Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xxv.--how Two Bendega Young Men Changed Their Skins., part 1, sentence 37
When the people from Bendega came near the town of Inkum, Abang, who was disguised in the dress of an Egbo and covered from head to foot in a very fantastic costume, sent some boys to Oga with a message telling him to come out and meet them.
Who acts: people, message · What happens: come, disguise, cover, send, tell, come out · To what, where: town, head, boys, Oga · 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 (people, message), 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 | 6 came | advmod |
| 2 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 3 people | det |
| 3 | people | people | NOUN | Number=Plur | 6 came | nsubj |
| 4 | from | from | ADP | _ | 5 Bendega | case |
| 5 | Bendega | Bendega | PROPN | Number=Sing | 3 people | nmod |
| 6 | came | come | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 36 sent | advcl |
| 7 | near | near | ADP | _ | 9 town | case |
| 8 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 9 town | det |
| 9 | town | town | NOUN | Number=Sing | 6 came | obl |
| 10 | of | of | ADP | _ | 11 Inkum | case |
| 11 | Inkum | Inkum | PROPN | Number=Sing | 9 town | nmod |
| 12 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 13 Abang | punct |
| 13 | Abang | Abang | PROPN | Number=Sing | 11 Inkum | conj |
| 14 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 17 disguised | punct |
| 15 | who | who | PRON | PronType=Rel | 17 disguised | nsubj |
| 16 | was | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 17 disguised | aux:pass |
| 17 | disguised | disguise | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 9 town | acl |
| 18 | in | in | ADP | _ | 20 dress | case |
| 19 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 20 dress | det |
| 20 | dress | dress | NOUN | Number=Sing | 17 disguised | obl |
| 21 | of | of | ADP | _ | 23 Egbo | case |
| 22 | an | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 23 Egbo | det |
| 23 | Egbo | Egbo | PROPN | Number=Sing | 20 dress | nmod |
| 24 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 25 covered | cc |
| 25 | covered | cover | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 17 disguised | conj |
| 26 | from | from | ADP | _ | 27 head | case |
| 27 | head | head | NOUN | Number=Sing | 25 covered | obl |
| 28 | to | to | ADP | _ | 29 foot | case |
| 29 | foot | foot | NOUN | Number=Sing | 25 covered | obl |
| 30 | in | in | ADP | _ | 34 costume | case |
| 31 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 34 costume | det |
| 32 | very | very | ADV | _ | 33 fantastic | advmod |
| 33 | fantastic | fantastic | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 34 costume | amod |
| 34 | costume | costume | NOUN | Number=Sing | 25 covered | obl |
| 35 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 36 sent | punct |
| 36 | sent | send | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=1 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 37 | some | some | DET | PronType=Ind | 38 boys | det |
| 38 | boys | boy | NOUN | Number=Plur | 36 sent | obj |
| 39 | to | to | ADP | _ | 40 Oga | case |
| 40 | Oga | Oga | PROPN | Number=Sing | 36 sent | obl |
| 41 | with | with | ADP | _ | 43 message | case |
| 42 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 43 message | det |
| 43 | message | message | NOUN | Number=Sing | 36 sent | obl |
| 44 | telling | tell | VERB | VerbForm=Ger | 43 message | acl |
| 45 | him | he | PRON | Case=Acc Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 44 telling | iobj |
| 46 | to | to | PART | _ | 47 come | mark |
| 47 | come | come | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 44 telling | xcomp |
| 48 | out | out | ADV | _ | 47 come | advmod |
| 49 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 50 meet | cc |
| 50 | meet | meet | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 47 come | conj |
| 51 | them | they | PRON | Case=Acc Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs | 50 meet | obj |
| 52 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 36 sent | punct |
Pragmatics
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | come | past | the people from Bendega | the town of Inkum and Abang | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme near town=Location | ||||
| 2 | disguise | past · passive | the town of Inkum and Abang | in the dress of a Egbo | vn fill-9.8-1 «NP V NP PP.theme»: subject=Destination in dress=Theme | ||||
| 3 | cover | participle | head | to foot; in a fantastic costume | vn fill-9.8-1 «NP V NP PP.theme»: agent=Agent in costume=Theme | ||||
| 4 | send | past | some boys | Oga | with a message | vn confine-92-1 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent boy=Theme to oga=Destination | |||
| 5 | tell speech: assert | gerund | a message not said here | Oga | vn transfer_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP S_INF»: agent=Agent he=Recipient clause=Topic | ||||
| 6 | come out not said to happen | to-infinitive | a message not said here | out property | vn become-109.1 «NP V ADJ»: agent=Patient | ||||
| 7 | meet | infinitive | a message not said here | boys = boy | vn meet-36.3-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent they=Co-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.
This page in Markdown → https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/18/37/