Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xxv.--how Two Bendega Young Men Changed Their Skins., part 3, sentence 53
The slave advised his master to leave the compound and go to his farm-house until he got well, as he thought that someone must have put a ju-ju in the ground where he was lying, which caused him to be sick.
Who acts: slave, Oga, ju ju · What happens: advise, leave, go, get, think, put · To what, where: master, compound, farm house, someone, Oga · 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 3. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (slave, Oga, ju ju), 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 slave | det |
| 2 | slave | slave | NOUN | Number=Sing | 3 advised | nsubj |
| 3 | advised | advise | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 4 | his | his | PRON | Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 5 master | nmod:poss |
| 5 | master | master | NOUN | Number=Sing | 3 advised | obj |
| 6 | to | to | PART | _ | 7 leave | mark |
| 7 | leave | leave | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 3 advised | ccomp |
| 8 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 9 compound | det |
| 9 | compound | compound | NOUN | Number=Sing | 7 leave | obj |
| 10 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 11 go | cc |
| 11 | go | go | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 7 leave | conj |
| 12 | to | to | ADP | _ | 16 house | case |
| 13 | his | his | PRON | Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 16 house | nmod:poss |
| 14 | farm | farm | NOUN | Number=Sing | 16 house | compound |
| 15 | - | - | PUNCT | _ | 14 farm | punct |
| 16 | house | house | NOUN | Number=Sing | 11 go | obl |
| 17 | until | until | SCONJ | _ | 19 got | mark |
| 18 | he | he | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 19 got | nsubj |
| 19 | got | get | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 11 go | advcl |
| 20 | well | well | ADV | Degree=Pos | 19 got | advmod |
| 21 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 24 thought | punct |
| 22 | as | as | SCONJ | _ | 24 thought | mark |
| 23 | he | he | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 24 thought | nsubj |
| 24 | thought | think | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 3 advised | conj |
| 25 | that | that | SCONJ | _ | 29 put | mark |
| 26 | someone | someone | PRON | Number=Sing PronType=Ind | 29 put | nsubj:pass |
| 27 | must | must | AUX | VerbForm=Fin | 29 put | aux |
| 28 | have | have | AUX | VerbForm=Inf | 29 put | aux |
| 29 | put | put | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 24 thought | ccomp |
| 30 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 33 ju | det |
| 31 | ju | ju | NOUN | Number=Sing | 33 ju | compound |
| 32 | - | - | PUNCT | _ | 31 ju | punct |
| 33 | ju | ju | NOUN | Number=Sing | 29 put | obj |
| 34 | in | in | ADP | _ | 36 ground | case |
| 35 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 36 ground | det |
| 36 | ground | ground | NOUN | Number=Sing | 33 ju | nmod |
| 37 | where | where | ADV | PronType=Rel | 40 lying | advmod |
| 38 | he | he | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 40 lying | nsubj |
| 39 | was | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 40 lying | aux |
| 40 | lying | lie | VERB | Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part | 36 ground | acl:relcl |
| 41 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 43 caused | punct |
| 42 | which | which | PRON | PronType=Rel | 43 caused | nsubj |
| 43 | caused | cause | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 33 ju | acl:relcl |
| 44 | him | he | PRON | Case=Acc Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 43 caused | obj |
| 45 | to | to | PART | _ | 47 sick | mark |
| 46 | be | be | AUX | VerbForm=Inf | 47 sick | cop |
| 47 | sick | sick | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 43 caused | advcl |
| 48 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 3 advised | punct |
Pragmatics
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | advise speech: other | past | the slave | Oga's master | vn advise-37.9-1 «NP V NP how S_INF»: agent=Agent master=Recipient clause=Topic | ||||
| 2 | leave not said to happen | to-infinitive | the compound | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent compound=Theme | |||||
| 3 | go | infinitive | Oga's farm house | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial_location»: agent=Theme to house=Initial_Location | |||||
| 4 | get | past | Oga | well property | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V S_ING»: agent=Experiencer | ||||
| 5 | think speech: other | past | Oga | vn consider-29.9-2 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent clause=Theme | |||||
| 6 | put | must · perfect · passive | someone | a ju ju obj | vn invest-13.5.4-1 «NP V NP PP.goal»: subject=Asset ju=Goal | ||||
| 7 | lie | past · progressive | Oga | vn assuming_position-50 «NP V»: agent=Agent | |||||
| 8 | cause | past | a ju ju | Oga | vn engender-27.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Precondition he=Patient | ||||
| 9 | is | to-infinitive | a ju ju not said here | sick property | tree rules |
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/pg70959/20/53/