Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xxv.--how Two Bendega Young Men Changed Their Skins., part 3, sentence 46
As the time went on Oga Erim became harder on his people, and some of the slaves were flogged and tortured almost every day; he seemed to take great delight in their sufferings, and spent much time in devising new forms of torture.
Who acts: time, Oga, slaves · What happens: go, become, flog, torture, seem, take · To what, where: some, great delight, sufferings, new forms, torture
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 (time, Oga, 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 | As | as | SCONJ | _ | 4 went | mark |
| 2 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 3 time | det |
| 3 | time | time | NOUN | Number=Sing | 4 went | nsubj |
| 4 | went | go | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 5 | on | on | SCONJ | _ | 8 became | mark |
| 6 | Oga | Oga | PROPN | Number=Sing | 8 became | nsubj |
| 7 | Erim | Erim | PROPN | Number=Sing | 6 Oga | flat |
| 8 | became | become | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 4 went | advcl |
| 9 | harder | hard | ADV | Degree=Cmp | 8 became | advmod |
| 10 | on | on | ADP | _ | 12 people | case |
| 11 | his | his | PRON | Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 12 people | nmod:poss |
| 12 | people | people | NOUN | Number=Plur | 9 harder | obl |
| 13 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 20 flogged | punct |
| 14 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 20 flogged | cc |
| 15 | some | some | DET | PronType=Ind | 20 flogged | nsubj:pass |
| 16 | of | of | ADP | _ | 18 slaves | case |
| 17 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 18 slaves | det |
| 18 | slaves | slave | NOUN | Number=Plur | 15 some | nmod |
| 19 | were | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 20 flogged | aux:pass |
| 20 | flogged | flog | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 4 went | conj |
| 21 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 22 tortured | cc |
| 22 | tortured | torture | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 20 flogged | conj |
| 23 | almost | almost | ADV | _ | 25 day | advmod |
| 24 | every | every | DET | PronType=Tot | 25 day | det |
| 25 | day | day | NOUN | Number=Sing | 22 tortured | obl |
| 26 | ; | ; | PUNCT | _ | 28 seemed | punct |
| 27 | he | he | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 28 seemed | nsubj |
| 28 | seemed | seem | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 4 went | parataxis |
| 29 | to | to | PART | _ | 30 take | mark |
| 30 | take | take | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 28 seemed | xcomp |
| 31 | great | great | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 32 delight | amod |
| 32 | delight | delight | NOUN | Number=Sing | 30 take | obj |
| 33 | in | in | ADP | _ | 35 sufferings | case |
| 34 | their | their | PRON | Case=Gen Number=Plur Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 35 sufferings | nmod:poss |
| 35 | sufferings | suffering | NOUN | Number=Plur | 30 take | obl |
| 36 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 38 spent | punct |
| 37 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 38 spent | cc |
| 38 | spent | spend | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 28 seemed | conj |
| 39 | much | much | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 40 time | amod |
| 40 | time | time | NOUN | Number=Sing | 38 spent | obj |
| 41 | in | in | SCONJ | _ | 42 devising | mark |
| 42 | devising | devise | VERB | Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part | 38 spent | advcl |
| 43 | new | new | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 44 forms | amod |
| 44 | forms | form | NOUN | Number=Plur | 42 devising | obj |
| 45 | of | of | ADP | _ | 46 torture | case |
| 46 | torture | torture | NOUN | Number=Sing | 44 forms | nmod |
| 47 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 4 went | punct |
Pragmatics
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | go | past | the time | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | |||||
| 2 | become | past | Oga | hard property | vn become-109.1-1-1 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Patient | ||||
| 3 | flog | past · passive | some of the slaves | vn spank-18.3 «NP V NP»: subject=Patient | |||||
| 4 | torture | participle | day | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Experiencer | |||||
| 5 | seem | past | Oga | vn seem-109-1-1-1 «NP V S_INF»: agent=Theme clause=Attribute | |||||
| 6 | take | to-infinitive | Oga not said here | great delight | slaves's sufferings | vn fit-54.3 «NP V NP PP.location»: agent=Agent delight=Value in suffering=Location | |||
| 7 | spend | past | Oga not said here | time | vn consume-66-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent | ||||
| 8 | devise | gerund | Oga not said here | new forms of torture | vn establish-55.5-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent form=Patient | ||||
| 9 | suffer | slaves = slave | nom suffering «state intransitive»: poss=agent | ||||||
| 10 | form | torture | nom form «communication transitive»: of=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/pg70959/20/46/