Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xxxi.--chief Kekong’s Daughter ’ndere Who Married a Python., part 1, sentence 41
The python then sent the small boy who had come with him to Chief Kaku, asking him to send the dowry, and after a few days the boy returned, bringing with him rods, cloth, camwood, and palm-oil.
Who acts: python, small boy, boy · What happens: send, come, ask, return, bring · To what, where: small boy, Chief, dowry, rods
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, small boy, boy), 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 sent | nsubj |
| 3 | then | then | ADV | PronType=Dem | 4 sent | advmod |
| 4 | sent | send | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 5 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 7 boy | det |
| 6 | small | small | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 7 boy | amod |
| 7 | boy | boy | NOUN | Number=Sing | 4 sent | obj |
| 8 | who | who | PRON | PronType=Rel | 10 come | nsubj |
| 9 | had | have | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 10 come | aux |
| 10 | come | come | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part | 7 boy | acl:relcl |
| 11 | with | with | ADP | _ | 12 him | case |
| 12 | him | he | PRON | Case=Acc Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 10 come | obl |
| 13 | to | to | ADP | _ | 14 Chief | case |
| 14 | Chief | Chief | PROPN | Number=Sing | 10 come | obl |
| 15 | Kaku | Kaku | PROPN | Number=Sing | 14 Chief | flat |
| 16 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 17 asking | punct |
| 17 | asking | ask | VERB | Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part | 4 sent | advcl |
| 18 | him | he | PRON | Case=Acc Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 17 asking | obj |
| 19 | to | to | PART | _ | 20 send | mark |
| 20 | send | send | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 17 asking | xcomp |
| 21 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 22 dowry | det |
| 22 | dowry | dowry | NOUN | Number=Sing | 20 send | obj |
| 23 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 31 returned | punct |
| 24 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 31 returned | cc |
| 25 | after | after | ADP | _ | 28 days | case |
| 26 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 28 days | det |
| 27 | few | few | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 28 days | amod |
| 28 | days | day | NOUN | Number=Plur | 31 returned | obl |
| 29 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 30 boy | det |
| 30 | boy | boy | NOUN | Number=Sing | 31 returned | nsubj |
| 31 | returned | return | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 4 sent | conj |
| 32 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 33 bringing | punct |
| 33 | bringing | bring | VERB | Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part | 31 returned | advcl |
| 34 | with | with | ADP | _ | 35 him | case |
| 35 | him | he | PRON | Case=Acc Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 33 bringing | obl |
| 36 | rods | rod | NOUN | Number=Plur | 33 bringing | obj |
| 37 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 38 cloth | punct |
| 38 | cloth | cloth | NOUN | Number=Sing | 36 rods | conj |
| 39 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 40 camwood | punct |
| 40 | camwood | camwood | NOUN | Number=Sing | 36 rods | conj |
| 41 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 45 oil | punct |
| 42 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 45 oil | cc |
| 43 | palm | palm | NOUN | Number=Sing | 45 oil | compound |
| 44 | - | - | PUNCT | _ | 43 palm | punct |
| 45 | oil | oil | NOUN | Number=Sing | 4 sent | obl |
| 46 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 4 sent | punct |
Pragmatics
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | send | past | the python | the small boy | then | palm oil obl | vn confine-92-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent boy=Theme | ||
| 2 | come | past · perfect | the small boy | Chief | with python | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial_location»: agent=Theme to chief=Initial_Location | |||
| 3 | ask speech: ask | gerund | the python not said here | Chief | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V NP whether S_INF»: agent=Agent he=Recipient clause=Topic | ||||
| 4 | send not said to happen | to-infinitive | the python not said here | the dowry | vn confine-92-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent dowry=Theme | ||||
| 5 | return | past | the boy | day | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | ||||
| 6 | bring | gerund | the boy not said here | rods and cloth and camwood | with Chief | vn bring-11.3-1 «NP V NP together»: agent=Agent rod=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/pg70959/24/41/