Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xxiii.--why Edidor Killed Her Husband and Her Lover., sentence 71
The parents did their best to persuade Obim to marry Chief Oga, as they would receive far more presents and a bigger dowry from him than if they allowed her to marry ’Nyambi, who was not a rich man.
Who acts: Obim, parents, Nyambi · What happens: persuade, marry, receive, allow, not be · To what, where: Obim, Chief, more presents, Nyambi, rich man
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 (Obim, parents, 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 | The | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 2 parents | det |
| 2 | parents | parent | NOUN | Number=Plur | 5 best | nsubj |
| 3 | did | do | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 5 best | aux |
| 4 | their | their | PRON | Case=Gen Number=Plur Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 5 best | nmod:poss |
| 5 | best | good | ADJ | Degree=Sup | root | root |
| 6 | to | to | PART | _ | 7 persuade | mark |
| 7 | persuade | persuade | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 5 best | csubj |
| 8 | Obim | Obim | PROPN | Number=Sing | 7 persuade | obj |
| 9 | to | to | PART | _ | 10 marry | mark |
| 10 | marry | marry | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 7 persuade | xcomp |
| 11 | Chief | Chief | PROPN | Number=Sing | 10 marry | obj |
| 12 | Oga | Oga | PROPN | Number=Sing | 11 Chief | flat |
| 13 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 17 receive | punct |
| 14 | as | as | SCONJ | _ | 17 receive | mark |
| 15 | they | they | PRON | Case=Nom Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs | 17 receive | nsubj |
| 16 | would | would | AUX | VerbForm=Fin | 17 receive | aux |
| 17 | receive | receive | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 10 marry | conj |
| 18 | far | far | ADV | Degree=Pos | 19 more | advmod |
| 19 | more | more | ADJ | Degree=Cmp | 20 presents | amod |
| 20 | presents | present | NOUN | Number=Plur | 17 receive | obj |
| 21 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 24 dowry | cc |
| 22 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 24 dowry | det |
| 23 | bigger | big | ADJ | Degree=Cmp | 24 dowry | amod |
| 24 | dowry | dowry | NOUN | Number=Sing | 20 presents | conj |
| 25 | from | from | ADP | _ | 26 him | case |
| 26 | him | he | PRON | Case=Acc Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 24 dowry | nmod |
| 27 | than | than | SCONJ | _ | 30 allowed | mark |
| 28 | if | if | SCONJ | _ | 30 allowed | mark |
| 29 | they | they | PRON | Case=Nom Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs | 30 allowed | nsubj |
| 30 | allowed | allow | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 17 receive | advcl |
| 31 | her | she | PRON | Case=Acc Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 30 allowed | iobj |
| 32 | to | to | PART | _ | 33 marry | mark |
| 33 | marry | marry | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 30 allowed | xcomp |
| 34 | ’ | ' | PUNCT | _ | 35 Nyambi | punct |
| 35 | Nyambi | Nyambi | PROPN | Number=Sing | 33 marry | obj |
| 36 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 42 man | punct |
| 37 | who | who | PRON | PronType=Rel | 42 man | nsubj |
| 38 | was | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 42 man | cop |
| 39 | not | not | PART | Polarity=Neg | 42 man | advmod |
| 40 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 42 man | det |
| 41 | rich | rich | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 42 man | amod |
| 42 | man | man | NOUN | Number=Sing | 35 Nyambi | appos |
| 43 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 5 best | punct |
Pragmatics
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | persuade | to-infinitive | Obim | vn compel-59.1-1 «NP V NP S_INF»: agent=Agent obim=Patient clause=Result | |||||
| 2 | marry | to-infinitive | Obim not said here | Chief | vn amalgamate-22.2-3-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent chief=Patient | ||||
| 3 | receive | would | parents = parent | more presents and a bigger dowry from chief | vn obtain-13.5.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent present=Theme | ||||
| 4 | allow a condition, not said to happen | past | parents = parent | OBIM | vn allow-64.1-1 «NP V NP S»: agent=Causer she=Beneficiary clause=Eventuality | ||||
| 5 | marry not said to happen | to-infinitive | parents = parent not said here | Nyambi | vn amalgamate-22.2-3-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent nyambi=Patient | ||||
| 6 | not is a | past | Nyambi | a rich man | tree rules |
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/pg70959/17/71/