Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xxiii.--why Edidor Killed Her Husband and Her Lover., sentence 156
A law was then passed that, if a husband caught another man in his house having connection with his wife, he could do whatever he liked with him in the house, but once the man was outside the house, he should not be molested, and the case should be decided before the chiefs.
Who acts: man, chief, chiefs · What happens: pass, catch, have, do, like, be · To what, where: law, husband, connection, whatever, house, chief
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 (man, chief, chiefs), 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 | A | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 2 law | det |
| 2 | law | law | NOUN | Number=Sing | 5 passed | nsubj:pass |
| 3 | was | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 5 passed | aux:pass |
| 4 | then | then | ADV | PronType=Dem | 5 passed | advmod |
| 5 | passed | pass | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | root | root |
| 6 | that | that | PRON | Number=Sing PronType=Dem | 5 passed | obj |
| 7 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 11 caught | punct |
| 8 | if | if | SCONJ | _ | 11 caught | mark |
| 9 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 10 husband | det |
| 10 | husband | husband | NOUN | Number=Sing | 11 caught | nsubj:pass |
| 11 | caught | catch | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 5 passed | conj |
| 12 | another | another | DET | PronType=Ind | 13 man | det |
| 13 | man | man | NOUN | Number=Sing | 11 caught | obj |
| 14 | in | in | ADP | _ | 16 house | case |
| 15 | his | his | PRON | Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 16 house | nmod:poss |
| 16 | house | house | NOUN | Number=Sing | 13 man | nmod |
| 17 | having | have | VERB | VerbForm=Ger | 13 man | acl |
| 18 | connection | connection | NOUN | Number=Sing | 17 having | obj |
| 19 | with | with | ADP | _ | 21 wife | case |
| 20 | his | his | PRON | Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 21 wife | nmod:poss |
| 21 | wife | wife | NOUN | Number=Sing | 18 connection | nmod |
| 22 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 25 do | punct |
| 23 | he | he | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 25 do | nsubj |
| 24 | could | could | AUX | VerbForm=Fin | 25 do | aux |
| 25 | do | do | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 11 caught | ccomp |
| 26 | whatever | whatever | PRON | PronType=Rel | 28 liked | obj |
| 27 | he | he | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 28 liked | nsubj |
| 28 | liked | like | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 25 do | acl:relcl |
| 29 | with | with | ADP | _ | 30 him | case |
| 30 | him | he | PRON | Case=Acc Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 28 liked | obl |
| 31 | in | in | ADP | _ | 33 house | case |
| 32 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 33 house | det |
| 33 | house | house | NOUN | Number=Sing | 28 liked | obl |
| 34 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 48 molested | punct |
| 35 | but | but | CCONJ | _ | 48 molested | cc |
| 36 | once | once | SCONJ | _ | 42 house | mark |
| 37 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 38 man | det |
| 38 | man | man | NOUN | Number=Sing | 42 house | nsubj |
| 39 | was | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 42 house | cop |
| 40 | outside | outside | ADP | _ | 42 house | case |
| 41 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 42 house | det |
| 42 | house | house | NOUN | Number=Sing | 48 molested | advcl |
| 43 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 42 house | punct |
| 44 | he | he | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 48 molested | nsubj |
| 45 | should | should | AUX | VerbForm=Fin | 48 molested | aux |
| 46 | not | not | PART | Polarity=Neg | 48 molested | advmod |
| 47 | be | be | AUX | VerbForm=Inf | 48 molested | aux:pass |
| 48 | molested | molest | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 5 passed | conj |
| 49 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 55 decided | punct |
| 50 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 55 decided | cc |
| 51 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 52 case | det |
| 52 | case | case | NOUN | Number=Sing | 55 decided | nsubj:pass |
| 53 | should | should | AUX | VerbForm=Fin | 55 decided | aux |
| 54 | be | be | AUX | VerbForm=Inf | 55 decided | aux:pass |
| 55 | decided | decide | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 5 passed | parataxis |
| 56 | before | before | ADP | _ | 58 chiefs | case |
| 57 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 58 chiefs | det |
| 58 | chiefs | chief | NOUN | Number=Plur | 55 decided | obl:agent |
| 59 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 5 passed | punct |
Pragmatics
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | pass | past · passive | a law | then | that obj | vn give-13.1 «NP V NP-Dative NP»: subject=Recipient that=Theme | |||
| 2 | catch a condition, not said to happen | participle · passive | a husband | another man obj | tree rules | ||||
| 3 | have | gerund | another man not said here | connection | with chief's wife | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent connection=Patient | |||
| 4 | do | could | chief | vn act-114-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent | |||||
| 5 | like | past | chief | whatever | the house | with husband | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Pivot whatever=Theme | ||
| 6 | is | past | the man | outside the house | tree rules | ||||
| 7 | not molest | should · passive | chief | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: subject=Experiencer | |||||
| 8 | decide | should · passive | the chiefs | the case | vn correspond-36.1-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent subject=Topic |
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/pg70959/17/156/