Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xxv.--how Two Bendega Young Men Changed Their Skins., part 2, sentence 56
After a violent quarrel they eventually went to sleep; but in the morning at first cock-crow the hare’s wife got up and packed up all her things, saying that she was going away to find another husband, as she could not possibly live with a hare who had lost half his tail, whether it had been cut by the ju-ju man or not.
Who acts: men, wife, hare, ju ju man · What happens: go, sleep, get up, pack up, say, go away · To what, where: husband, tail · 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 2. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (men, wife, hare, ju ju man), 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 | After | after | ADP | _ | 4 quarrel | case |
| 2 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 4 quarrel | det |
| 3 | violent | violent | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 4 quarrel | amod |
| 4 | quarrel | quarrel | NOUN | Number=Sing | 7 went | obl |
| 5 | they | they | PRON | Case=Nom Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs | 7 went | nsubj |
| 6 | eventually | eventually | ADV | _ | 7 went | advmod |
| 7 | went | go | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 8 | to | to | PART | _ | 9 sleep | mark |
| 9 | sleep | sleep | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 7 went | xcomp |
| 10 | ; | ; | PUNCT | _ | 24 got | punct |
| 11 | but | but | CCONJ | _ | 24 got | cc |
| 12 | in | in | ADP | _ | 14 morning | case |
| 13 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 14 morning | det |
| 14 | morning | morning | NOUN | Number=Sing | 24 got | obl |
| 15 | at | at | ADP | _ | 19 crow | case |
| 16 | first | first | ADJ | Degree=Pos NumForm=Word NumType=Ord | 19 crow | amod |
| 17 | cock | cock | NOUN | Number=Sing | 19 crow | compound |
| 18 | - | - | PUNCT | _ | 17 cock | punct |
| 19 | crow | crow | NOUN | Number=Sing | 14 morning | nmod |
| 20 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 21 hare | det |
| 21 | hare | hare | NOUN | Number=Sing | 23 wife | nmod:poss |
| 22 | ’s | 's | PART | _ | 21 hare | case |
| 23 | wife | wife | NOUN | Number=Sing | 24 got | nsubj |
| 24 | got | get | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 7 went | conj |
| 25 | up | up | ADP | _ | 24 got | compound:prt |
| 26 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 27 packed | cc |
| 27 | packed | pack | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 24 got | xcomp |
| 28 | up | up | ADP | _ | 27 packed | compound:prt |
| 29 | all | all | ADP | _ | 31 things | case |
| 30 | her | her | PRON | Case=Gen Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 31 things | nmod:poss |
| 31 | things | thing | NOUN | Number=Plur | 27 packed | obl |
| 32 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 33 saying | punct |
| 33 | saying | say | VERB | Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part | 27 packed | advcl |
| 34 | that | that | SCONJ | _ | 37 going | mark |
| 35 | she | she | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 37 going | nsubj |
| 36 | was | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 37 going | aux |
| 37 | going | go | VERB | Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part | 33 saying | ccomp |
| 38 | away | away | ADV | _ | 37 going | advmod |
| 39 | to | to | PART | _ | 40 find | mark |
| 40 | find | find | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 37 going | xcomp |
| 41 | another | another | DET | PronType=Ind | 42 husband | det |
| 42 | husband | husband | NOUN | Number=Sing | 40 find | obj |
| 43 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 49 live | punct |
| 44 | as | as | SCONJ | _ | 49 live | mark |
| 45 | she | she | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 49 live | nsubj |
| 46 | could | could | AUX | VerbForm=Fin | 49 live | aux |
| 47 | not | not | PART | Polarity=Neg | 49 live | advmod |
| 48 | possibly | possibly | ADV | _ | 49 live | advmod |
| 49 | live | live | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 33 saying | ccomp |
| 50 | with | with | ADP | _ | 52 hare | case |
| 51 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 52 hare | det |
| 52 | hare | hare | NOUN | Number=Sing | 49 live | obl |
| 53 | who | who | PRON | PronType=Rel | 55 lost | nsubj |
| 54 | had | have | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 55 lost | aux |
| 55 | lost | lose | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part | 52 hare | acl:relcl |
| 56 | half | half | DET | NumForm=Word NumType=Frac PronType=Ind | 58 tail | det:predet |
| 57 | his | his | PRON | Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 58 tail | nmod:poss |
| 58 | tail | tail | NOUN | Number=Sing | 55 lost | obj |
| 59 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 64 cut | punct |
| 60 | whether | whether | SCONJ | _ | 64 cut | mark |
| 61 | it | it | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 64 cut | nsubj:pass |
| 62 | had | have | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 64 cut | aux |
| 63 | been | be | AUX | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part | 64 cut | aux:pass |
| 64 | cut | cut | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 49 live | parataxis |
| 65 | by | by | ADP | _ | 70 man | case |
| 66 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 70 man | det |
| 67 | ju | ju | NOUN | Number=Sing | 70 man | compound |
| 68 | - | - | PUNCT | _ | 67 ju | punct |
| 69 | ju | ju | NOUN | Number=Sing | 70 man | compound |
| 70 | man | man | NOUN | Number=Sing | 64 cut | obl |
| 71 | or | or | CCONJ | _ | 72 not | cc |
| 72 | not | not | PART | Polarity=Neg | 70 man | conj |
| 73 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 7 went | punct |
Pragmatics
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | go | past | men = man | after a violent quarrel | eventually property | vn say-37.7 «NP V S-Quote»: agent=Agent clause=Topic | |||
| 2 | sleep | to-infinitive | men = man not said here | vn snooze-40.4-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent | |||||
| 3 | get up | past | the hare's wife | morning | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V S_ING»: agent=Experiencer clause=Stimulus | ||||
| 4 | pack up | participle | the hare's wife not said here | all wife's things | vn spray-9.7-1-1 «NP V PP.destination»: agent=Theme | ||||
| 5 | say speech: assert | gerund | the hare's wife not said here | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic | |||||
| 6 | go away | past · progressive | wife | away property | vn say-37.7 «NP V S-Quote»: agent=Agent clause=Topic | ||||
| 7 | find | to-infinitive | wife not said here | another husband | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent husband=Topic | ||||
| 8 | not live | could | wife | with a hare; possibly property | vn lodge-46 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme with hare=Location | ||||
| 9 | lose | past · perfect | a hare | hare's tail | vn succeed-74-3-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent tail=Eventuality | ||||
| 10 | cut | past · perfect · passive | the ju ju man | tail | vn build-26.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=Product |
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/pg70959/19/56/