Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xxxi.--chief Kekong’s Daughter ’ndere Who Married a Python., part 1, sentence 20
Very soon after his arrival the python asked Chief Kekong to allow him to marry his daughter ’Ndere, and when the chief asked him who he was and where he came from, the python replied, “I am the son of Chief Kaku, who lives over there,” pointing to where the sun rose at the back of the house.
Who acts: python, chief, son, sun · What happens: ask, allow, marry, be, reply, live · To what, where: Chief, daughter, python, son, back · Speech: someone speaks here
This is a sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Xxxi.--chief Kekong’s Daughter ’ndere Who Married a Python., part 1. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (python, chief, son, sun), 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 | Very | very | ADV | _ | 2 soon | advmod |
| 2 | soon | soon | ADV | Degree=Pos | 8 asked | advmod |
| 3 | after | after | ADP | _ | 5 arrival | case |
| 4 | his | his | PRON | Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 5 arrival | nmod:poss |
| 5 | arrival | arrival | NOUN | Number=Sing | 2 soon | obl |
| 6 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 7 python | det |
| 7 | python | python | NOUN | Number=Sing | 8 asked | nsubj |
| 8 | asked | ask | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 9 | Chief | Chief | PROPN | Number=Sing | 8 asked | iobj |
| 10 | Kekong | Kekong | PROPN | Number=Sing | 9 Chief | flat |
| 11 | to | to | PART | _ | 12 allow | mark |
| 12 | allow | allow | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 8 asked | xcomp |
| 13 | him | he | PRON | Case=Acc Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 12 allow | iobj |
| 14 | to | to | PART | _ | 15 marry | mark |
| 15 | marry | marry | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 12 allow | xcomp |
| 16 | his | his | PRON | Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 17 daughter | nmod:poss |
| 17 | daughter | daughter | NOUN | Number=Sing | 15 marry | obj |
| 18 | ’ | ' | PUNCT | _ | 19 Ndere | punct |
| 19 | Ndere | Ndere | PROPN | Number=Sing | 17 daughter | appos |
| 20 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 25 asked | punct |
| 21 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 25 asked | cc |
| 22 | when | when | ADV | PronType=Int | 25 asked | advmod |
| 23 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 24 chief | det |
| 24 | chief | chief | NOUN | Number=Sing | 25 asked | nsubj |
| 25 | asked | ask | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 8 asked | conj |
| 26 | him | he | PRON | Case=Acc Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 25 asked | iobj |
| 27 | who | who | PRON | PronType=Rel | 25 asked | obj |
| 28 | he | he | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 33 came | nsubj |
| 29 | was | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 33 came | cop |
| 30 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 33 came | cc |
| 31 | where | where | ADV | PronType=Rel | 33 came | advmod |
| 32 | he | he | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 33 came | nsubj |
| 33 | came | come | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 27 who | acl:relcl |
| 34 | from | from | ADP | _ | 33 came | obl |
| 35 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 38 replied | punct |
| 36 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 37 python | det |
| 37 | python | python | NOUN | Number=Sing | 38 replied | nsubj |
| 38 | replied | reply | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 33 came | parataxis |
| 39 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 44 son | punct |
| 40 | “ | " | PUNCT | _ | 44 son | punct |
| 41 | I | I | PRON | Case=Nom Number=Sing Person=1 PronType=Prs | 44 son | nsubj |
| 42 | am | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=1 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 44 son | cop |
| 43 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 44 son | det |
| 44 | son | son | NOUN | Number=Sing | 38 replied | ccomp |
| 45 | of | of | ADP | _ | 46 Chief | case |
| 46 | Chief | Chief | PROPN | Number=Sing | 44 son | nmod |
| 47 | Kaku | Kaku | PROPN | Number=Sing | 46 Chief | flat |
| 48 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 50 lives | punct |
| 49 | who | who | PRON | PronType=Rel | 50 lives | nsubj |
| 50 | lives | live | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 44 son | acl:relcl |
| 51 | over | over | ADV | _ | 52 there | advmod |
| 52 | there | there | ADV | PronType=Dem | 50 lives | advmod |
| 53 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 33 came | punct |
| 54 | ” | " | PUNCT | _ | 33 came | punct |
| 55 | pointing | point | VERB | Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part | 33 came | advcl |
| 56 | to | to | ADP | _ | 57 where | case |
| 57 | where | where | ADV | PronType=Rel | 60 rose | advmod |
| 58 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 59 sun | det |
| 59 | sun | sun | NOUN | Number=Sing | 60 rose | nsubj |
| 60 | rose | rise | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 55 pointing | advcl |
| 61 | at | at | ADP | _ | 63 back | case |
| 62 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 63 back | det |
| 63 | back | back | NOUN | Number=Sing | 60 rose | obl |
| 64 | of | of | ADP | _ | 66 house | case |
| 65 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 66 house | det |
| 66 | house | house | NOUN | Number=Sing | 63 back | nmod |
| 67 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 8 asked | punct |
Pragmatics
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ask speech: ask | past | the python | Chief | soon property | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V NP whether S_INF»: agent=Agent chief=Recipient clause=Topic | |||
| 2 | allow not said to happen | to-infinitive | the python not said here | Chief | vn allow-64.1-1 «NP V NP S»: agent=Causer he=Beneficiary clause=Eventuality | ||||
| 3 | marry not said to happen | to-infinitive | the python not said here | Chief's daughter | vn amalgamate-22.2-3-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent daughter=Patient | ||||
| 4 | ask speech: ask | past | the chief | python | who obj | tree rules | |||
| 5 | is | past | Chief | come property | tree rules | ||||
| 6 | reply speech: assert | past | the python | vn respond-113 «NP V»: agent=Agent | |||||
| 7 | is a in a quote | present | the python = python | the son | of Chief | tree rules | |||
| 8 | live in a quote | present | the son | there | vn exist-47.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | ||||
| 9 | point | gerund | Chief not said here | vn wink-40.3.1 «NP V»: agent=Agent | |||||
| 10 | rise | past | the sun | the back of the house | vn assuming_position-50 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent at back=Location | ||||
| 11 | arrive | Chief | nom arrival «act intransitive»: poss=agent |
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/pg70959/24/20/