Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xxiii.--why Edidor Killed Her Husband and Her Lover., sentence 122
This went on for some time, until at last his wives got tired of being alone and began to desert him and go to other men, and very soon he was left with only boys in the house.
Who acts: This, last · What happens: go on, get, be, begin, desert, go · To what, where: wound, house
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 (This, last), 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 | This | this | PRON | Number=Sing PronType=Dem | 2 went | nsubj |
| 2 | went | go | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 3 | on | on | ADP | _ | 2 went | compound:prt |
| 4 | for | for | ADP | _ | 6 time | case |
| 5 | some | some | DET | PronType=Ind | 6 time | det |
| 6 | time | time | NOUN | Number=Sing | 2 went | obl |
| 7 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 13 got | punct |
| 8 | until | until | SCONJ | _ | 13 got | mark |
| 9 | at | at | ADP | _ | 10 last | case |
| 10 | last | last | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 13 got | nsubj |
| 11 | his | his | PRON | Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 12 wives | nmod:poss |
| 12 | wives | wife | NOUN | Number=Plur | 10 last | nsubj |
| 13 | got | get | VERB | Mood=Ind Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 2 went | parataxis |
| 14 | tired | tired | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 13 got | xcomp |
| 15 | of | of | ADP | _ | 17 alone | case |
| 16 | being | be | AUX | Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part | 17 alone | cop |
| 17 | alone | alone | ADV | _ | 14 tired | obl |
| 18 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 19 began | cc |
| 19 | began | begin | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 13 got | conj |
| 20 | to | to | PART | _ | 21 desert | mark |
| 21 | desert | desert | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 19 began | xcomp |
| 22 | him | he | PRON | Case=Acc Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 21 desert | obj |
| 23 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 24 go | cc |
| 24 | go | go | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 21 desert | conj |
| 25 | to | to | ADP | _ | 27 men | case |
| 26 | other | other | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 27 men | amod |
| 27 | men | man | NOUN | Number=Plur | 24 go | obl |
| 28 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 34 left | punct |
| 29 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 34 left | cc |
| 30 | very | very | ADV | _ | 31 soon | advmod |
| 31 | soon | soon | ADV | Degree=Pos | 34 left | advmod |
| 32 | he | he | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 34 left | nsubj |
| 33 | was | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 34 left | aux:pass |
| 34 | left | leave | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 2 went | parataxis |
| 35 | with | with | ADP | _ | 37 boys | case |
| 36 | only | only | ADV | _ | 37 boys | advmod |
| 37 | boys | boy | NOUN | Number=Plur | 34 left | obl |
| 38 | in | in | ADP | _ | 40 house | case |
| 39 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 40 house | det |
| 40 | house | house | NOUN | Number=Sing | 34 left | obl |
| 41 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 2 went | punct |
Pragmatics
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | go on | past | This | time | vn function-105.2.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | ||||
| 2 | get | past | last wound's wives | tired property | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V S_ING»: agent=Experiencer | ||||
| 3 | is | gerund | alone property | tree rules | |||||
| 4 | begin | past | last wound's wives not said here | vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP V S_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality | |||||
| 5 | desert | to-infinitive | last wound's wives not said here | wound | vn leave-51.2-1 «NP V NP.initial_location»: agent=Theme he=Source | ||||
| 6 | go | infinitive | last wound's wives not said here | to other men | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial_location»: agent=Theme to man=Initial_Location | ||||
| 7 | leave | past · passive | wound | the house | with boys; soon property | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP PP.location»: subject=Theme in house=Location |
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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