Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xii.--concerning the Okuni Witches and Cannibalism., sentence 23
Chief ’Ndabu then went to the ju-ju man, taking many presents with him, and having thanked him for his good advice which had turned out so well, he then asked how many children he would have by his wife; and when the ju-ju man said he would have twenty-one children, he was very glad and went home, but he did not tell his wife.
Who acts: Ndabu, chief, ju man · What happens: go, take, thank, turn out, ask, have · To what, where: many presents, chief, good advice, many children, one children, wife · 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 (Ndabu, chief, ju man), 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 | Chief | Chief | PROPN | Number=Sing | 3 Ndabu | nmod:poss |
| 2 | ’ | 's | PART | _ | 1 Chief | case |
| 3 | Ndabu | Ndabu | PROPN | Number=Sing | 5 went | nsubj |
| 4 | then | then | ADV | PronType=Dem | 5 went | advmod |
| 5 | went | go | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 6 | to | to | ADP | _ | 11 man | case |
| 7 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 11 man | det |
| 8 | ju | ju | NOUN | Number=Sing | 10 ju | compound |
| 9 | - | - | PUNCT | _ | 8 ju | punct |
| 10 | ju | ju | NOUN | Number=Sing | 11 man | compound |
| 11 | man | man | NOUN | Number=Sing | 5 went | obl |
| 12 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 13 taking | punct |
| 13 | taking | take | VERB | Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part | 5 went | advcl |
| 14 | many | many | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 15 presents | amod |
| 15 | presents | present | NOUN | Number=Plur | 13 taking | obj |
| 16 | with | with | ADP | _ | 17 him | case |
| 17 | him | he | PRON | Case=Acc Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 13 taking | obl |
| 18 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 21 thanked | punct |
| 19 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 21 thanked | cc |
| 20 | having | have | AUX | Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part | 21 thanked | aux |
| 21 | thanked | thank | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part | 5 went | conj |
| 22 | him | he | PRON | Case=Acc Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 21 thanked | obj |
| 23 | for | for | ADP | _ | 26 advice | case |
| 24 | his | his | PRON | Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 26 advice | nmod:poss |
| 25 | good | good | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 26 advice | amod |
| 26 | advice | advice | NOUN | Number=Sing | 21 thanked | obl |
| 27 | which | which | PRON | PronType=Rel | 29 turned | nsubj:pass |
| 28 | had | have | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 29 turned | aux |
| 29 | turned | turn | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 26 advice | acl:relcl |
| 30 | out | out | ADP | _ | 29 turned | compound:prt |
| 31 | so | so | ADV | _ | 32 well | advmod |
| 32 | well | well | ADV | Degree=Pos | 29 turned | advmod |
| 33 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 36 asked | punct |
| 34 | he | he | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 36 asked | nsubj |
| 35 | then | then | ADV | PronType=Dem | 36 asked | advmod |
| 36 | asked | ask | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 5 went | conj |
| 37 | how | how | ADV | PronType=Int | 38 many | advmod |
| 38 | many | many | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 39 children | amod |
| 39 | children | child | NOUN | Number=Plur | 36 asked | obj |
| 40 | he | he | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 42 have | nsubj |
| 41 | would | would | AUX | VerbForm=Fin | 42 have | aux |
| 42 | have | have | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 36 asked | ccomp |
| 43 | by | by | ADP | _ | 45 wife | case |
| 44 | his | his | PRON | Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 45 wife | nmod:poss |
| 45 | wife | wife | NOUN | Number=Sing | 42 have | obl |
| 46 | ; | ; | PUNCT | _ | 54 said | punct |
| 47 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 54 said | cc |
| 48 | when | when | ADV | PronType=Int | 54 said | advmod |
| 49 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 53 man | det |
| 50 | ju | ju | NOUN | Number=Sing | 52 ju | compound |
| 51 | - | - | PUNCT | _ | 50 ju | punct |
| 52 | ju | ju | NOUN | Number=Sing | 53 man | compound |
| 53 | man | man | NOUN | Number=Sing | 54 said | nsubj |
| 54 | said | say | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 5 went | parataxis |
| 55 | he | he | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 57 have | nsubj |
| 56 | would | would | AUX | VerbForm=Fin | 57 have | aux |
| 57 | have | have | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 54 said | ccomp |
| 58 | twenty | twenty | NUM | NumForm=Word NumType=Card | 60 one | compound |
| 59 | - | - | PUNCT | _ | 58 twenty | punct |
| 60 | one | one | NUM | NumForm=Word NumType=Card | 61 children | nummod |
| 61 | children | child | NOUN | Number=Plur | 57 have | obj |
| 62 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 66 glad | punct |
| 63 | he | he | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 66 glad | nsubj |
| 64 | was | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 66 glad | cop |
| 65 | very | very | ADV | _ | 66 glad | advmod |
| 66 | glad | glad | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 54 said | parataxis |
| 67 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 68 went | cc |
| 68 | went | go | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 66 glad | conj |
| 69 | home | home | ADV | _ | 68 went | advmod |
| 70 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 75 tell | punct |
| 71 | but | but | CCONJ | _ | 75 tell | cc |
| 72 | he | he | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 75 tell | nsubj |
| 73 | did | do | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 75 tell | aux |
| 74 | not | not | PART | Polarity=Neg | 75 tell | advmod |
| 75 | tell | tell | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 54 said | conj |
| 76 | his | his | PRON | Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 77 wife | nmod:poss |
| 77 | wife | wife | NOUN | Number=Sing | 75 tell | obj |
| 78 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 5 went | punct |
Pragmatics
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | go | past | Chief's Ndabu | then | to the ju man | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial_location»: agent=Theme to man=Initial_Location | |||
| 2 | take | gerund | Chief's Ndabu not said here | many presents | with chief | vn bring-11.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent present=Theme | |||
| 3 | thank speech: thank | gerund · perfect | Chief's Ndabu not said here | chief | for chief's good advice | vn judgment-33.1-1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Agent he=Theme for advice=Attribute | |||
| 4 | turn out | past · perfect · passive | chief's good advice | well property | vn appear-48.1.1 «PP.location V NP»: subject=Theme | ||||
| 5 | ask speech: ask | past | chief | many children | then | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V NP whether S»: agent=Agent child=Recipient clause=Topic | |||
| 6 | have | would | chief | by chief's wife | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent | ||||
| 7 | say speech: assert | past | the ju man | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic | |||||
| 8 | have | would | chief | one children | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent child=Patient | ||||
| 9 | is | past | chief | glad property | tree rules | ||||
| 10 | go | past | chief not said here | home property | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | ||||
| 11 | not tell speech: assert | past · do-support | chief | chief's wife | vn transfer_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent wife=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.
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