Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xxv.--how Two Bendega Young Men Changed Their Skins., part 1, sentence 4

Abang was never allowed to leave the town by his parents, as they thought he might be killed or get into trouble with other young men of his company, but in spite of this his fame as a singer and dancer, and stories of his manly beauty, had spread through all the neighbouring towns, and many people wanted to see him, but as he was a dutiful son he stayed at home and did not accept any of the numerous invitations he received from the various countries to attend their plays and dances, although he was frequently offered quite large numbers of rods and other presents to go.

Who acts: Abang, many people, Oga, any · What happens: not allow, leave, think, kill, get, spread · To what, where: Abang, town, Oga, trouble, stories, neighbouring towns · 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 (Abang, many people, Oga, any), 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	Abang	Abang	PROPN	Number=Sing	4 allowed	nsubj:pass
2	was	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	4 allowed	aux:pass
3	never	never	ADV	PronType=Neg	4 allowed	advmod
4	allowed	allow	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
5	to	to	PART	_	6 leave	mark
6	leave	leave	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	4 allowed	xcomp
7	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	8 town	det
8	town	town	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 leave	obj
9	by	by	ADP	_	11 parents	case
10	his	his	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	11 parents	nmod:poss
11	parents	parent	NOUN	Number=Plur	6 leave	obl
12	,	,	PUNCT	_	15 thought	punct
13	as	as	SCONJ	_	15 thought	mark
14	they	they	PRON	Case=Nom Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs	15 thought	nsubj
15	thought	think	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	4 allowed	conj
16	he	he	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	19 killed	nsubj:pass
17	might	might	AUX	VerbForm=Fin	19 killed	aux
18	be	be	AUX	VerbForm=Inf	19 killed	aux:pass
19	killed	kill	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	15 thought	ccomp
20	or	or	CCONJ	_	21 get	cc
21	get	get	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	19 killed	conj
22	into	into	ADP	_	23 trouble	case
23	trouble	trouble	NOUN	Number=Sing	21 get	obl
24	with	with	ADP	_	27 men	case
25	other	other	ADJ	Degree=Pos	27 men	amod
26	young	young	ADJ	Degree=Pos	27 men	amod
27	men	man	NOUN	Number=Plur	23 trouble	nmod
28	of	of	ADP	_	30 company	case
29	his	his	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	30 company	nmod:poss
30	company	company	NOUN	Number=Sing	27 men	nmod
31	,	,	PUNCT	_	38 fame	punct
32	but	but	CCONJ	_	38 fame	cc
33	in	in	ADP	_	34 spite	case
34	spite	spite	NOUN	Number=Sing	38 fame	compound
35	of	of	ADP	_	36 this	case
36	this	this	PRON	Number=Sing PronType=Dem	34 spite	nmod
37	his	his	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	38 fame	nmod:poss
38	fame	fame	NOUN	Number=Sing	15 thought	ccomp
39	as	as	ADP	_	41 singer	case
40	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	41 singer	det
41	singer	singer	NOUN	Number=Sing	38 fame	nmod
42	and	and	CCONJ	_	43 dancer	cc
43	dancer	dancer	NOUN	Number=Sing	41 singer	conj
44	,	,	PUNCT	_	53 spread	punct
45	and	and	CCONJ	_	53 spread	cc
46	stories	story	NOUN	Number=Plur	53 spread	nsubj:pass
47	of	of	ADP	_	50 beauty	case
48	his	his	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	50 beauty	nmod:poss
49	manly	manly	ADJ	Degree=Pos	50 beauty	amod
50	beauty	beauty	NOUN	Number=Sing	53 spread	obl
51	,	,	PUNCT	_	50 beauty	punct
52	had	have	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	53 spread	aux
53	spread	spread	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	4 allowed	conj
54	through	through	ADP	_	58 towns	case
55	all	all	DET	PronType=Tot	58 towns	det:predet
56	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	58 towns	det
57	neighbouring	neighbouring	NOUN	Number=Sing	58 towns	compound
58	towns	town	NOUN	Number=Plur	53 spread	obl
59	,	,	PUNCT	_	63 wanted	punct
60	and	and	CCONJ	_	63 wanted	cc
61	many	many	ADJ	Degree=Pos	62 people	amod
62	people	people	NOUN	Number=Plur	63 wanted	nsubj
63	wanted	want	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	4 allowed	parataxis
64	to	to	PART	_	65 see	mark
65	see	see	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	63 wanted	xcomp
66	him	he	PRON	Case=Acc Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	65 see	obj
67	,	,	PUNCT	_	74 son	punct
68	but	but	CCONJ	_	74 son	cc
69	as	as	SCONJ	_	74 son	mark
70	he	he	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	74 son	nsubj
71	was	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	74 son	cop
72	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	74 son	det
73	dutiful	dutiful	ADJ	Degree=Pos	74 son	amod
74	son	son	NOUN	Number=Sing	63 wanted	conj
75	he	he	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	76 stayed	nsubj
76	stayed	stay	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	74 son	acl:relcl
77	at	at	ADP	_	78 home	case
78	home	home	NOUN	Number=Sing	76 stayed	obl
79	and	and	CCONJ	_	82 accept	cc
80	did	do	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	82 accept	aux
81	not	not	PART	Polarity=Neg	82 accept	advmod
82	accept	accept	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	76 stayed	conj
83	any	any	DET	PronType=Ind	89 received	nsubj
84	of	of	ADP	_	87 invitations	case
85	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	87 invitations	det
86	numerous	numerous	ADJ	Degree=Pos	87 invitations	amod
87	invitations	invitation	NOUN	Number=Plur	83 any	nmod
88	he	he	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	89 received	nsubj
89	received	receive	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=1 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	82 accept	ccomp
90	from	from	ADP	_	93 countries	case
91	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	93 countries	det
92	various	various	ADJ	Degree=Pos	93 countries	amod
93	countries	country	NOUN	Number=Plur	89 received	obl
94	to	to	PART	_	95 attend	mark
95	attend	attend	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	89 received	advcl
96	their	their	PRON	Case=Gen Number=Plur Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	97 plays	nmod:poss
97	plays	play	NOUN	Number=Plur	95 attend	obj
98	and	and	CCONJ	_	99 dances	cc
99	dances	dance	NOUN	Number=Plur	97 plays	conj
100	,	,	PUNCT	_	105 offered	punct
101	although	although	SCONJ	_	105 offered	mark
102	he	he	PRON	Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs	105 offered	nsubj:pass
103	was	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	105 offered	aux:pass
104	frequently	frequently	ADV	_	105 offered	advmod
105	offered	offer	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	95 attend	advcl
106	quite	quite	ADV	_	107 large	advmod
107	large	large	ADJ	Degree=Pos	108 numbers	amod
108	numbers	number	NOUN	Number=Plur	105 offered	obj
109	of	of	ADP	_	110 rods	case
110	rods	rod	NOUN	Number=Plur	108 numbers	nmod
111	and	and	CCONJ	_	113 presents	cc
112	other	other	ADJ	Degree=Pos	113 presents	amod
113	presents	present	NOUN	Number=Plur	108 numbers	conj
114	to	to	PART	_	115 go	mark
115	go	go	VERB	VerbForm=Inf	113 presents	acl
116	.	.	PUNCT	_	4 allowed	punct

Pragmatics

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	where	other	roles by
1	not allow	past · passive		Abang			vn allow-64.1-1 «NP V NP S»: subject=Beneficiary clause=Eventuality
2	leave not said to happen	to-infinitive	Abang not said here	the town		by Oga's parents	vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP PP.location»: agent=Agent town=Theme by parent=Location
3	think speech: other	past	Abang			Oga's spite fame as a singer and dancer ccomp	vn consider-29.9-2 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent clause=Theme
4	kill	might · passive		Oga			vn remove-10.1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme
5	get	infinitive			trouble with other young men of Oga's company		vn escape-51.1 «NP V PP.destination»: agent=Theme into trouble=Destination
6	spread	past · perfect · passive		stories	all neighbouring towns	of Oga's manly beauty	vn spray-9.7-1 «NP V NP PP.destination»: subject=Theme through town=Destination
7	want	past	many people				vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP S_INF»: agent=Pivot clause=Theme
8	see not said to happen	to-infinitive	many people not said here	Oga			vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer he=Stimulus
9	is a	past	Oga	a dutiful son			tree rules
10	stay	past	Oga	a dutiful son not said here	home		vn lodge-46 «NP V ADV»: agent=Theme son=Location
11	not accept	past · do-support	Oga not said here				vn accept-77.1 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent clause=Theme
12	receive	past	any of the numerous invitations		the various countries	Oga nsubj	vn obtain-13.5.2 «NP V NP PP.source»: agent=Agent from country=Source
13	attend	to-infinitive	any of the numerous invitations not said here	Abang's plays and dances			vn attend-107.4-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme play=Goal
14	offer	past · passive		Oga		large numbers of rods and other presents obj; frequently property	vn future_having-13.3 «NP V NP.goal NP»: subject=Goal number=Theme
15	go	to-infinitive					vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme
16	spite			this			nom spite «feeling transitive»: of=patient
17	play		Abang				nom play «communication intransitive»: poss=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/pg70959/18/4/

🌲 Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xxv.--how Two Bendega Young Men Changed Their Skins., part 1, sentence 4

The tree

Pragmatics

Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xxv.--how Two Bendega Young Men Changed Their Skins., part 1, sentence 4