Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Ix.--the Story of the War Between Inkum and Enfitop., sentence 128
He then went into his back room to consult his ju-ju, and, being very clever, it did not take him long to find out what had happened to the boy, so he soon returned to Omegha, and told her that her son had been thrown into the river by his companions, and that the water ju-ju had taken him to his house at the bottom of the deep pool in the river.
Who acts: porcupine, it, companions · What happens: go, consult, be, not take, find out, happen · To what, where: back room, ju ju, porcupine, Omegha, son, river · Speech: someone speaks here
This is a sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Ix.--the Story of the War Between Inkum and Enfitop.. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (porcupine, it, companions), 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 | He | he | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 3 went | nsubj |
| 2 | then | then | ADV | PronType=Dem | 3 went | advmod |
| 3 | went | go | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 4 | into | into | ADP | _ | 7 room | case |
| 5 | his | his | PRON | Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 7 room | nmod:poss |
| 6 | back | back | NOUN | Number=Sing | 7 room | compound |
| 7 | room | room | NOUN | Number=Sing | 3 went | obl |
| 8 | to | to | PART | _ | 9 consult | mark |
| 9 | consult | consult | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 3 went | advcl |
| 10 | his | his | PRON | Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 13 ju | nmod:poss |
| 11 | ju | ju | NOUN | Number=Sing | 13 ju | compound |
| 12 | - | - | PUNCT | _ | 11 ju | punct |
| 13 | ju | ju | NOUN | Number=Sing | 9 consult | obj |
| 14 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 19 clever | punct |
| 15 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 19 clever | cc |
| 16 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 15 and | punct |
| 17 | being | be | AUX | Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part | 19 clever | cop |
| 18 | very | very | ADV | _ | 19 clever | advmod |
| 19 | clever | clever | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 3 went | parataxis |
| 20 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 24 take | punct |
| 21 | it | it | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 24 take | nsubj |
| 22 | did | do | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 24 take | aux |
| 23 | not | not | PART | Polarity=Neg | 24 take | advmod |
| 24 | take | take | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 19 clever | parataxis |
| 25 | him | he | PRON | Case=Acc Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 24 take | obj |
| 26 | long | long | ADV | Degree=Pos | 24 take | advmod |
| 27 | to | to | PART | _ | 28 find | mark |
| 28 | find | find | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 24 take | advcl |
| 29 | out | out | ADP | _ | 28 find | compound:prt |
| 30 | what | what | PRON | PronType=Int | 32 happened | nsubj |
| 31 | had | have | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 32 happened | aux |
| 32 | happened | happen | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part | 28 find | ccomp |
| 33 | to | to | ADP | _ | 35 boy | case |
| 34 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 35 boy | det |
| 35 | boy | boy | NOUN | Number=Sing | 32 happened | obl |
| 36 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 40 returned | punct |
| 37 | so | so | ADV | _ | 40 returned | advmod |
| 38 | he | he | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 40 returned | nsubj |
| 39 | soon | soon | ADV | Degree=Pos | 40 returned | advmod |
| 40 | returned | return | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 3 went | conj |
| 41 | to | to | ADP | _ | 42 Omegha | case |
| 42 | Omegha | Omegha | PROPN | Number=Sing | 40 returned | obl |
| 43 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 45 told | punct |
| 44 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 45 told | cc |
| 45 | told | tell | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 3 went | conj |
| 46 | her | she | PRON | Case=Acc Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 45 told | iobj |
| 47 | that | that | SCONJ | _ | 52 thrown | mark |
| 48 | her | her | PRON | Case=Gen Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 49 son | nmod:poss |
| 49 | son | son | NOUN | Number=Sing | 52 thrown | nsubj:pass |
| 50 | had | have | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 52 thrown | aux |
| 51 | been | be | AUX | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part | 52 thrown | aux:pass |
| 52 | thrown | throw | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 45 told | ccomp |
| 53 | into | into | ADP | _ | 55 river | case |
| 54 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 55 river | det |
| 55 | river | river | NOUN | Number=Sing | 52 thrown | obl |
| 56 | by | by | ADP | _ | 58 companions | case |
| 57 | his | his | PRON | Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 58 companions | nmod:poss |
| 58 | companions | companion | NOUN | Number=Plur | 52 thrown | obl |
| 59 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 68 taken | punct |
| 60 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 68 taken | cc |
| 61 | that | that | SCONJ | _ | 68 taken | mark |
| 62 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 63 water | det |
| 63 | water | water | NOUN | Number=Sing | 68 taken | nsubj:pass |
| 64 | ju | ju | PROPN | Number=Sing | 63 water | appos |
| 65 | - | - | PUNCT | _ | 66 ju | punct |
| 66 | ju | ju | PROPN | Number=Sing | 64 ju | flat |
| 67 | had | have | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 68 taken | aux |
| 68 | taken | take | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 3 went | conj |
| 69 | him | he | PRON | Case=Acc Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 68 taken | obj |
| 70 | to | to | ADP | _ | 72 house | case |
| 71 | his | his | PRON | Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 72 house | nmod:poss |
| 72 | house | house | NOUN | Number=Sing | 68 taken | obl |
| 73 | at | at | ADP | _ | 75 bottom | case |
| 74 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 75 bottom | det |
| 75 | bottom | bottom | NOUN | Number=Sing | 68 taken | obl |
| 76 | of | of | ADP | _ | 79 pool | case |
| 77 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 79 pool | det |
| 78 | deep | deep | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 79 pool | amod |
| 79 | pool | pool | NOUN | Number=Sing | 75 bottom | nmod |
| 80 | in | in | ADP | _ | 82 river | case |
| 81 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 82 river | det |
| 82 | river | river | NOUN | Number=Sing | 79 pool | nmod |
| 83 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 3 went | punct |
Pragmatics
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | go | past | porcupine | porcupine's back room | then | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial_location»: agent=Theme into room=Initial_Location | |||
| 2 | consult | to-infinitive | porcupine not said here | porcupine's ju ju | vn assessment-34.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent ju=Theme | ||||
| 3 | is | gerund | clever property | tree rules | |||||
| 4 | not take | past · do-support | it | porcupine | long property | vn bring-11.3 «NP V NP ADVP»: agent=Instrument he=Destination | |||
| 5 | find out | to-infinitive | vn learn-14-2-1 «NP V what S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic | ||||||
| 6 | happen | past · perfect | to the boy; what nsubj | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | |||||
| 7 | return | past | porcupine | Omegha | soon property | vn convert-26.6.2-1 «NP V S_ING»: agent=Patient to omegha=Result | |||
| 8 | tell speech: assert | past | porcupine not said here | Omegha | vn transfer_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP S_INF»: agent=Agent she=Recipient clause=Topic | ||||
| 9 | throw | past · perfect · passive | porcupine's companions | Omegha's son | into the river result | vn throw-17.1-1-1 «NP V NP PP.result»: agent=Causer subject=Theme into river=Result | |||
| 10 | take | past · perfect · passive | the water | the bottom of the deep pool in the river | to porcupine's house; porcupine obj | vn bring-11.3 «NP V NP ADVP»: subject=Theme he=Destination |
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/pg70959/7/128/