Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xxv.--how Two Bendega Young Men Changed Their Skins., part 4, sentence 31
As they all knew, the conditions of the race were that the two competitors were to start together and run to the end of the course, and then return to the starting-point, and the one who returned first would be the winner.
Who acts: companions, conditions, one · What happens: know, be, run, return, condition · To what, where: winner, race
This is a sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Xxv.--how Two Bendega Young Men Changed Their Skins., part 4. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (companions, conditions, one), 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 knew | mark |
| 2 | they | they | PRON | Case=Nom Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs | 4 knew | nsubj |
| 3 | all | all | DET | PronType=Tot | 2 they | det |
| 4 | knew | know | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 18 start | advcl |
| 5 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 4 knew | punct |
| 6 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 7 conditions | det |
| 7 | conditions | condition | NOUN | Number=Plur | 18 start | nsubj |
| 8 | of | of | ADP | _ | 10 race | case |
| 9 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 10 race | det |
| 10 | race | race | NOUN | Number=Sing | 7 conditions | nmod |
| 11 | were | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 18 start | cop |
| 12 | that | that | SCONJ | _ | 18 start | mark |
| 13 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 15 competitors | det |
| 14 | two | two | NUM | NumForm=Word NumType=Card | 15 competitors | nummod |
| 15 | competitors | competitor | NOUN | Number=Plur | 18 start | nsubj |
| 16 | were | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 18 start | aux |
| 17 | to | to | PART | _ | 18 start | mark |
| 18 | start | start | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | root | root |
| 19 | together | together | ADV | _ | 18 start | advmod |
| 20 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 21 run | cc |
| 21 | run | run | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 18 start | conj |
| 22 | to | to | ADP | _ | 24 end | case |
| 23 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 24 end | det |
| 24 | end | end | NOUN | Number=Sing | 21 run | obl |
| 25 | of | of | ADP | _ | 27 course | case |
| 26 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 27 course | det |
| 27 | course | course | NOUN | Number=Sing | 24 end | nmod |
| 28 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 31 return | punct |
| 29 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 31 return | cc |
| 30 | then | then | ADV | PronType=Dem | 31 return | advmod |
| 31 | return | return | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 18 start | conj |
| 32 | to | to | ADP | _ | 36 point | case |
| 33 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 36 point | det |
| 34 | starting | starting | NOUN | Number=Sing | 36 point | compound |
| 35 | - | - | PUNCT | _ | 34 starting | punct |
| 36 | point | point | NOUN | Number=Sing | 31 return | obl |
| 37 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 47 winner | punct |
| 38 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 47 winner | cc |
| 39 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 40 one | det |
| 40 | one | one | NOUN | Number=Sing | 47 winner | nsubj |
| 41 | who | who | PRON | PronType=Rel | 42 returned | nsubj |
| 42 | returned | return | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 40 one | acl:relcl |
| 43 | first | first | ADV | NumForm=Word NumType=Ord | 42 returned | advmod |
| 44 | would | would | AUX | VerbForm=Fin | 47 winner | aux |
| 45 | be | be | AUX | VerbForm=Inf | 47 winner | cop |
| 46 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 47 winner | det |
| 47 | winner | winner | NOUN | Number=Sing | 31 return | obl |
| 48 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 18 start | punct |
Pragmatics
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | know | past | companions = companion | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer | |||||
| 2 | is | past | the conditions of the race | the two competitors nsubj; start, together property | tree rules | ||||
| 3 | run | present | the conditions of the race not said here | to the end of the course | vn run-51.3.2-2-1 «NP V PP.result»: agent=Theme to end=Result | ||||
| 4 | return | infinitive | the conditions of the race not said here | then | to the starting point result | vn convert-26.6.2-1 «NP V S_ING»: agent=Patient to point=Result | |||
| 5 | return | past | the one | first property | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | ||||
| 6 | is a | would | the one | the winner | tree rules | ||||
| 7 | condition | the race | nom condition «state 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/pg70959/21/31/