Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xxiii.--why Edidor Killed Her Husband and Her Lover., sentence 96
Directly the chief heard that ’Nyambi had gone, he sent a messenger to Obim, asking her to sleep with him that night.
Who acts: chief, Nyambi · What happens: hear, go, send, ask, sleep · To what, where: messenger, Obim · Speech: someone speaks here
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, 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 | Directly | directly | ADV | _ | 4 heard | advmod |
| 2 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 3 chief | det |
| 3 | chief | chief | NOUN | Number=Sing | 4 heard | nsubj |
| 4 | heard | hear | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 5 | that | that | SCONJ | _ | 9 gone | mark |
| 6 | ’ | ' | PUNCT | _ | 9 gone | punct |
| 7 | Nyambi | Nyambi | PROPN | Number=Sing | 9 gone | nsubj |
| 8 | had | have | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 9 gone | aux |
| 9 | gone | go | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part | 4 heard | ccomp |
| 10 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 12 sent | punct |
| 11 | he | he | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 12 sent | nsubj |
| 12 | sent | send | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 4 heard | conj |
| 13 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 14 messenger | det |
| 14 | messenger | messenger | NOUN | Number=Sing | 12 sent | obj |
| 15 | to | to | ADP | _ | 16 Obim | case |
| 16 | Obim | Obim | PROPN | Number=Sing | 12 sent | obl |
| 17 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 18 asking | punct |
| 18 | asking | ask | VERB | Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part | 12 sent | advcl |
| 19 | her | she | PRON | Case=Acc Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 18 asking | obj |
| 20 | to | to | PART | _ | 21 sleep | mark |
| 21 | sleep | sleep | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 18 asking | xcomp |
| 22 | with | with | ADP | _ | 23 him | case |
| 23 | him | he | PRON | Case=Acc Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 21 sleep | obl |
| 24 | that | that | DET | Number=Sing PronType=Dem | 25 night | det |
| 25 | night | night | NOUN | Number=Sing | 21 sleep | obl:unmarked |
| 26 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 4 heard | punct |
Pragmatics
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | hear | past | the chief | directly property | vn see-30.1-1-1 «NP V S_ING»: agent=Experiencer clause=Stimulus | ||||
| 2 | go | past · perfect | Nyambi | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | |||||
| 3 | send | past | NYAMBI | a messenger | Obim | vn confine-92-1 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent messenger=Theme to obim=Destination | |||
| 4 | ask speech: ask | gerund | NYAMBI not said here | messenger | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V NP whether S_INF»: agent=Agent she=Recipient clause=Topic | ||||
| 5 | sleep not said to happen | to-infinitive | NYAMBI not said here | night | with NYAMBI | vn snooze-40.4-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
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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