | SCONJ | _ | 63 where | mark |
| 61 | that | that | PRON | Number=Sing PronType=Dem | 63 where | nsubj |
| 62 | was | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 63 where | cop |
| 63 | where | where | ADV | PronType=Rel | 65 got | advmod |
| 64 | he | he | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 65 got | nsubj |
| 65 | got | get | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 55 lived | conj |
| 66 | his | his | PRON | Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 67 food | nmod:poss |
| 67 | food | food | NOUN | Number=Sing | 65 got | obj |
| 68 | from | from | ADP | _ | 65 got | obl |
| 69 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 8 went | punct |
Pragmatics
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | get | past | the hare | home property | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V S_ING»: agent=Experiencer | ||||
| 2 | go | past | iguana | to the parrot | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial_location»: agent=Theme to parrot=Initial_Location | ||||
| 3 | tell speech: assert | past | iguana not said here | iguana | vn transfer_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP what S»: agent=Agent he=Recipient clause=Topic | ||||
| 4 | happen | past · perfect | iguana | what nsubj | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | ||||
| 5 | warn speech: warn | past | iguana not said here | the parrot | vn advise-37.9-1 «NP V NP.recipient that S»: agent=Agent parrot=Recipient clause=Topic | ||||
| 6 | do | should | iguana | iguana's best | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent good=Eventuality | ||||
| 7 | kill | to-infinitive | iguana | vn remove-10.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent he=Theme | |||||
| 8 | leave | gerund | iguana | the palm tree | to the danger of iguana's life | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP PP.location»: agent=Agent he=Theme on tree=Location | |||
| 9 | live a condition, not said to happen | past | the parrot | for the future; by the waterside | vn exist-47.1-1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme by waterside=Location | ||||
| 10 | is | past | that | where property | tree rules | ||||
| 11 | get | past | iguana | iguana's food | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer food=Stimulus |
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/pg70959/16/59/