Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xxxi.--chief Kekong’s Daughter ’ndere Who Married a Python., part 3, sentence 80
The people then decided that it was because Essama was kept so long in the fatting-house which caused her to kill the goat, and they agreed that for the future girls should only stay in the fatting-house for a few days, as they would then not be tempted to steal and bring shame upon their families.
Who acts: people, fatting house · What happens: decide, keep, cause, kill, agree, stay · To what, where: amount, fatting house, ESSAMA, goat, shame · 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 (people, fatting house), 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 people | det |
| 2 | people | people | NOUN | Number=Plur | 4 decided | nsubj |
| 3 | then | then | ADV | PronType=Dem | 4 decided | advmod |
| 4 | decided | decide | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 5 | that | that | SCONJ | _ | 11 kept | mark |
| 6 | it | it | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 11 kept | nsubj:pass |
| 7 | was | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 11 kept | aux:pass |
| 8 | because | because | SCONJ | _ | 11 kept | mark |
| 9 | Essama | Essama | PROPN | Number=Sing | 11 kept | nsubj:pass |
| 10 | was | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 11 kept | aux:pass |
| 11 | kept | keep | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 4 decided | ccomp |
| 12 | so | so | ADV | _ | 13 long | advmod |
| 13 | long | long | ADV | Degree=Pos | 11 kept | advmod |
| 14 | in | in | ADP | _ | 18 house | case |
| 15 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 18 house | det |
| 16 | fatting | fatting | NOUN | Number=Sing | 18 house | compound |
| 17 | - | - | PUNCT | _ | 16 fatting | punct |
| 18 | house | house | NOUN | Number=Sing | 11 kept | obl |
| 19 | which | which | PRON | PronType=Rel | 20 caused | nsubj |
| 20 | caused | cause | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 18 house | acl:relcl |
| 21 | her | she | PRON | Case=Acc Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 20 caused | iobj |
| 22 | to | to | PART | _ | 23 kill | mark |
| 23 | kill | kill | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 20 caused | xcomp |
| 24 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 25 goat | det |
| 25 | goat | goat | NOUN | Number=Sing | 23 kill | obj |
| 26 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 29 agreed | punct |
| 27 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 29 agreed | cc |
| 28 | they | they | PRON | Case=Nom Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs | 29 agreed | nsubj |
| 29 | agreed | agree | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 4 decided | conj |
| 30 | that | that | SCONJ | _ | 37 stay | mark |
| 31 | for | for | ADP | _ | 34 girls | case |
| 32 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 34 girls | det |
| 33 | future | future | NOUN | Number=Sing | 34 girls | compound |
| 34 | girls | girl | NOUN | Number=Plur | 37 stay | obl |
| 35 | should | should | AUX | VerbForm=Fin | 37 stay | aux |
| 36 | only | only | ADV | _ | 37 stay | advmod |
| 37 | stay | stay | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 29 agreed | ccomp |
| 38 | in | in | ADP | _ | 42 house | case |
| 39 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 42 house | det |
| 40 | fatting | fatting | NOUN | Number=Sing | 42 house | compound |
| 41 | - | - | PUNCT | _ | 40 fatting | punct |
| 42 | house | house | NOUN | Number=Sing | 37 stay | obl |
| 43 | for | for | ADP | _ | 46 days | case |
| 44 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 46 days | det |
| 45 | few | few | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 46 days | amod |
| 46 | days | day | NOUN | Number=Plur | 42 house | nmod |
| 47 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 54 tempted | punct |
| 48 | as | as | SCONJ | _ | 50 would | mark |
| 49 | they | they | PRON | Case=Nom Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs | 50 would | nsubj |
| 50 | would | would | AUX | VerbForm=Fin | 54 tempted | aux |
| 51 | then | then | ADV | PronType=Dem | 54 tempted | advmod |
| 52 | not | not | PART | Polarity=Neg | 54 tempted | advmod |
| 53 | be | be | AUX | VerbForm=Inf | 54 tempted | aux:pass |
| 54 | tempted | tempt | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 37 stay | conj |
| 55 | to | to | PART | _ | 56 steal | mark |
| 56 | steal | steal | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 54 tempted | advcl |
| 57 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 58 bring | cc |
| 58 | bring | bring | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 56 steal | conj |
| 59 | shame | shame | NOUN | Number=Sing | 58 bring | obj |
| 60 | upon | upon | ADP | _ | 62 families | case |
| 61 | their | their | PRON | Case=Gen Number=Plur Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 62 families | nmod:poss |
| 62 | families | family | NOUN | Number=Plur | 58 bring | obl |
| 63 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 4 decided | punct |
Pragmatics
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | decide | past | the people | then | vn correspond-36.1-1 «NP V what S_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Topic | ||||
| 2 | keep | past · passive | amount | the fatting house | Essama nsubj:pass; long property | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP PP.location»: subject=Theme in house=Location | |||
| 3 | cause | past | the fatting house | ESSAMA | tree rules | ||||
| 4 | kill | to-infinitive | the fatting house not said here | the goat | vn remove-10.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent goat=Theme | ||||
| 5 | agree speech: agree | past | people | vn correspond-36.1-1 «NP V what S_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Topic | |||||
| 6 | stay | should | the fatting house for a few days | for the future girls | vn exist-47.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme in house=Location | ||||
| 7 | not tempt | would · passive | then | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V ADV-Middle» | |||||
| 8 | steal | to-infinitive | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | ||||||
| 9 | bring | infinitive | shame | upon people's families | vn bring-11.3-1 «NP V NP together»: agent=Agent shame=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/pg70959/26/80/