Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Ii.--the Cunning Hare; Or, Why the Tortoise Has a Patched Shell., sentence 5
A law was also passed, at the hare’s suggestion, that a piece of ground at the roadside should be set aside for the king’s own private use, and that if anyone was caught defiling this piece of ground in any way he should be killed and eaten.
Who acts: way, hare, king · What happens: pass, set, catch, defile, kill, eat · To what, where: law, suggestion, piece, anyone, way, hare
This is a sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Ii.--the Cunning Hare; Or, Why the Tortoise Has a Patched Shell.. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (way, hare, king), 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 | A | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 2 law | det |
| 2 | law | law | NOUN | Number=Sing | 5 passed | nsubj:pass |
| 3 | was | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 5 passed | aux:pass |
| 4 | also | also | ADV | _ | 5 passed | advmod |
| 5 | passed | pass | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | root | root |
| 6 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 11 suggestion | punct |
| 7 | at | at | ADP | _ | 11 suggestion | case |
| 8 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 9 hare | det |
| 9 | hare | hare | NOUN | Number=Sing | 11 suggestion | nmod:poss |
| 10 | ’s | 's | PART | _ | 9 hare | case |
| 11 | suggestion | suggestion | NOUN | Number=Sing | 5 passed | obl |
| 12 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 23 set | punct |
| 13 | that | that | SCONJ | _ | 23 set | mark |
| 14 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 15 piece | det |
| 15 | piece | piece | NOUN | Number=Sing | 23 set | nsubj:pass |
| 16 | of | of | ADP | _ | 17 ground | case |
| 17 | ground | ground | NOUN | Number=Sing | 15 piece | nmod |
| 18 | at | at | ADP | _ | 20 roadside | case |
| 19 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 20 roadside | det |
| 20 | roadside | roadside | NOUN | Number=Sing | 15 piece | nmod |
| 21 | should | should | AUX | VerbForm=Fin | 23 set | aux |
| 22 | be | be | AUX | VerbForm=Inf | 23 set | aux:pass |
| 23 | set | set | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 5 passed | conj |
| 24 | aside | aside | ADV | _ | 23 set | advmod |
| 25 | for | for | ADP | _ | 31 use | case |
| 26 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 27 king | det |
| 27 | king | king | NOUN | Number=Sing | 31 use | nmod:poss |
| 28 | ’s | 's | PART | _ | 27 king | case |
| 29 | own | own | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 31 use | amod |
| 30 | private | private | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 31 use | amod |
| 31 | use | use | NOUN | Number=Sing | 23 set | obl |
| 32 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 38 caught | punct |
| 33 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 38 caught | cc |
| 34 | that | that | SCONJ | _ | 38 caught | mark |
| 35 | if | if | SCONJ | _ | 38 caught | mark |
| 36 | anyone | anyone | PRON | Number=Sing PronType=Ind | 38 caught | nsubj:pass |
| 37 | was | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 38 caught | aux:pass |
| 38 | caught | catch | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 5 passed | conj |
| 39 | defiling | defile | VERB | Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part | 38 caught | advcl |
| 40 | this | this | DET | Number=Sing PronType=Dem | 41 piece | det |
| 41 | piece | piece | NOUN | Number=Sing | 39 defiling | obj |
| 42 | of | of | ADP | _ | 43 ground | case |
| 43 | ground | ground | NOUN | Number=Sing | 41 piece | nmod |
| 44 | in | in | ADP | _ | 46 way | case |
| 45 | any | any | DET | PronType=Ind | 46 way | det |
| 46 | way | way | NOUN | Number=Sing | 39 defiling | obl |
| 47 | he | he | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 50 killed | nsubj:pass |
| 48 | should | should | AUX | VerbForm=Fin | 50 killed | aux |
| 49 | be | be | AUX | VerbForm=Inf | 50 killed | aux:pass |
| 50 | killed | kill | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 46 way | acl:relcl |
| 51 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 52 eaten | cc |
| 52 | eaten | eat | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 50 killed | conj |
| 53 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 5 passed | punct |
Pragmatics
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | pass | past · passive | a law | the hare's suggestion | vn throw-17.1-1 «NP V NP PP.destinations»: subject=Theme at suggestion=Destination | ||||
| 2 | set | should · passive | a piece of ground at the roadside | for the king's own private use; aside property | vn preparing-26.3-2 «NP V NP PP.beneficiary»: subject=Patient for use=Beneficiary | ||||
| 3 | catch a condition, not said to happen | past · passive | anyone | vn get-13.5.1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme | |||||
| 4 | defile | gerund | this piece of ground | any way | tree rules | ||||
| 5 | kill | should · passive | any way not said here | hare | vn remove-10.1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme | ||||
| 6 | eat | participle | any way not said here | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent | |||||
| 7 | suggest | the hare | nom suggestion «cognition intransitive»: poss=agent | ||||||
| 8 | use | the king | nom use «act 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/pg70959/4/5/