Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xxix.--why a Python Never Swallows a Tortoise., sentence 12
Just before it got dark the animals began to arrive at the spot where the python had collected his nuts and fruit, and, being very hungry, they asked the python to allow them to eat some of his palm nuts.
Who acts: way, dark animals, nuts, python · What happens: get, begin, arrive, collect, be, ask · To what, where: spot, python, nuts, some
This is a sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Xxix.--why a Python Never Swallows a Tortoise.. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (way, dark animals, nuts, python), 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 | Just | just | ADV | _ | 4 got | advmod |
| 2 | before | before | SCONJ | _ | 4 got | mark |
| 3 | it | it | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 4 got | nsubj |
| 4 | got | get | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 5 | dark | dark | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 7 animals | amod |
| 6 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 7 animals | det |
| 7 | animals | animal | NOUN | Number=Plur | 8 began | nsubj |
| 8 | began | begin | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 4 got | parataxis |
| 9 | to | to | PART | _ | 10 arrive | mark |
| 10 | arrive | arrive | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 8 began | xcomp |
| 11 | at | at | ADP | _ | 13 spot | case |
| 12 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 13 spot | det |
| 13 | spot | spot | NOUN | Number=Sing | 10 arrive | obl |
| 14 | where | where | ADV | PronType=Rel | 18 collected | advmod |
| 15 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 16 python | det |
| 16 | python | python | NOUN | Number=Sing | 18 collected | nsubj:pass |
| 17 | had | have | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 18 collected | aux |
| 18 | collected | collect | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 13 spot | acl:relcl |
| 19 | his | his | PRON | Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 20 nuts | nmod:poss |
| 20 | nuts | nut | NOUN | Number=Plur | 18 collected | obj |
| 21 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 22 fruit | cc |
| 22 | fruit | fruit | NOUN | Number=Sing | 20 nuts | conj |
| 23 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 28 hungry | punct |
| 24 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 28 hungry | cc |
| 25 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 28 hungry | punct |
| 26 | being | be | AUX | Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part | 28 hungry | cop |
| 27 | very | very | ADV | _ | 28 hungry | advmod |
| 28 | hungry | hungry | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 4 got | conj |
| 29 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 31 asked | punct |
| 30 | they | they | PRON | Case=Nom Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs | 31 asked | nsubj |
| 31 | asked | ask | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 4 got | conj |
| 32 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 33 python | det |
| 33 | python | python | NOUN | Number=Sing | 31 asked | obj |
| 34 | to | to | PART | _ | 35 allow | mark |
| 35 | allow | allow | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 31 asked | xcomp |
| 36 | them | they | PRON | Case=Acc Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs | 35 allow | iobj |
| 37 | to | to | PART | _ | 38 eat | mark |
| 38 | eat | eat | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 35 allow | xcomp |
| 39 | some | some | DET | PronType=Ind | 38 eat | obj |
| 40 | of | of | ADP | _ | 43 nuts | case |
| 41 | his | his | PRON | Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 43 nuts | nmod:poss |
| 42 | palm | palm | NOUN | Number=Sing | 43 nuts | compound |
| 43 | nuts | nut | NOUN | Number=Plur | 39 some | nmod |
| 44 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 4 got | punct |
Pragmatics
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | get | past | way | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V S_ING»: agent=Experiencer | |||||
| 2 | begin | past | the dark animals | vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP V S_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality | |||||
| 3 | arrive | to-infinitive | the dark animals not said here | the spot | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | ||||
| 4 | collect | past · perfect · passive | the python | python's nuts and fruit obj | tree rules | ||||
| 5 | is | gerund | way not said here | hungry property | tree rules | ||||
| 6 | ask speech: ask | past | nuts = nut | the python | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V NP whether S_INF»: agent=Agent python=Recipient clause=Topic | ||||
| 7 | allow not said to happen | to-infinitive | the python not said here | nuts = nut | vn allow-64.1-1 «NP V NP S»: agent=Causer they=Beneficiary clause=Eventuality | ||||
| 8 | eat not said to happen | to-infinitive | the python not said here | some of python's palm nuts | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent some=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/pg70959/22/12/