Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xxv.--how Two Bendega Young Men Changed Their Skins., part 2, sentence 3
As the people were sorry for the hare, they agreed to do what he asked, and put him in a heap of rubbish where he could not be seen; they then went on with their work.
Who acts: people, hare · What happens: be, agree, do, ask, put, not see · To what, where: hare, heap
This is a sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Xxv.--how Two Bendega Young Men Changed Their Skins., part 2. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (people, hare), 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 | As | as | ADP | _ | 3 people | case |
| 2 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 3 people | det |
| 3 | people | people | NOUN | Number=Plur | 5 sorry | obl |
| 4 | were | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 5 sorry | cop |
| 5 | sorry | sorry | ADJ | Degree=Pos | root | root |
| 6 | for | for | ADP | _ | 8 hare | case |
| 7 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 8 hare | det |
| 8 | hare | hare | NOUN | Number=Sing | 5 sorry | obl |
| 9 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 11 agreed | punct |
| 10 | they | they | PRON | Case=Nom Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs | 11 agreed | nsubj |
| 11 | agreed | agree | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 5 sorry | parataxis |
| 12 | to | to | PART | _ | 13 do | mark |
| 13 | do | do | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 11 agreed | xcomp |
| 14 | what | what | PRON | PronType=Int | 13 do | obj |
| 15 | he | he | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 16 asked | nsubj |
| 16 | asked | ask | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 14 what | acl:relcl |
| 17 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 19 put | punct |
| 18 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 19 put | cc |
| 19 | put | put | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 11 agreed | conj |
| 20 | him | he | PRON | Case=Acc Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 19 put | obj |
| 21 | in | in | ADP | _ | 23 heap | case |
| 22 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 23 heap | det |
| 23 | heap | heap | NOUN | Number=Sing | 19 put | obl |
| 24 | of | of | ADP | _ | 25 rubbish | case |
| 25 | rubbish | rubbish | NOUN | Number=Sing | 23 heap | nmod |
| 26 | where | where | ADV | PronType=Rel | 31 seen | advmod |
| 27 | he | he | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 31 seen | nsubj |
| 28 | could | could | AUX | VerbForm=Fin | 31 seen | aux |
| 29 | not | not | PART | Polarity=Neg | 31 seen | advmod |
| 30 | be | be | AUX | VerbForm=Inf | 31 seen | aux:pass |
| 31 | seen | see | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 25 rubbish | acl:relcl |
| 32 | ; | ; | PUNCT | _ | 35 went | punct |
| 33 | they | they | PRON | Case=Nom Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs | 35 went | nsubj |
| 34 | then | then | ADV | PronType=Dem | 35 went | advmod |
| 35 | went | go | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 5 sorry | conj |
| 36 | on | on | ADV | _ | 35 went | advmod |
| 37 | with | with | ADP | _ | 39 work | case |
| 38 | their | their | PRON | Case=Gen Number=Plur Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 39 work | nmod:poss |
| 39 | work | work | NOUN | Number=Sing | 35 went | obl |
| 40 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 5 sorry | punct |
Pragmatics
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | is | past | as the people; for the hare; sorry property | tree rules | |||||
| 2 | agree speech: agree | past | people | vn correspond-36.1-1 «NP V what S_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Topic | |||||
| 3 | do not said to happen | to-infinitive | people not said here | what obj | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent what=Eventuality | ||||
| 4 | ask speech: ask | past | hare | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V»: agent=Agent | |||||
| 5 | put | infinitive | people not said here | hare | a heap of rubbish | vn put-9.1-2 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent he=Theme in heap=Destination | |||
| 6 | not see | could · passive | hare | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Stimulus | |||||
| 7 | go on | past | people | then | with people's work | vn function-105.2.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | |||
| 8 | work | people | nom work «act 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/pg70959/19/3/