Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xxiii.--why Edidor Killed Her Husband and Her Lover., sentence 89
Chief Oga then for twelve months did not try to do anything more to kill ’Nyambi, but sat down and waited until the proper time should arrive when he would be able to revenge himself upon ’Nyambi and take Obim away.
Who acts: proper time, chief · What happens: not try, do, kill, sit down, wait, arrive · To what, where: anything, Nyambi, revenge, Obim
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 (proper time, 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 | Chief | Chief | PROPN | Number=Sing | 3 then | nsubj |
| 2 | Oga | Oga | PROPN | Number=Sing | 1 Chief | flat |
| 3 | then | then | ADV | PronType=Dem | 9 try | obl |
| 4 | for | for | ADP | _ | 6 months | case |
| 5 | twelve | twelve | NUM | NumForm=Word NumType=Card | 6 months | nummod |
| 6 | months | month | NOUN | Number=Plur | 9 try | obl |
| 7 | did | do | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=1 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 9 try | aux |
| 8 | not | not | PART | Polarity=Neg | 9 try | advmod |
| 9 | try | try | VERB | Mood=Imp VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 10 | to | to | PART | _ | 11 do | mark |
| 11 | do | do | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 9 try | xcomp |
| 12 | anything | anything | PRON | Number=Sing PronType=Ind | 11 do | obj |
| 13 | more | more | ADJ | Degree=Cmp | 11 do | obj |
| 14 | to | to | PART | _ | 15 kill | mark |
| 15 | kill | kill | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 13 more | advcl |
| 16 | ’ | ' | PUNCT | _ | 17 Nyambi | punct |
| 17 | Nyambi | Nyambi | PROPN | Number=Sing | 15 kill | obj |
| 18 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 20 sat | punct |
| 19 | but | but | CCONJ | _ | 20 sat | cc |
| 20 | sat | sit | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 9 try | parataxis |
| 21 | down | down | ADP | _ | 20 sat | compound:prt |
| 22 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 23 waited | cc |
| 23 | waited | wait | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=1 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 20 sat | conj |
| 24 | until | until | SCONJ | _ | 29 arrive | mark |
| 25 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 27 time | det |
| 26 | proper | proper | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 27 time | amod |
| 27 | time | time | NOUN | Number=Sing | 29 arrive | nsubj |
| 28 | should | should | AUX | VerbForm=Fin | 29 arrive | aux |
| 29 | arrive | arrive | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 23 waited | advcl |
| 30 | when | when | ADV | PronType=Int | 34 able | advmod |
| 31 | he | he | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 34 able | nsubj |
| 32 | would | would | AUX | VerbForm=Fin | 34 able | aux |
| 33 | be | be | AUX | VerbForm=Inf | 34 able | cop |
| 34 | able | able | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 29 arrive | advcl |
| 35 | to | to | PART | _ | 36 revenge | mark |
| 36 | revenge | revenge | NOUN | Number=Sing | 34 able | xcomp |
| 37 | himself | himself | PRON | Case=Acc Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Emp Reflex=Yes | 36 revenge | nmod:unmarked |
| 38 | upon | upon | ADP | _ | 40 Nyambi | case |
| 39 | ’ | ' | PUNCT | _ | 40 Nyambi | punct |
| 40 | Nyambi | Nyambi | PROPN | Number=Sing | 36 revenge | nmod |
| 41 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 42 take | cc |
| 42 | take | take | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 29 arrive | conj |
| 43 | Obim | Obim | PROPN | Number=Sing | 42 take | obj |
| 44 | away | away | ADV | _ | 42 take | advmod |
| 45 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 9 try | punct |
Pragmatics
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | not try | past · do-support | month | vn try-61.1 «NP V S_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality | |||||
| 2 | do not said to happen | to-infinitive | anything | tree rules | |||||
| 3 | kill | to-infinitive | Nyambi | vn remove-10.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent nyambi=Theme | |||||
| 4 | sit down | past | vn assuming_position-50 «NP V»: agent=Agent | ||||||
| 5 | wait | past | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | ||||||
| 6 | arrive | should | the proper time | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | |||||
| 7 | is | would | chief | revenge NYAMBI upon Nyambi | able property | tree rules | |||
| 8 | take away | infinitive | the proper time not said here | Obim | away property | vn remove-10.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent obim=Theme |
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/pg70959/17/89/