Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xxiii.--why Edidor Killed Her Husband and Her Lover., sentence 146
The chief replied that the man would certainly be killed, if he had mutilated Chief Oga by force without a very good reason, but that if they considered he was justified in his action, he would be allowed to go free.
Who acts: chief, men · What happens: reply, kill, mutilate, consider, be, allow · To what, where: man, Chief, action · 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, men), 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 chief | det |
| 2 | chief | chief | NOUN | Number=Sing | 3 replied | nsubj |
| 3 | replied | reply | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 4 | that | that | SCONJ | _ | 10 killed | mark |
| 5 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 6 man | det |
| 6 | man | man | NOUN | Number=Sing | 10 killed | nsubj:pass |
| 7 | would | would | AUX | VerbForm=Fin | 10 killed | aux |
| 8 | certainly | certainly | ADV | _ | 10 killed | advmod |
| 9 | be | be | AUX | VerbForm=Inf | 10 killed | aux:pass |
| 10 | killed | kill | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 3 replied | ccomp |
| 11 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 15 mutilated | punct |
| 12 | if | if | SCONJ | _ | 15 mutilated | mark |
| 13 | he | he | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 15 mutilated | nsubj |
| 14 | had | have | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 15 mutilated | aux |
| 15 | mutilated | mutilate | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part | 3 replied | conj |
| 16 | Chief | Chief | PROPN | Number=Sing | 15 mutilated | obj |
| 17 | Oga | Oga | PROPN | Number=Sing | 16 Chief | flat |
| 18 | by | by | ADP | _ | 19 force | case |
| 19 | force | force | NOUN | Number=Sing | 15 mutilated | obl |
| 20 | without | without | ADP | _ | 24 reason | case |
| 21 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 24 reason | det |
| 22 | very | very | ADV | _ | 23 good | advmod |
| 23 | good | good | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 24 reason | amod |
| 24 | reason | reason | NOUN | Number=Sing | 15 mutilated | obl |
| 25 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 41 allowed | punct |
| 26 | but | but | CCONJ | _ | 41 allowed | cc |
| 27 | that | that | SCONJ | _ | 30 considered | mark |
| 28 | if | if | SCONJ | _ | 30 considered | mark |
| 29 | they | they | PRON | Case=Nom Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs | 30 considered | nsubj |
| 30 | considered | consider | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 41 allowed | advcl |
| 31 | he | he | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 33 justified | nsubj |
| 32 | was | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 33 justified | cop |
| 33 | justified | justified | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 30 considered | xcomp |
| 34 | in | in | ADP | _ | 36 action | case |
| 35 | his | his | PRON | Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 36 action | nmod:poss |
| 36 | action | action | NOUN | Number=Sing | 33 justified | obl |
| 37 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 30 considered | punct |
| 38 | he | he | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 41 allowed | nsubj:pass |
| 39 | would | would | AUX | VerbForm=Fin | 41 allowed | aux |
| 40 | be | be | AUX | VerbForm=Inf | 41 allowed | aux:pass |
| 41 | allowed | allow | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 3 replied | conj |
| 42 | to | to | PART | _ | 43 go | mark |
| 43 | go | go | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 41 allowed | xcomp |
| 44 | free | free | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 43 go | xcomp |
| 45 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 3 replied | punct |
Pragmatics
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | reply speech: assert | past | the chief | vn say-37.7-1 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic | |||||
| 2 | kill | would · passive | the man | certainly property | vn remove-10.1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme | ||||
| 3 | mutilate a condition, not said to happen | past · perfect | chief | Chief | by force; without a good reason | vn destroy-44 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent chief=Patient | |||
| 4 | consider a condition, not said to happen | past | men = man | vn consider-29.9-1-1 «NP V whether/if S»: agent=Agent | |||||
| 5 | is | past | chief | chief's action | justified property | tree rules | |||
| 6 | allow | would · passive | chief | vn allow-64.1-1 «NP V NP S»: subject=Beneficiary clause=Eventuality | |||||
| 7 | go not said to happen | to-infinitive | chief not said here | free property | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | ||||
| 8 | act | chief | nom action «act 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.
This page in Markdown → https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/17/146/