Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xxix.--why a Python Never Swallows a Tortoise., sentence 16
The python then reminded him how he had been insulted at the king’s feast, but added, “If you are hungry you may take some palm nuts, but when I am hungry I shall swallow you.”
Who acts: python, Hallo · What happens: remind, insult, add, be, take, swallow · To what, where: Hallo, python, feast, palm nuts · 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, Hallo), 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 | 4 reminded | nsubj |
| 3 | then | then | ADV | PronType=Dem | 4 reminded | advmod |
| 4 | reminded | remind | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 5 | him | he | PRON | Case=Acc Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 4 reminded | obj |
| 6 | how | how | ADV | PronType=Int | 10 insulted | advmod |
| 7 | he | he | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 10 insulted | nsubj:pass |
| 8 | had | have | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 10 insulted | aux |
| 9 | been | be | AUX | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part | 10 insulted | aux:pass |
| 10 | insulted | insult | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 4 reminded | advcl |
| 11 | at | at | ADP | _ | 15 feast | case |
| 12 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 13 king | det |
| 13 | king | king | NOUN | Number=Sing | 15 feast | nmod:poss |
| 14 | ’s | 's | PART | _ | 13 king | case |
| 15 | feast | feast | NOUN | Number=Sing | 10 insulted | obl |
| 16 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 18 added | punct |
| 17 | but | but | CCONJ | _ | 18 added | cc |
| 18 | added | add | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 4 reminded | conj |
| 19 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 27 take | punct |
| 20 | “ | " | PUNCT | _ | 27 take | punct |
| 21 | If | if | SCONJ | _ | 24 hungry | mark |
| 22 | you | you | PRON | Case=Nom Person=2 PronType=Prs | 24 hungry | nsubj |
| 23 | are | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=2 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 24 hungry | cop |
| 24 | hungry | hungry | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 27 take | advcl |
| 25 | you | you | PRON | Case=Nom Person=2 PronType=Prs | 27 take | nsubj |
| 26 | may | may | AUX | VerbForm=Fin | 27 take | aux |
| 27 | take | take | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 18 added | ccomp |
| 28 | some | some | DET | PronType=Ind | 30 nuts | det |
| 29 | palm | palm | NOUN | Number=Sing | 30 nuts | compound |
| 30 | nuts | nut | NOUN | Number=Plur | 27 take | obj |
| 31 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 39 swallow | punct |
| 32 | but | but | CCONJ | _ | 39 swallow | cc |
| 33 | when | when | SCONJ | _ | 36 hungry | mark |
| 34 | I | I | PRON | Case=Nom Number=Sing Person=1 PronType=Prs | 36 hungry | nsubj |
| 35 | am | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=1 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 36 hungry | cop |
| 36 | hungry | hungry | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 39 swallow | advcl |
| 37 | I | I | PRON | Case=Nom Number=Sing Person=1 PronType=Prs | 39 swallow | nsubj |
| 38 | shall | shall | AUX | VerbForm=Fin | 39 swallow | aux |
| 39 | swallow | swallow | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 4 reminded | conj |
| 40 | you | you | PRON | Case=Acc Person=2 PronType=Prs | 39 swallow | obj |
| 41 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 39 swallow | punct |
| 42 | ” | " | PUNCT | _ | 39 swallow | punct |
Pragmatics
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | remind speech: other | past | the python | Hallo | then | vn tell-37.2 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent he=Recipient | |||
| 2 | insult | past · perfect · passive | python | the king's feast | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: subject=Experiencer | ||||
| 3 | add speech: assert | past | the python not said here | vn say-37.7-1 «NP V S-Quote»: agent=Agent clause=Topic | |||||
| 4 | is a condition, not said to happen, in a quote | present | Hallo | hungry property | tree rules | ||||
| 5 | take in a quote | may | Hallo | some palm nuts | vn bring-11.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent nut=Theme | ||||
| 6 | is in a quote | present | the python = python | hungry property | tree rules | ||||
| 7 | swallow in a quote | shall | the python = python | Hallo | vn gobble-39.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent you=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/pg70959/22/16/