Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xxxi.--chief Kekong’s Daughter ’ndere Who Married a Python., part 2, sentence 54
Later in the evening, the chief called Agbor Adam to him, and asked him if he could explain what the bird had been saying, but he could not do so, and said he would like the lot caster to be consulted when they returned to Okuni.
Who acts: Adam, bird, ashes · What happens: call, ask, explain, say, not do, like · To what, where: chief, Adam, lot caster, Okuni · 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 2. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (Adam, bird, ashes), 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 | Later | late | ADV | Degree=Cmp | 15 asked | advmod |
| 2 | in | in | ADP | _ | 4 evening | case |
| 3 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 4 evening | det |
| 4 | evening | evening | NOUN | Number=Sing | 1 Later | obl |
| 5 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 7 chief | punct |
| 6 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 7 chief | det |
| 7 | chief | chief | NOUN | Number=Sing | 4 evening | appos |
| 8 | called | call | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 7 chief | acl |
| 9 | Agbor | Agbor | PROPN | Number=Sing | 10 Adam | compound |
| 10 | Adam | Adam | PROPN | Number=Sing | 8 called | xcomp |
| 11 | to | to | ADP | _ | 12 him | case |
| 12 | him | he | PRON | Case=Acc Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 8 called | obl |
| 13 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 15 asked | punct |
| 14 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 15 asked | cc |
| 15 | asked | ask | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=1 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 16 | him | he | PRON | Case=Acc Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 15 asked | iobj |
| 17 | if | if | SCONJ | _ | 20 explain | mark |
| 18 | he | he | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 20 explain | nsubj |
| 19 | could | could | AUX | VerbForm=Fin | 20 explain | aux |
| 20 | explain | explain | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 15 asked | advcl |
| 21 | what | what | PRON | PronType=Int | 26 saying | obj |
| 22 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 23 bird | det |
| 23 | bird | bird | NOUN | Number=Sing | 26 saying | nsubj |
| 24 | had | have | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 26 saying | aux |
| 25 | been | be | AUX | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part | 26 saying | aux |
| 26 | saying | say | VERB | Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part | 20 explain | ccomp |
| 27 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 32 do | punct |
| 28 | but | but | CCONJ | _ | 32 do | cc |
| 29 | he | he | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 32 do | nsubj |
| 30 | could | could | AUX | VerbForm=Fin | 32 do | aux |
| 31 | not | not | PART | Polarity=Neg | 32 do | advmod |
| 32 | do | do | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 15 asked | conj |
| 33 | so | so | ADV | _ | 32 do | advmod |
| 34 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 36 said | punct |
| 35 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 36 said | cc |
| 36 | said | say | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 15 asked | parataxis |
| 37 | he | he | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 39 like | nsubj |
| 38 | would | would | AUX | VerbForm=Fin | 39 like | aux |
| 39 | like | like | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 36 said | ccomp |
| 40 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 42 caster | det |
| 41 | lot | lot | NOUN | Number=Sing | 42 caster | compound |
| 42 | caster | caster | NOUN | Number=Sing | 39 like | obj |
| 43 | to | to | PART | _ | 45 consulted | mark |
| 44 | be | be | AUX | VerbForm=Inf | 45 consulted | aux:pass |
| 45 | consulted | consult | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 42 caster | acl |
| 46 | when | when | ADV | PronType=Int | 48 returned | advmod |
| 47 | they | they | PRON | Case=Nom Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs | 48 returned | nsubj |
| 48 | returned | return | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 45 consulted | advcl |
| 49 | to | to | ADP | _ | 50 Okuni | case |
| 50 | Okuni | Okuni | PROPN | Number=Sing | 48 returned | obl |
| 51 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 15 asked | punct |
Pragmatics
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | call | participle | the chief not said here | Adam | Agbor Adam xcomp | vn animal_sounds-38 «NP V PP.recipient»: agent=Agent to he=Recipient | |||
| 2 | ask speech: ask | past | Adam | late property | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent he=Recipient | ||||
| 3 | explain speech: assert a condition, not said to happen | could | Adam | vn transfer_mesg-37.1.1 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic | |||||
| 4 | say speech: assert | past · perfect · progressive | the bird | what obj | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: agent=Agent what=Topic | ||||
| 5 | not do | could | bird | vn act-114-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent | |||||
| 6 | say speech: assert | past | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic | ||||||
| 7 | like | would | bird | the lot caster | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Pivot caster=Theme | ||||
| 8 | consult | to-infinitive · passive | bird not said here | the lot caster not said here | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V» | ||||
| 9 | return | past | ashes = ash | Okuni | vn convert-26.6.2-1 «NP V S_ING»: agent=Patient to okuni=Result |
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/pg70959/25/54/