Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xxxi.--chief Kekong’s Daughter ’ndere Who Married a Python., part 3, sentence 10
But your wife eat a monkey which you had killed and you eat a fish caught by your wife, and then, when I called your name, you ran away with your wife and left the hunting party, but I followed you all the way, and although you tried to kill me, I am here to give evidence against you, as I promised.”
Who acts: wife, you, I, your · What happens: eat, kill, catch, call, run away, leave · To what, where: monkey, fish, name, hunting party, you, me · 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 3. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (wife, you, I, your), 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 | But | but | CCONJ | _ | 4 eat | cc |
| 2 | your | your | PRON | Case=Gen Person=2 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 3 wife | nmod:poss |
| 3 | wife | wife | NOUN | Number=Sing | 4 eat | nsubj |
| 4 | eat | eat | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 5 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 6 monkey | det |
| 6 | monkey | monkey | NOUN | Number=Sing | 4 eat | obj |
| 7 | which | which | PRON | PronType=Rel | 10 killed | nsubj:pass |
| 8 | you | you | PRON | Case=Nom Person=2 PronType=Prs | 10 killed | nsubj:pass |
| 9 | had | have | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 10 killed | aux |
| 10 | killed | kill | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 6 monkey | acl:relcl |
| 11 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 13 eat | cc |
| 12 | you | you | PRON | Case=Nom Person=2 PronType=Prs | 13 eat | nsubj |
| 13 | eat | eat | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=2 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 4 eat | conj |
| 14 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 15 fish | det |
| 15 | fish | fish | NOUN | Number=Sing | 13 eat | obj |
| 16 | caught | catch | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 15 fish | acl |
| 17 | by | by | ADP | _ | 19 wife | case |
| 18 | your | your | PRON | Case=Gen Person=2 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 19 wife | nmod:poss |
| 19 | wife | wife | NOUN | Number=Sing | 16 caught | obl |
| 20 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 26 called | punct |
| 21 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 26 called | cc |
| 22 | then | then | ADV | PronType=Dem | 26 called | advmod |
| 23 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 26 called | punct |
| 24 | when | when | ADV | PronType=Int | 26 called | advmod |
| 25 | I | I | PRON | Case=Nom Number=Sing Person=1 PronType=Prs | 26 called | nsubj |
| 26 | called | call | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=1 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 4 eat | parataxis |
| 27 | your | your | PRON | Case=Gen Person=2 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 28 name | nmod:poss |
| 28 | name | name | NOUN | Number=Sing | 26 called | obj |
| 29 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 31 ran | punct |
| 30 | you | you | PRON | Case=Nom Person=2 PronType=Prs | 31 ran | nsubj |
| 31 | ran | run | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=2 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 4 eat | parataxis |
| 32 | away | away | ADV | _ | 31 ran | advmod |
| 33 | with | with | ADP | _ | 35 wife | case |
| 34 | your | your | PRON | Case=Gen Person=2 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 35 wife | nmod:poss |
| 35 | wife | wife | NOUN | Number=Sing | 31 ran | obl |
| 36 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 37 left | cc |
| 37 | left | leave | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=2 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 31 ran | conj |
| 38 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 40 party | det |
| 39 | hunting | hunting | NOUN | Number=Sing | 40 party | compound |
| 40 | party | party | NOUN | Number=Sing | 37 left | obj |
| 41 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 44 followed | punct |
| 42 | but | but | CCONJ | _ | 44 followed | cc |
| 43 | I | I | PRON | Case=Nom Number=Sing Person=1 PronType=Prs | 44 followed | nsubj |
| 44 | followed | follow | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=1 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 31 ran | conj |
| 45 | you | you | PRON | Case=Acc Person=2 PronType=Prs | 44 followed | obj |
| 46 | all | all | DET | PronType=Tot | 48 way | det:predet |
| 47 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 48 way | det |
| 48 | way | way | NOUN | Number=Sing | 44 followed | obl:unmarked |
| 49 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 53 tried | punct |
| 50 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 53 tried | cc |
| 51 | although | although | SCONJ | _ | 53 tried | mark |
| 52 | you | you | PRON | Case=Nom Person=2 PronType=Prs | 53 tried | nsubj |
| 53 | tried | try | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=2 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 31 ran | conj |
| 54 | to | to | PART | _ | 55 kill | mark |
| 55 | kill | kill | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 53 tried | xcomp |
| 56 | me | I | PRON | Case=Acc Number=Sing Person=1 PronType=Prs | 55 kill | obj |
| 57 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 60 here | punct |
| 58 | I | I | PRON | Case=Nom Number=Sing Person=1 PronType=Prs | 60 here | nsubj |
| 59 | am | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=1 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 60 here | cop |
| 60 | here | here | ADV | PronType=Dem | 4 eat | advmod |
| 61 | to | to | PART | _ | 62 give | mark |
| 62 | give | give | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 60 here | advcl |
| 63 | evidence | evidence | NOUN | Number=Sing | 62 give | obj |
| 64 | against | against | ADP | _ | 65 you | case |
| 65 | you | you | PRON | Case=Acc Person=2 PronType=Prs | 63 evidence | nmod |
| 66 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 69 promised | punct |
| 67 | as | as | SCONJ | _ | 69 promised | mark |
| 68 | I | I | PRON | Case=Nom Number=Sing Person=1 PronType=Prs | 69 promised | nsubj |
| 69 | promised | promise | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=1 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 62 give | advcl |
| 70 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 4 eat | punct |
| 71 | ” | " | PUNCT | _ | 4 eat | punct |
Pragmatics
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | eat | present | your wife | a monkey | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent monkey=Patient | ||||
| 2 | kill | past · perfect · passive | a monkey | you nsubj:pass | vn remove-10.1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme | ||||
| 3 | eat | present | you | a fish | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent fish=Patient | ||||
| 4 | catch | participle | a fish not said here | by your wife | vn get-13.5.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent | ||||
| 5 | call | past | I | your name | then | vn initiate_communication-37.4.2-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent name=Recipient | |||
| 6 | run away | past | you | with your wife; away property | vn preparing-26.3-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent with wife=Material | ||||
| 7 | leave | past | you not said here | the hunting party | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent party=Theme | ||||
| 8 | follow | past | I | you | all way obl:unmarked | vn chase-51.6 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent you=Theme | |||
| 9 | try | past | you | vn try-61.1 «NP V S_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality | |||||
| 10 | kill not said to happen | to-infinitive | you not said here | me | vn remove-10.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent i=Theme | ||||
| 11 | is | present | I | here property | tree rules | ||||
| 12 | give | to-infinitive | I not said here | evidence | against you | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent evidence=Theme | |||
| 13 | promise speech: promise | past | I | vn promise-37.13 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent | |||||
| 14 | name | your | nom name «communication transitive»: 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/pg70959/26/10/