Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xxiii.--why Edidor Killed Her Husband and Her Lover., sentence 86
He then asked the ju-ju man to poison ’Nyambi so that he might get hold of his wife, and when he had given him another big present, he went home.
Who acts: chief · What happens: ask, get, give, go, hold · To what, where: ju man, hold, chief, wife
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), 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 asked | nsubj |
| 2 | then | then | ADV | PronType=Dem | 3 asked | advmod |
| 3 | asked | ask | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 4 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 8 man | det |
| 5 | ju | ju | NOUN | Number=Sing | 7 ju | compound |
| 6 | - | - | PUNCT | _ | 5 ju | punct |
| 7 | ju | ju | NOUN | Number=Sing | 8 man | compound |
| 8 | man | man | NOUN | Number=Sing | 3 asked | obj |
| 9 | to | to | ADP | _ | 10 poison | case |
| 10 | poison | poison | NOUN | Number=Sing | 8 man | nmod |
| 11 | ’ | ' | PUNCT | _ | 12 Nyambi | punct |
| 12 | Nyambi | Nyambi | PROPN | Number=Sing | 10 poison | appos |
| 13 | so | so | SCONJ | ExtPos=SCONJ | 17 get | mark |
| 14 | that | that | SCONJ | _ | 13 so | fixed |
| 15 | he | he | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 17 get | nsubj |
| 16 | might | might | AUX | VerbForm=Fin | 17 get | aux |
| 17 | get | get | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 3 asked | ccomp |
| 18 | hold | hold | NOUN | Number=Sing | 17 get | obj |
| 19 | of | of | 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 hold | nmod |
| 22 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 27 given | punct |
| 23 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 27 given | cc |
| 24 | when | when | SCONJ | _ | 27 given | mark |
| 25 | he | he | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 27 given | nsubj:pass |
| 26 | had | have | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 27 given | aux |
| 27 | given | give | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 3 asked | parataxis |
| 28 | him | he | PRON | Case=Acc Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 27 given | obj |
| 29 | another | another | DET | PronType=Ind | 31 present | det |
| 30 | big | big | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 31 present | amod |
| 31 | present | present | NOUN | Number=Sing | 27 given | obj |
| 32 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 34 went | punct |
| 33 | he | he | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 34 went | nsubj |
| 34 | went | go | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 3 asked | parataxis |
| 35 | home | home | ADV | _ | 34 went | advmod |
| 36 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 3 asked | punct |
Pragmatics
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ask speech: ask | past | chief | the ju man | then | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V NP whether S»: agent=Agent man=Recipient clause=Topic | |||
| 2 | get | might | chief | hold of chief's wife | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer hold=Stimulus | ||||
| 3 | give | past · perfect · passive | chief | NYAMBI obj; another big present obj | tree rules | ||||
| 4 | go | past | chief | home property | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | ||||
| 5 | hold | chief's wife | nom hold «act transitive»: of=patient |
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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