Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xxv.--how Two Bendega Young Men Changed Their Skins., part 3, sentence 18
He then hid the ju-jus, as they had decided to wait some time after the woman had been flogged before they gave the poison to the chief, so that no suspicion should be attached to them of having poisoned their master.
Who acts: other, slaves · What happens: hide, decide, wait, flog, give, attach · To what, where: ju jus, woman, poison, chief, suspicion, slaves
This is a sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Xxv.--how Two Bendega Young Men Changed Their Skins., part 3. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (other, slaves), 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 | He | he | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 3 hid | nsubj |
| 2 | then | then | ADV | PronType=Dem | 3 hid | advmod |
| 3 | hid | hide | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 4 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 7 jus | det |
| 5 | ju | ju | NOUN | Number=Sing | 7 jus | compound |
| 6 | - | - | PUNCT | _ | 5 ju | punct |
| 7 | jus | jus | NOUN | Number=Sing | 3 hid | obj |
| 8 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 12 decided | punct |
| 9 | as | as | SCONJ | _ | 12 decided | mark |
| 10 | they | they | PRON | Case=Nom Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs | 12 decided | nsubj |
| 11 | had | have | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 12 decided | aux |
| 12 | decided | decide | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part | 3 hid | conj |
| 13 | to | to | PART | _ | 14 wait | mark |
| 14 | wait | wait | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 12 decided | xcomp |
| 15 | some | some | DET | PronType=Ind | 16 time | det |
| 16 | time | time | NOUN | Number=Sing | 14 wait | obl:unmarked |
| 17 | after | after | SCONJ | _ | 22 flogged | mark |
| 18 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 19 woman | det |
| 19 | woman | woman | NOUN | Number=Sing | 22 flogged | nsubj:pass |
| 20 | had | have | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 22 flogged | aux |
| 21 | been | be | AUX | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part | 22 flogged | aux:pass |
| 22 | flogged | flog | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 14 wait | advcl |
| 23 | before | before | SCONJ | _ | 25 gave | mark |
| 24 | they | they | PRON | Case=Nom Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs | 25 gave | nsubj |
| 25 | gave | give | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 22 flogged | advcl |
| 26 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 27 poison | det |
| 27 | poison | poison | NOUN | Number=Sing | 25 gave | obj |
| 28 | to | to | ADP | _ | 30 chief | case |
| 29 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 30 chief | det |
| 30 | chief | chief | NOUN | Number=Sing | 25 gave | obl |
| 31 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 38 attached | punct |
| 32 | so | so | SCONJ | ExtPos=SCONJ | 38 attached | mark |
| 33 | that | that | SCONJ | _ | 32 so | fixed |
| 34 | no | no | DET | PronType=Neg | 35 suspicion | det |
| 35 | suspicion | suspicion | NOUN | Number=Sing | 38 attached | nsubj:pass |
| 36 | should | should | AUX | VerbForm=Fin | 38 attached | aux |
| 37 | be | be | AUX | VerbForm=Inf | 38 attached | aux:pass |
| 38 | attached | attach | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 12 decided | conj |
| 39 | to | to | ADP | _ | 40 them | case |
| 40 | them | they | PRON | Case=Acc Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs | 38 attached | obl |
| 41 | of | of | SCONJ | _ | 43 poisoned | mark |
| 42 | having | have | AUX | Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part | 43 poisoned | aux |
| 43 | poisoned | poison | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part | 38 attached | advcl |
| 44 | their | their | PRON | Case=Gen Number=Plur Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 45 master | nmod:poss |
| 45 | master | master | NOUN | Number=Sing | 43 poisoned | obj |
| 46 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 3 hid | punct |
Pragmatics
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | hide | past | other | the ju jus | then | vn concealment-16-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent jus=Patient | |||
| 2 | decide | past · perfect | slaves = slave | vn correspond-36.1-1 «NP V what S_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Topic | |||||
| 3 | wait not said to happen | to-infinitive | slaves = slave not said here | time | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | ||||
| 4 | flog | past · perfect · passive | the woman | vn spank-18.3 «NP V NP»: subject=Patient | |||||
| 5 | give | past | slaves = slave | the poison | the chief | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP PP.recipient»: agent=Agent poison=Theme to chief=Recipient | |||
| 6 | attach | should · passive | no suspicion | slaves = slave | vn shake-22.3-2-1 «NP V NP PP»: subject=Patient to they=Co-Patient | ||||
| 7 | poison | gerund · perfect | slaves's master | vn poison-42.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent master=Patient |
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/pg70959/20/18/