Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xxix.--why a Python Never Swallows a Tortoise., sentence 13
The python said, “Certainly, you can help yourselves, but remember if you do, when I am hungry I shall follow you and swallow you up when I catch you.”
Who acts: python, you · What happens: say, help, remember, do, be, follow · To what, where: yourselves, you · Speech: someone speaks here
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 (python, you), 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 python | det |
| 2 | python | python | NOUN | Number=Sing | 3 said | nsubj |
| 3 | said | say | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 4 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 10 help | punct |
| 5 | “ | " | PUNCT | _ | 10 help | punct |
| 6 | Certainly | certainly | ADV | _ | 10 help | advmod |
| 7 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 6 Certainly | punct |
| 8 | you | you | PRON | Case=Nom Person=2 PronType=Prs | 10 help | nsubj |
| 9 | can | can | AUX | VerbForm=Fin | 10 help | aux |
| 10 | help | help | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 3 said | ccomp |
| 11 | yourselves | yourselves | PRON | Case=Acc Number=Plur Person=2 PronType=Prs Reflex=Yes | 10 help | obj |
| 12 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 14 remember | punct |
| 13 | but | but | CCONJ | _ | 14 remember | cc |
| 14 | remember | remember | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 10 help | conj |
| 15 | if | if | SCONJ | _ | 17 do | mark |
| 16 | you | you | PRON | Case=Nom Person=2 PronType=Prs | 17 do | nsubj |
| 17 | do | do | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=2 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 14 remember | ccomp |
| 18 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 25 follow | punct |
| 19 | when | when | SCONJ | _ | 22 hungry | mark |
| 20 | I | I | PRON | Case=Nom Number=Sing Person=1 PronType=Prs | 22 hungry | nsubj |
| 21 | am | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=1 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 22 hungry | cop |
| 22 | hungry | hungry | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 25 follow | advcl |
| 23 | I | I | PRON | Case=Nom Number=Sing Person=1 PronType=Prs | 25 follow | nsubj |
| 24 | shall | shall | AUX | VerbForm=Fin | 25 follow | aux |
| 25 | follow | follow | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 14 remember | parataxis |
| 26 | you | you | PRON | Case=Acc Person=2 PronType=Prs | 25 follow | obj |
| 27 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 28 swallow | cc |
| 28 | swallow | swallow | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 25 follow | conj |
| 29 | you | you | PRON | Case=Acc Person=2 PronType=Prs | 28 swallow | obj |
| 30 | up | up | ADP | _ | 28 swallow | compound:prt |
| 31 | when | when | ADV | PronType=Int | 33 catch | advmod |
| 32 | I | I | PRON | Case=Nom Number=Sing Person=1 PronType=Prs | 33 catch | nsubj |
| 33 | catch | catch | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=1 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 28 swallow | advcl |
| 34 | you | you | PRON | Case=Acc Person=2 PronType=Prs | 33 catch | obj |
| 35 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 10 help | punct |
| 36 | ” | " | PUNCT | _ | 10 help | punct |
Pragmatics
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | say speech: assert | past | the python | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic | |||||
| 2 | help in a quote | can | you | yourselves | certainly property | vn help-72.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent yourselves=Beneficiary | |||
| 3 | remember in a quote | infinitive | you not said here | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V what S»: agent=Agent clause=Theme | |||||
| 4 | do a condition, not said to happen, in a quote | present | you | vn act-114-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent | |||||
| 5 | is in a quote | present | the python = python | hungry property | tree rules | ||||
| 6 | follow in a quote | shall | the python = python | you | vn chase-51.6 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent you=Theme | ||||
| 7 | swallow up in a quote | infinitive | the python = python not said here | you | vn gobble-39.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent you=Patient | ||||
| 8 | catch in a quote | present | the python = python | you | vn get-13.5.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent you=Theme |
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/pg70959/22/13/