Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xxiii.--why Edidor Killed Her Husband and Her Lover., sentence 8
He then took his three little children to his father-in-law, asking him to look after them for him, as he was going to Inde to try and get Edidor to return to him.
Who acts: Ode, Edidor · What happens: take, ask, look, go, try, get · To what, where: three little children, law, Ode, Inde, Edidor
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 (Ode, Edidor), 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 | He | he | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 3 took | nsubj |
| 2 | then | then | ADV | PronType=Dem | 3 took | advmod |
| 3 | took | take | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 4 | his | his | PRON | Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 7 children | nmod:poss |
| 5 | three | three | NUM | NumForm=Word NumType=Card | 7 children | nummod |
| 6 | little | little | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 7 children | amod |
| 7 | children | child | NOUN | Number=Plur | 3 took | obj |
| 8 | to | to | ADP | _ | 14 law | case |
| 9 | his | his | PRON | Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 14 law | nmod:poss |
| 10 | father | father | NOUN | Number=Sing | 14 law | nsubj |
| 11 | - | - | PUNCT | _ | 14 law | punct |
| 12 | in | in | ADP | _ | 14 law | case |
| 13 | - | - | PUNCT | _ | 12 in | punct |
| 14 | law | law | NOUN | Number=Sing | 3 took | obl |
| 15 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 16 asking | punct |
| 16 | asking | ask | VERB | Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part | 3 took | advcl |
| 17 | him | he | PRON | Case=Acc Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 16 asking | obj |
| 18 | to | to | PART | _ | 19 look | mark |
| 19 | look | look | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 16 asking | xcomp |
| 20 | after | after | ADP | _ | 21 them | case |
| 21 | them | they | PRON | Case=Acc Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs | 19 look | obl |
| 22 | for | for | ADP | _ | 23 him | case |
| 23 | him | he | PRON | Case=Acc Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 19 look | obl |
| 24 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 28 going | punct |
| 25 | as | as | SCONJ | _ | 28 going | mark |
| 26 | he | he | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 28 going | nsubj |
| 27 | was | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 28 going | aux |
| 28 | going | go | VERB | Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part | 3 took | conj |
| 29 | to | to | ADP | _ | 30 Inde | case |
| 30 | Inde | Inde | PROPN | Number=Sing | 28 going | obl |
| 31 | to | to | PART | _ | 32 try | mark |
| 32 | try | try | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 28 going | xcomp |
| 33 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 34 get | cc |
| 34 | get | get | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 32 try | conj |
| 35 | Edidor | Edidor | PROPN | Number=Sing | 34 get | obj |
| 36 | to | to | PART | _ | 37 return | mark |
| 37 | return | return | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 34 get | xcomp |
| 38 | to | to | ADP | _ | 39 him | case |
| 39 | him | he | PRON | Case=Acc Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 37 return | obl |
| 40 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 3 took | punct |
Pragmatics
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | take | past | Ode | Ode's three little children | Ode's law father | then | vn bring-11.3 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent child=Theme to law=Destination | ||
| 2 | ask speech: ask | gerund | Ode not said here | Ode | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V NP whether S_INF»: agent=Agent he=Recipient clause=Topic | ||||
| 3 | look not said to happen | to-infinitive | Ode not said here | after children = child | for Ode | vn rummage-35.5 «NP V PP.location PP.theme»: agent=Agent for he=Theme | |||
| 4 | go | past · progressive | Ode | Inde | vn say-37.7 «NP V S-Quote»: agent=Agent clause=Topic | ||||
| 5 | try | to-infinitive | Ode not said here | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Experiencer | |||||
| 6 | get | infinitive | Ode not said here | Edidor | tree rules | ||||
| 7 | return | to-infinitive | Edidor not said here | Ode | vn convert-26.6.2-1 «NP V S_ING»: agent=Patient to he=Result |
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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