Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xxix.--why a Python Never Swallows a Tortoise., sentence 24
When he had satisfied his appetite, the tortoise told the python he was going to stay the night with his friend the bush buck, and then went away.
Who acts: python, tortoise · What happens: satisfy, tell, go, stay, go away · To what, where: appetite, python, bush buck · 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, tortoise), 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 | When | when | ADV | PronType=Int | 4 satisfied | advmod |
| 2 | he | he | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 4 satisfied | nsubj |
| 3 | had | have | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 4 satisfied | aux |
| 4 | satisfied | satisfy | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part | root | root |
| 5 | his | his | PRON | Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 6 appetite | nmod:poss |
| 6 | appetite | appetite | NOUN | Number=Sing | 4 satisfied | obj |
| 7 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 10 told | punct |
| 8 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 9 tortoise | det |
| 9 | tortoise | tortoise | NOUN | Number=Sing | 10 told | nsubj |
| 10 | told | tell | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 4 satisfied | conj |
| 11 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 12 python | det |
| 12 | python | python | NOUN | Number=Sing | 10 told | obj |
| 13 | he | he | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 15 going | nsubj |
| 14 | was | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 15 going | aux |
| 15 | going | go | VERB | Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part | 10 told | ccomp |
| 16 | to | to | PART | _ | 17 stay | mark |
| 17 | stay | stay | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 15 going | xcomp |
| 18 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 19 night | det |
| 19 | night | night | NOUN | Number=Sing | 17 stay | obl:unmarked |
| 20 | with | with | ADP | _ | 22 friend | case |
| 21 | his | his | PRON | Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 22 friend | nmod:poss |
| 22 | friend | friend | NOUN | Number=Sing | 17 stay | obl |
| 23 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 25 buck | det |
| 24 | bush | bush | NOUN | Number=Sing | 25 buck | compound |
| 25 | buck | buck | NOUN | Number=Sing | 17 stay | obl:unmarked |
| 26 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 29 went | punct |
| 27 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 29 went | cc |
| 28 | then | then | ADV | PronType=Dem | 29 went | advmod |
| 29 | went | go | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 10 told | conj |
| 30 | away | away | ADV | _ | 29 went | advmod |
| 31 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 4 satisfied | punct |
Pragmatics
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | satisfy | past · perfect | python | python's appetite | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus appetite=Experiencer | ||||
| 2 | tell speech: assert | past | the tortoise | the python | vn transfer_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP S_INF»: agent=Agent python=Recipient clause=Topic | ||||
| 3 | go | past · progressive | python | vn say-37.7 «NP V S-Quote»: agent=Agent clause=Topic | |||||
| 4 | stay | to-infinitive | python not said here | the bush buck | night | with python's friend | vn lodge-46 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme with friend=Location | ||
| 5 | go away | past | the tortoise not said here | then | away property | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=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/pg70959/22/24/