Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xii.--concerning the Okuni Witches and Cannibalism., sentence 12
Having called all his wives together, he told them what the ju-ju man had advised him to do, and although he was very sorry to part with them, still they would all have to go as he was determined to get a son if possible.
Who acts: chief, ju man, wives · What happens: have, call, tell, advise, do, be · To what, where: wives, ju man, son · Speech: someone speaks here
This is a sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Xii.--concerning the Okuni Witches and Cannibalism.. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (chief, ju man, wives), 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 | Having | have | VERB | Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part | 9 told | advcl |
| 2 | called | call | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 1 Having | xcomp |
| 3 | all | all | DET | PronType=Tot | 5 wives | det:predet |
| 4 | his | his | PRON | Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 5 wives | nmod:poss |
| 5 | wives | wife | NOUN | Number=Plur | 2 called | xcomp |
| 6 | together | together | ADV | _ | 2 called | advmod |
| 7 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 1 Having | punct |
| 8 | he | he | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 9 told | nsubj |
| 9 | told | tell | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 10 | them | they | PRON | Case=Acc Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs | 9 told | iobj |
| 11 | what | what | PRON | PronType=Int | 18 advised | obj |
| 12 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 16 man | det |
| 13 | ju | ju | NOUN | Number=Sing | 15 ju | compound |
| 14 | - | - | PUNCT | _ | 13 ju | punct |
| 15 | ju | ju | NOUN | Number=Sing | 16 man | compound |
| 16 | man | man | NOUN | Number=Sing | 18 advised | nsubj:pass |
| 17 | had | have | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 18 advised | aux |
| 18 | advised | advise | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 9 told | ccomp |
| 19 | him | he | PRON | Case=Acc Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 18 advised | obj |
| 20 | to | to | PART | _ | 21 do | mark |
| 21 | do | do | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 18 advised | xcomp |
| 22 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 28 sorry | punct |
| 23 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 28 sorry | cc |
| 24 | although | although | SCONJ | _ | 28 sorry | mark |
| 25 | he | he | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 28 sorry | nsubj |
| 26 | was | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 28 sorry | cop |
| 27 | very | very | ADV | _ | 28 sorry | advmod |
| 28 | sorry | sorry | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 9 told | conj |
| 29 | to | to | PART | _ | 30 part | mark |
| 30 | part | part | NOUN | Number=Sing | 28 sorry | advcl |
| 31 | with | with | ADP | _ | 32 them | case |
| 32 | them | they | PRON | Case=Acc Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs | 30 part | nmod |
| 33 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 38 have | punct |
| 34 | still | still | ADV | _ | 38 have | advmod |
| 35 | they | they | PRON | Case=Nom Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs | 38 have | nsubj |
| 36 | would | would | AUX | VerbForm=Fin | 38 have | aux |
| 37 | all | all | ADV | _ | 38 have | advmod |
| 38 | have | have | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 28 sorry | parataxis |
| 39 | to | to | PART | _ | 40 go | mark |
| 40 | go | go | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 38 have | xcomp |
| 41 | as | as | SCONJ | _ | 44 determined | mark |
| 42 | he | he | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 44 determined | nsubj |
| 43 | was | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 44 determined | cop |
| 44 | determined | determined | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 40 go | advcl |
| 45 | to | to | PART | _ | 46 get | mark |
| 46 | get | get | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 44 determined | xcomp |
| 47 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 48 son | det |
| 48 | son | son | NOUN | Number=Sing | 46 get | obj |
| 49 | if | if | SCONJ | _ | 50 possible | mark |
| 50 | possible | possible | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 46 get | advcl |
| 51 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 9 told | punct |
Pragmatics
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | have | gerund | chief not said here | tree rules | |||||
| 2 | call | participle | chief not said here | chief's wives | together property | vn initiate_communication-37.4.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent | |||
| 3 | tell speech: assert | past | chief | wives = wife | vn transfer_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP what S»: agent=Agent they=Recipient clause=Topic | ||||
| 4 | advise speech: other | past · perfect · passive | the ju man | what obj; chief obj | tree rules | ||||
| 5 | do not said to happen | to-infinitive | the ju man not said here | vn act-114-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent | |||||
| 6 | is | past | chief | part with wives advcl; sorry property | tree rules | ||||
| 7 | have | would | wives = wife | still | all property | tree rules | |||
| 8 | go | to-infinitive | wives = wife not said here | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | |||||
| 9 | is | past | chief | determined property | tree rules | ||||
| 10 | get | to-infinitive | chief not said here | a son | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer son=Stimulus |
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/pg70959/9/12/