Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Fig. 2.--chief Indoma’s Compound., sentence 28
[7] The natives believe that when a man whose first-born child is a boy happens to hit a toe on his right foot against a stone on his way to a town, that he will be badly received at that town, but if the toe which is hit by the stone is on his left foot, then the people will welcome him and treat him kindly.
Who acts: natives, man, boy, stone, toe, people · What happens: believe, bear, be, happen, hit, receive · To what, where: 7, boy, toe, man, town, left foot · Speech: someone speaks here
This is a sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Fig. 2.--chief Indoma’s Compound.. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (natives, man, boy, stone), 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 | [ | [ | PUNCT | _ | 2 7 | punct |
| 2 | 7 | 7 | NUM | NumForm=Digit NumType=Card | 6 believe | obl |
| 3 | ] | ] | PUNCT | _ | 2 7 | punct |
| 4 | The | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 5 natives | det |
| 5 | natives | native | NOUN | Number=Plur | 6 believe | nsubj |
| 6 | believe | believe | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 7 | that | that | SCONJ | _ | 19 happens | mark |
| 8 | when | when | SCONJ | _ | 18 boy | mark |
| 9 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 10 man | det |
| 10 | man | man | NOUN | Number=Sing | 18 boy | nsubj |
| 11 | whose | whose | PRON | Poss=Yes PronType=Rel | 15 child | nmod:poss |
| 12 | first | first | ADJ | Degree=Pos NumForm=Word NumType=Ord | 14 born | amod |
| 13 | - | - | PUNCT | _ | 12 first | punct |
| 14 | born | bear | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 15 child | amod |
| 15 | child | child | NOUN | Number=Sing | 10 man | nmod |
| 16 | is | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 18 boy | cop |
| 17 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 18 boy | det |
| 18 | boy | boy | NOUN | Number=Sing | 19 happens | nsubj |
| 19 | happens | happen | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 6 believe | ccomp |
| 20 | to | to | PART | _ | 21 hit | mark |
| 21 | hit | hit | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 19 happens | xcomp |
| 22 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 23 toe | det |
| 23 | toe | toe | NOUN | Number=Sing | 21 hit | obj |
| 24 | on | on | ADP | _ | 27 foot | case |
| 25 | his | his | PRON | Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 27 foot | nmod:poss |
| 26 | right | right | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 27 foot | amod |
| 27 | foot | foot | NOUN | Number=Sing | 21 hit | obl |
| 28 | against | against | ADP | _ | 30 stone | case |
| 29 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 30 stone | det |
| 30 | stone | stone | NOUN | Number=Sing | 21 hit | obl |
| 31 | on | on | ADP | _ | 33 way | case |
| 32 | his | his | PRON | Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 33 way | nmod:poss |
| 33 | way | way | NOUN | Number=Sing | 21 hit | obl |
| 34 | to | to | ADP | _ | 36 town | case |
| 35 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 36 town | det |
| 36 | town | town | NOUN | Number=Sing | 33 way | nmod |
| 37 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 43 received | punct |
| 38 | that | that | SCONJ | _ | 43 received | mark |
| 39 | he | he | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 43 received | nsubj |
| 40 | will | will | AUX | VerbForm=Fin | 43 received | aux |
| 41 | be | be | AUX | VerbForm=Inf | 43 received | aux:pass |
| 42 | badly | badly | ADV | Degree=Pos | 43 received | advmod |
| 43 | received | receive | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 19 happens | conj |
| 44 | at | at | ADP | _ | 46 town | case |
| 45 | that | that | DET | Number=Sing PronType=Dem | 46 town | det |
| 46 | town | town | NOUN | Number=Sing | 43 received | obl |
| 47 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 62 foot | punct |
| 48 | but | but | CCONJ | _ | 62 foot | cc |
| 49 | if | if | SCONJ | _ | 62 foot | mark |
| 50 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 51 toe | det |
| 51 | toe | toe | NOUN | Number=Sing | 62 foot | nsubj |
| 52 | which | which | PRON | PronType=Rel | 54 hit | nsubj:pass |
| 53 | is | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 54 hit | aux:pass |
| 54 | hit | hit | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 51 toe | acl:relcl |
| 55 | by | by | ADP | _ | 57 stone | case |
| 56 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 57 stone | det |
| 57 | stone | stone | NOUN | Number=Sing | 54 hit | obl |
| 58 | is | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 62 foot | cop |
| 59 | on | on | ADP | _ | 62 foot | case |
| 60 | his | his | PRON | Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 62 foot | nmod:poss |
| 61 | left | left | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 62 foot | amod |
| 62 | foot | foot | NOUN | Number=Sing | 19 happens | obl |
| 63 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 68 welcome | punct |
| 64 | then | then | ADV | PronType=Dem | 68 welcome | advmod |
| 65 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 66 people | det |
| 66 | people | people | NOUN | Number=Plur | 68 welcome | nsubj |
| 67 | will | will | AUX | VerbForm=Fin | 68 welcome | aux |
| 68 | welcome | welcome | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 62 foot | parataxis |
| 69 | him | he | PRON | Case=Acc Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 68 welcome | obj |
| 70 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 71 treat | cc |
| 71 | treat | treat | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 68 welcome | conj |
| 72 | him | he | PRON | Case=Acc Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 71 treat | obj |
| 73 | kindly | kindly | ADV | _ | 71 treat | advmod |
| 74 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 6 believe | punct |
Pragmatics
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | believe | present | the natives | 7 | vn admire-31.2 «NP V that S»: agent=Experiencer clause=Stimulus | ||||
| 2 | bear | participle | vn admire-31.2 «NP V that S»: agent=Experiencer | ||||||
| 3 | is a | present | a man a man a man's born child's born child | a boy | tree rules | ||||
| 4 | happen | present | a boy | tree rules | |||||
| 5 | hit | to-infinitive | a boy not said here | a toe | against a stone; on boy's way to a town; on boy's right foot | vn hit-18.1-1 «NP V NP PP»: agent=Agent toe=Instrument on foot=Patient | |||
| 6 | receive | future · passive | man | that town | badly property | vn admit-64.3-1 «NP V NP PP.location»: subject=Theme at town=Location | |||
| 7 | hit | present · passive | the stone | the toe | vn contiguous_location-47.8-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme subject=Co-Theme | ||||
| 8 | is a condition, not said to happen | present | the toe | boy's left foot | boy nmod:poss | tree rules | |||
| 9 | welcome | future | the people | boy | then | vn admit-64.3-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent he=Theme | |||
| 10 | treat | infinitive | the people not said here | boy | kindly property | vn equip-13.4.2-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent he=Recipient |
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/pg70959/29/28/