Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xxiii.--why Edidor Killed Her Husband and Her Lover., sentence 119
Chief Oga then implored ’Nyambi not to tell any of the young men of the town what he had done to him, and begged him to keep it secret until the day of his death. ’
Who acts: Chief, Nyambi · What happens: implore, not tell, do, beg, keep, die · To what, where: any, NYAMBI, chief, injury · Speech: someone speaks here
This is a sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Xxiii.--why Edidor Killed Her Husband and Her Lover.. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (Chief, Nyambi), 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 | Chief | Chief | PROPN | Number=Sing | 4 implored | nsubj |
| 2 | Oga | Oga | PROPN | Number=Sing | 1 Chief | flat |
| 3 | then | then | ADV | PronType=Dem | 4 implored | advmod |
| 4 | implored | implore | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 5 | ’ | ' | PUNCT | _ | 9 tell | punct |
| 6 | Nyambi | Nyambi | PROPN | Number=Sing | 9 tell | nsubj |
| 7 | not | not | PART | Polarity=Neg | 9 tell | advmod |
| 8 | to | to | PART | _ | 9 tell | mark |
| 9 | tell | tell | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 4 implored | conj |
| 10 | any | any | DET | PronType=Ind | 9 tell | obj |
| 11 | of | of | ADP | _ | 14 men | case |
| 12 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 14 men | det |
| 13 | young | young | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 14 men | amod |
| 14 | men | man | NOUN | Number=Plur | 10 any | nmod |
| 15 | of | of | ADP | _ | 17 town | case |
| 16 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 17 town | det |
| 17 | town | town | NOUN | Number=Sing | 14 men | nmod |
| 18 | what | what | PRON | PronType=Int | 21 done | obj |
| 19 | he | he | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 21 done | nsubj |
| 20 | had | have | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 21 done | aux |
| 21 | done | do | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part | 9 tell | ccomp |
| 22 | to | to | ADP | _ | 23 him | case |
| 23 | him | he | PRON | Case=Acc Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 21 done | obl |
| 24 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 26 begged | punct |
| 25 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 26 begged | cc |
| 26 | begged | beg | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 4 implored | conj |
| 27 | him | he | PRON | Case=Acc Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 26 begged | obj |
| 28 | to | to | PART | _ | 29 keep | mark |
| 29 | keep | keep | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 26 begged | xcomp |
| 30 | it | it | PRON | Case=Acc Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 29 keep | obj |
| 31 | secret | secret | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 29 keep | xcomp |
| 32 | until | until | ADP | _ | 34 day | case |
| 33 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 34 day | det |
| 34 | day | day | NOUN | Number=Sing | 29 keep | obl |
| 35 | of | of | ADP | _ | 37 death | case |
| 36 | his | his | PRON | Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 37 death | nmod:poss |
| 37 | death | death | NOUN | Number=Sing | 34 day | nmod |
| 38 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 4 implored | punct |
| 39 | ’ | ' | PUNCT | _ | 4 implored | punct |
Pragmatics
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | implore | past | Chief | then | vn urge-58.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent | ||||
| 2 | not tell speech: assert | to-infinitive | Nyambi | any of the young men of the town | vn transfer_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP what S»: agent=Agent any=Recipient clause=Topic | ||||
| 3 | do | past · perfect | chief | NYAMBI | what obj | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent what=Eventuality | |||
| 4 | beg speech: request | past | Chief not said here | chief | vn beg-58.2-1-1 «NP V NP S_INF»: agent=Agent he=Recipient clause=Topic | ||||
| 5 | keep not said to happen | to-infinitive | Chief not said here | injury | day | secret property | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Theme | ||
| 6 | die | chief | nom death «event intransitive»: poss=agent |
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.
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