Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xxv.--how Two Bendega Young Men Changed Their Skins., part 1, sentence 19
When he got near the town one of the natives of the country, through whose farm the path passed, told him that Chief Ojong Egussa was dead, and that his funeral was being kept at ’Nkanassa compound, where a big play was going on and much drinking and feasting.
Who acts: Oga, path, Ojong Egussa, big play · What happens: get, pass, tell, be, keep, go on · To what, where: town, farm, Oga, funeral, Nkanassa compound · Speech: someone speaks here
This is a sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Xxv.--how Two Bendega Young Men Changed Their Skins., part 1. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (Oga, path, Ojong Egussa, big play), 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 | When | when | ADV | PronType=Int | 3 got | advmod |
| 2 | he | he | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 3 got | nsubj |
| 3 | got | get | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 22 told | advcl |
| 4 | near | near | ADP | _ | 6 town | case |
| 5 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 6 town | det |
| 6 | town | town | NOUN | Number=Sing | 3 got | obl |
| 7 | one | one | NUM | NumForm=Word NumType=Card | 6 town | flat |
| 8 | of | of | ADP | _ | 10 natives | case |
| 9 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 10 natives | det |
| 10 | natives | native | NOUN | Number=Plur | 7 one | nmod |
| 11 | of | of | ADP | _ | 13 country | case |
| 12 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 13 country | det |
| 13 | country | country | NOUN | Number=Sing | 10 natives | nmod |
| 14 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 17 farm | punct |
| 15 | through | through | ADP | _ | 17 farm | case |
| 16 | whose | whose | PRON | Poss=Yes PronType=Rel | 17 farm | nmod:poss |
| 17 | farm | farm | NOUN | Number=Sing | 3 got | obl |
| 18 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 19 path | det |
| 19 | path | path | NOUN | Number=Sing | 20 passed | nsubj |
| 20 | passed | pass | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 17 farm | acl:relcl |
| 21 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 3 got | punct |
| 22 | told | tell | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=1 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 23 | him | he | PRON | Case=Acc Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 22 told | iobj |
| 24 | that | that | SCONJ | _ | 29 dead | mark |
| 25 | Chief | Chief | PROPN | Number=Sing | 26 Ojong | compound |
| 26 | Ojong | Ojong | PROPN | Number=Sing | 27 Egussa | compound |
| 27 | Egussa | Egussa | PROPN | Number=Sing | 29 dead | nsubj |
| 28 | was | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 29 dead | cop |
| 29 | dead | dead | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 22 told | advcl |
| 30 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 37 kept | punct |
| 31 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 37 kept | cc |
| 32 | that | that | SCONJ | _ | 37 kept | mark |
| 33 | his | his | PRON | Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 34 funeral | nmod:poss |
| 34 | funeral | funeral | NOUN | Number=Sing | 37 kept | nsubj:pass |
| 35 | was | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 37 kept | aux:pass |
| 36 | being | be | AUX | Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part | 37 kept | aux:pass |
| 37 | kept | keep | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 22 told | conj |
| 38 | at | at | ADP | _ | 41 compound | case |
| 39 | ’ | ' | PUNCT | _ | 41 compound | punct |
| 40 | Nkanassa | Nkanassa | PROPN | Number=Sing | 41 compound | compound |
| 41 | compound | compound | NOUN | Number=Sing | 37 kept | obl |
| 42 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 48 going | punct |
| 43 | where | where | ADV | PronType=Rel | 48 going | advmod |
| 44 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 46 play | det |
| 45 | big | big | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 46 play | amod |
| 46 | play | play | NOUN | Number=Sing | 48 going | nsubj |
| 47 | was | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 48 going | aux |
| 48 | going | go | VERB | Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part | 41 compound | conj |
| 49 | on | on | ADP | _ | 48 going | compound:prt |
| 50 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 52 drinking | cc |
| 51 | much | much | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 52 drinking | amod |
| 52 | drinking | drinking | NOUN | Number=Sing | 41 compound | conj |
| 53 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 54 feasting | cc |
| 54 | feasting | feasting | NOUN | Number=Sing | 41 compound | conj |
| 55 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 22 told | punct |
Pragmatics
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | get | past | Oga | the town | through farm | vn escape-51.1 «NP V PP.destination»: agent=Theme through farm=Destination | |||
| 2 | pass | past | the path | farm not said here | vn escape-51.1-1-3 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme farm=Trajectory | ||||
| 3 | tell speech: assert | past | Oga | vn transfer_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent he=Recipient | |||||
| 4 | is | past | Ojong Egussa | dead property | tree rules | ||||
| 5 | keep | past · passive | Oga's funeral | Nkanassa compound and much drinking and feasting | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP PP.location»: subject=Theme at compound=Location | ||||
| 6 | go on | past · progressive | a big play | vn function-105.2.1 «NP V»: agent=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/pg70959/18/19/