Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xxxi.--chief Kekong’s Daughter ’ndere Who Married a Python., part 1, sentence 74
When the time arrived for making the farms, the python took all his people out into the bush, but as they had no matchets or arms to use them with, all they could do was to roll themselves about in the grass and then burn it.
Who acts: time, python, men, all · What happens: arrive, make, take, have, use, do · To what, where: farms, people, bush, matchets, men, grass
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 (time, python, men, all), 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 | SCONJ | _ | 4 arrived | mark |
| 2 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 3 time | det |
| 3 | time | time | NOUN | Number=Sing | 4 arrived | nsubj |
| 4 | arrived | arrive | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 12 took | advcl |
| 5 | for | for | SCONJ | _ | 6 making | mark |
| 6 | making | make | VERB | Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part | 4 arrived | advcl |
| 7 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 8 farms | det |
| 8 | farms | farm | NOUN | Number=Plur | 6 making | obj |
| 9 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 4 arrived | punct |
| 10 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 11 python | det |
| 11 | python | python | NOUN | Number=Sing | 12 took | nsubj |
| 12 | took | take | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 13 | all | all | DET | PronType=Tot | 15 people | det:predet |
| 14 | his | his | PRON | Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 15 people | nmod:poss |
| 15 | people | people | NOUN | Number=Plur | 12 took | obj |
| 16 | out | out | ADV | _ | 12 took | advmod |
| 17 | into | into | ADP | _ | 19 bush | case |
| 18 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 19 bush | det |
| 19 | bush | bush | NOUN | Number=Sing | 12 took | obl |
| 20 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 24 had | punct |
| 21 | but | but | CCONJ | _ | 24 had | cc |
| 22 | as | as | SCONJ | _ | 24 had | mark |
| 23 | they | they | PRON | Case=Nom Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs | 24 had | nsubj |
| 24 | had | have | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 12 took | conj |
| 25 | no | no | DET | PronType=Neg | 26 matchets | det |
| 26 | matchets | matchet | NOUN | Number=Plur | 24 had | obj |
| 27 | or | or | CCONJ | _ | 28 arms | cc |
| 28 | arms | arm | NOUN | Number=Plur | 26 matchets | conj |
| 29 | to | to | PART | _ | 30 use | mark |
| 30 | use | use | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 24 had | advcl |
| 31 | them | they | PRON | Case=Acc Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs | 30 use | obj |
| 32 | with | with | ADP | _ | 34 all | case |
| 33 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 32 with | punct |
| 34 | all | all | DET | PronType=Tot | 40 roll | nsubj:outer |
| 35 | they | they | PRON | Case=Nom Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs | 37 do | nsubj |
| 36 | could | could | AUX | VerbForm=Fin | 37 do | aux |
| 37 | do | do | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 34 all | acl:relcl |
| 38 | was | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 40 roll | cop |
| 39 | to | to | PART | _ | 40 roll | mark |
| 40 | roll | roll | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 30 use | advcl |
| 41 | themselves | themselves | PRON | Case=Acc Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs Reflex=Yes | 40 roll | obj |
| 42 | about | about | ADP | _ | 45 grass | case |
| 43 | in | in | ADP | _ | 45 grass | case |
| 44 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 45 grass | det |
| 45 | grass | grass | NOUN | Number=Sing | 40 roll | obl |
| 46 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 48 burn | cc |
| 47 | then | then | ADV | PronType=Dem | 48 burn | advmod |
| 48 | burn | burn | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 40 roll | conj |
| 49 | it | it | PRON | Case=Acc Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 48 burn | obj |
| 50 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 12 took | punct |
Pragmatics
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | arrive | past | the time | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | |||||
| 2 | make | gerund | the time not said here | the farms | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset farm=Product | ||||
| 3 | take | past | the python | python's people | the bush | out property | vn bring-11.3 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent people=Theme into bush=Destination | ||
| 4 | have | past | men = man | no matchets or arms | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent matchet=Patient | ||||
| 5 | use | to-infinitive | men = man not said here | men = man | vn eat-39.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent they=Patient | ||||
| 6 | do | could | men = man | vn act-114-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent | |||||
| 7 | is | past | all | about the grass; men = man obj; roll property | tree rules | ||||
| 8 | burn | infinitive | all not said here | grass | then | vn light_emission-43.1 «NP V NP.theme»: agent=Agent it=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/pg70959/24/74/