Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Ix.--the Story of the War Between Inkum and Enfitop., sentence 166
Ever since that time, the people of Inkum believe, when anyone is drowned and his body floats after three days without being eaten by the fish or crocodiles, that the water ju-ju has killed the dead man because he had done some evil thing.
Who acts: people, body, fish, Chief · What happens: believe, drown, float, eat, kill, do · To what, where: anyone, ju ju, evil thing
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 (people, body, fish, Chief), 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 | Ever | ever | ADV | PronType=Ind | 2 since | advmod |
| 2 | since | since | ADP | _ | 4 time | case |
| 3 | that | that | DET | Number=Sing PronType=Dem | 4 time | det |
| 4 | time | time | NOUN | Number=Sing | 10 believe | obl |
| 5 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 4 time | punct |
| 6 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 7 people | det |
| 7 | people | people | NOUN | Number=Plur | 10 believe | nsubj |
| 8 | of | of | ADP | _ | 9 Inkum | case |
| 9 | Inkum | Inkum | PROPN | Number=Sing | 7 people | nmod |
| 10 | believe | believe | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 11 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 15 drowned | punct |
| 12 | when | when | ADV | PronType=Int | 15 drowned | advmod |
| 13 | anyone | anyone | PRON | Number=Sing PronType=Ind | 15 drowned | nsubj:pass |
| 14 | is | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 15 drowned | aux:pass |
| 15 | drowned | drown | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 10 believe | parataxis |
| 16 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 19 floats | cc |
| 17 | his | his | PRON | Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 18 body | nmod:poss |
| 18 | body | body | NOUN | Number=Sing | 19 floats | nsubj |
| 19 | floats | float | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 15 drowned | conj |
| 20 | after | after | ADP | _ | 22 days | case |
| 21 | three | three | NUM | NumForm=Word NumType=Card | 22 days | nummod |
| 22 | days | day | NOUN | Number=Plur | 19 floats | obl |
| 23 | without | without | SCONJ | _ | 25 eaten | mark |
| 24 | being | be | AUX | Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part | 25 eaten | aux:pass |
| 25 | eaten | eat | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 19 floats | advcl |
| 26 | by | by | ADP | _ | 28 fish | case |
| 27 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 28 fish | det |
| 28 | fish | fish | NOUN | Number=Sing | 25 eaten | obl |
| 29 | or | or | CCONJ | _ | 30 crocodiles | cc |
| 30 | crocodiles | crocodile | NOUN | Number=Plur | 28 fish | conj |
| 31 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 39 killed | punct |
| 32 | that | that | SCONJ | _ | 39 killed | mark |
| 33 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 34 water | det |
| 34 | water | water | NOUN | Number=Sing | 35 ju | compound |
| 35 | ju | ju | NOUN | Number=Sing | 37 ju | compound |
| 36 | - | - | PUNCT | _ | 35 ju | punct |
| 37 | ju | ju | NOUN | Number=Sing | 39 killed | nsubj:pass |
| 38 | has | have | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 39 killed | aux |
| 39 | killed | kill | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 25 eaten | conj |
| 40 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 42 man | det |
| 41 | dead | dead | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 42 man | amod |
| 42 | man | man | NOUN | Number=Sing | 39 killed | obj |
| 43 | because | because | SCONJ | _ | 46 done | mark |
| 44 | he | he | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 46 done | nsubj |
| 45 | had | have | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 46 done | aux |
| 46 | done | do | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part | 39 killed | advcl |
| 47 | some | some | DET | PronType=Ind | 49 thing | det |
| 48 | evil | evil | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 49 thing | amod |
| 49 | thing | thing | NOUN | Number=Sing | 46 done | obj |
| 50 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 10 believe | punct |
Pragmatics
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | believe | present | the people of Inkum | time | vn admire-31.2 «NP V that S»: agent=Experiencer | ||||
| 2 | drown | present · passive | anyone | vn poison-42.2 «NP V NP»: subject=Patient | |||||
| 3 | float | present | Chief's body | day | vn run-51.3.2-2 «NP V»: agent=Theme | ||||
| 4 | eat | gerund · passive | the fish or crocodiles | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent | |||||
| 5 | kill | present · perfect · passive | ju ju | the dead man obj | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP ADJ»: subject=Experiencer man=Result | ||||
| 6 | do | past · perfect | Chief | some evil thing | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent thing=Eventuality |
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/pg70959/7/166/