Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xxv.--how Two Bendega Young Men Changed Their Skins., part 1, sentence 67
The hare therefore reached his house some time before the Elephantiasis, and at once called out to his wife and told her to go and stay with a neighbour of his for a few days as he was running away from a man, and his enemies were following him to kill him or take him prisoner, and he feared that they might catch her.
Who acts: hare, ELEPHANTIASIS, enemies, HARES · What happens: reach, call out, tell, go, stay, run away · To what, where: house, wife, ELEPHANTIASIS · 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 (hare, ELEPHANTIASIS, enemies, HARES), 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 | The | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 2 hare | det |
| 2 | hare | hare | NOUN | Number=Sing | 4 reached | nsubj |
| 3 | therefore | therefore | ADV | _ | 4 reached | advmod |
| 4 | reached | reach | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 5 | his | his | PRON | Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 6 house | nmod:poss |
| 6 | house | house | NOUN | Number=Sing | 4 reached | obj |
| 7 | some | some | DET | PronType=Ind | 8 time | det |
| 8 | time | time | NOUN | Number=Sing | 4 reached | obl:unmarked |
| 9 | before | before | ADP | _ | 11 Elephantiasis | case |
| 10 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 11 Elephantiasis | det |
| 11 | Elephantiasis | elephantiasis | NOUN | Number=Sing | 4 reached | obl |
| 12 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 16 called | punct |
| 13 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 16 called | cc |
| 14 | at | at | ADP | _ | 15 once | case |
| 15 | once | once | ADV | NumForm=Word NumType=Mult | 16 called | obl |
| 16 | called | call | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 4 reached | parataxis |
| 17 | out | out | ADP | _ | 16 called | compound:prt |
| 18 | to | to | ADP | _ | 20 wife | case |
| 19 | his | his | PRON | Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 20 wife | nmod:poss |
| 20 | wife | wife | NOUN | Number=Sing | 16 called | obl |
| 21 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 22 told | cc |
| 22 | told | tell | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 16 called | conj |
| 23 | her | she | PRON | Case=Acc Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 22 told | iobj |
| 24 | to | to | PART | _ | 25 go | mark |
| 25 | go | go | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 22 told | xcomp |
| 26 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 27 stay | cc |
| 27 | stay | stay | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 25 go | conj |
| 28 | with | with | ADP | _ | 30 neighbour | case |
| 29 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 30 neighbour | det |
| 30 | neighbour | neighbour | NOUN | Number=Sing | 27 stay | obl |
| 31 | of | of | ADP | _ | 32 his | case |
| 32 | his | his | PRON | Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 30 neighbour | acl:relcl |
| 33 | for | for | ADP | _ | 36 days | case |
| 34 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 36 days | det |
| 35 | few | few | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 36 days | amod |
| 36 | days | day | NOUN | Number=Plur | 27 stay | obl |
| 37 | as | as | SCONJ | _ | 40 running | mark |
| 38 | he | he | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 40 running | nsubj |
| 39 | was | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 40 running | aux |
| 40 | running | run | VERB | Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part | 27 stay | advcl |
| 41 | away | away | ADV | _ | 40 running | advmod |
| 42 | from | from | ADP | _ | 44 man | case |
| 43 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 44 man | det |
| 44 | man | man | NOUN | Number=Sing | 40 running | obl |
| 45 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 50 following | punct |
| 46 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 50 following | cc |
| 47 | his | his | PRON | Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 48 enemies | nmod:poss |
| 48 | enemies | enemy | NOUN | Number=Plur | 50 following | nsubj |
| 49 | were | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 50 following | aux |
| 50 | following | follow | VERB | Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part | 22 told | advcl |
| 51 | him | he | PRON | Case=Acc Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 50 following | obj |
| 52 | to | to | PART | _ | 53 kill | mark |
| 53 | kill | kill | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 50 following | advcl |
| 54 | him | he | PRON | Case=Acc Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 53 kill | obj |
| 55 | or | or | CCONJ | _ | 56 take | cc |
| 56 | take | take | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 53 kill | conj |
| 57 | him | he | PRON | Case=Acc Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 56 take | obj |
| 58 | prisoner | prisoner | NOUN | Number=Sing | 56 take | obj |
| 59 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 62 feared | punct |
| 60 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 62 feared | cc |
| 61 | he | he | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 62 feared | nsubj |
| 62 | feared | fear | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 4 reached | conj |
| 63 | that | that | SCONJ | _ | 66 catch | mark |
| 64 | they | they | PRON | Case=Nom Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs | 66 catch | nsubj |
| 65 | might | might | AUX | VerbForm=Fin | 66 catch | aux |
| 66 | catch | catch | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 62 feared | advcl |
| 67 | her | she | PRON | Case=Acc Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 66 catch | obj |
| 68 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 4 reached | punct |
Pragmatics
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | reach | past | the hare | ELEPHANTIASIS's house | before the Elephantiasis; time | therefore property | vn body_motion-49.2-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Agent house=Theme | ||
| 2 | call out speech: assert | participle | ELEPHANTIASIS's wife | vn animal_sounds-38 «NP V PP.recipient»: agent=Agent to wife=Recipient | |||||
| 3 | tell speech: assert | past | wife | vn transfer_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP S_INF»: agent=Agent she=Recipient clause=Topic | |||||
| 4 | go not said to happen | to-infinitive | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | ||||||
| 5 | stay | infinitive | day | with a neighbour of ELEPHANTIASIS | vn lodge-46 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme with neighbour=Location | ||||
| 6 | run away | past · progressive | ELEPHANTIASIS | from a man; away property | vn run-51.3.2-2-1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme from man=Trajectory | ||||
| 7 | follow | past · progressive | ELEPHANTIASIS's enemies | ELEPHANTIASIS | vn chase-51.6 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent he=Theme | ||||
| 8 | kill | to-infinitive | ELEPHANTIASIS's enemies not said here | ELEPHANTIASIS | vn remove-10.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent he=Theme | ||||
| 9 | take | infinitive | ELEPHANTIASIS's enemies not said here | ELEPHANTIASIS | prisoner obj | vn bring-11.3 «NP V NP ADVP»: agent=Instrument he=Theme prisoner=Destination | |||
| 10 | fear | past | ELEPHANTIASIS | vn marvel-31.3 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer | |||||
| 11 | catch | might | HARES = hare | wife | vn get-13.5.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent she=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/pg70959/18/67/