Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xxxi.--chief Kekong’s Daughter ’ndere Who Married a Python., part 3, sentence 18
This he did six times, but when he had got to the top of the tree for the seventh time, and was just going to hang himself, Chief Ossima ’nkom of Yammi appeared, and called upon him to stop, saying, “I am the oldest and biggest chief in the town, and am going to beg for you.”
Who acts: This, Agbor, nkom · What happens: do, get, go, hang, appear, call · To what, where: Agbor, oldest chief, town · 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 (This, Agbor, nkom), 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 | This | this | PRON | Number=Sing PronType=Dem | 3 did | nsubj |
| 2 | he | he | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 3 did | nsubj |
| 3 | did | do | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 4 | six | six | NUM | NumForm=Word NumType=Card | 5 times | nummod |
| 5 | times | time | NOUN | Number=Plur | 3 did | obl:unmarked |
| 6 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 11 got | punct |
| 7 | but | but | CCONJ | _ | 11 got | cc |
| 8 | when | when | ADV | PronType=Int | 11 got | advmod |
| 9 | he | he | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 11 got | nsubj |
| 10 | had | have | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 11 got | aux |
| 11 | got | get | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part | 3 did | conj |
| 12 | to | to | ADP | _ | 14 top | case |
| 13 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 14 top | det |
| 14 | top | top | NOUN | Number=Sing | 11 got | obl |
| 15 | of | of | ADP | _ | 17 tree | case |
| 16 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 17 tree | det |
| 17 | tree | tree | NOUN | Number=Sing | 14 top | nmod |
| 18 | for | for | ADP | _ | 21 time | case |
| 19 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 21 time | det |
| 20 | seventh | seventh | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 21 time | amod |
| 21 | time | time | NOUN | Number=Sing | 11 got | obl |
| 22 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 26 going | punct |
| 23 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 26 going | cc |
| 24 | was | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 26 going | aux |
| 25 | just | just | ADV | _ | 26 going | advmod |
| 26 | going | go | VERB | Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part | 37 appeared | advcl |
| 27 | to | to | PART | _ | 28 hang | mark |
| 28 | hang | hang | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 26 going | xcomp |
| 29 | himself | himself | PRON | Case=Acc Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs Reflex=Yes | 28 hang | obj |
| 30 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 26 going | punct |
| 31 | Chief | Chief | PROPN | Number=Sing | 34 nkom | nmod:poss |
| 32 | Ossima | Ossima | PROPN | Number=Sing | 31 Chief | flat |
| 33 | ’ | 's | PART | _ | 31 Chief | case |
| 34 | nkom | nkom | NOUN | Number=Sing | 37 appeared | nsubj |
| 35 | of | of | ADP | _ | 36 Yammi | case |
| 36 | Yammi | Yammi | PROPN | Number=Sing | 34 nkom | nmod |
| 37 | appeared | appear | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 3 did | parataxis |
| 38 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 40 called | punct |
| 39 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 40 called | cc |
| 40 | called | call | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 37 appeared | conj |
| 41 | upon | upon | ADP | _ | 42 him | case |
| 42 | him | he | PRON | Case=Acc Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 40 called | obl |
| 43 | to | to | PART | _ | 44 stop | mark |
| 44 | stop | stop | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 40 called | advcl |
| 45 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 46 saying | punct |
| 46 | saying | say | VERB | VerbForm=Ger | 44 stop | xcomp |
| 47 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 55 chief | punct |
| 48 | “ | " | PUNCT | _ | 55 chief | punct |
| 49 | I | I | PRON | Case=Nom Number=Sing Person=1 PronType=Prs | 55 chief | nsubj |
| 50 | am | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=1 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 55 chief | cop |
| 51 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 55 chief | det |
| 52 | oldest | old | ADJ | Degree=Sup | 55 chief | amod |
| 53 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 54 biggest | cc |
| 54 | biggest | big | ADJ | Degree=Sup | 52 oldest | conj |
| 55 | chief | chief | NOUN | Number=Sing | 46 saying | ccomp |
| 56 | in | in | ADP | _ | 58 town | case |
| 57 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 58 town | det |
| 58 | town | town | NOUN | Number=Sing | 55 chief | nmod |
| 59 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 62 going | punct |
| 60 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 62 going | cc |
| 61 | am | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=1 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 62 going | aux |
| 62 | going | go | VERB | Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part | 3 did | advcl |
| 63 | to | to | PART | _ | 64 beg | mark |
| 64 | beg | beg | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 62 going | xcomp |
| 65 | for | for | ADP | _ | 66 you | case |
| 66 | you | you | PRON | Case=Acc Person=2 PronType=Prs | 64 beg | obl |
| 67 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 62 going | punct |
| 68 | ” | " | PUNCT | _ | 62 going | punct |
Pragmatics
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | do | past | This | time | Agbor nsubj | vn act-114-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent | |||
| 2 | get | past · perfect | Agbor | time | to the top of the tree result | vn convert-26.6.2 «NP V S_ING»: agent=Patient to top=Result | |||
| 3 | go | past · progressive | Chief's nkom of Yammi not said here | vn say-37.7 «NP V S-Quote»: agent=Agent clause=Topic | |||||
| 4 | hang | to-infinitive | Chief's nkom of Yammi not said here | Agbor | vn poison-42.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent himself=Patient | ||||
| 5 | appear | past | Chief's nkom of Yammi | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | |||||
| 6 | call | past | Chief's nkom of Yammi not said here | upon Agbor | vn initiate_communication-37.4.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent | ||||
| 7 | stop | to-infinitive | Chief's nkom of Yammi not said here | vn stop-55.4-1-1 «NP V S_ING»: agent=Affector clause=Eventuality | |||||
| 8 | say speech: assert | gerund | Chief's nkom of Yammi not said here | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent | |||||
| 9 | is a in a quote | present | Chief's nkom of Yammi = nkom | the oldest chief | the town | tree rules | |||
| 10 | go in a quote | present · progressive | This not said here | vn say-37.7 «NP V S-Quote»: agent=Agent clause=Topic | |||||
| 11 | beg speech: request in a quote | to-infinitive | This not said here | for you | vn beg-58.2-1-1 «NP V PP.Topic»: agent=Agent for you=Topic |
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/pg70959/26/18/