Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xii.--concerning the Okuni Witches and Cannibalism., sentence 57
All this time Chief ’Ndabu had been making sacrifices to his ju-ju to protect him against witchcraft, and he used to call all his sons together to sit round the ju-ju while the sacrifices were being made, but Amoru sat outside as he was afraid to go near his father’s ju-ju on account of the witch in him.
Who acts: Chief, Amoru · What happens: make, protect, use, call, sit, be · To what, where: sacrifices, chief, sons, ju ju, witch · 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, Amoru), 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 | All | all | DET | PronType=Tot | 3 time | det:predet |
| 2 | this | this | DET | Number=Sing PronType=Dem | 3 time | det |
| 3 | time | time | NOUN | Number=Sing | 9 making | obl:unmarked |
| 4 | Chief | Chief | PROPN | Number=Sing | 9 making | nsubj |
| 5 | ’ | 's | PART | _ | 4 Chief | case |
| 6 | Ndabu | Ndabu | PROPN | Number=Sing | 4 Chief | flat |
| 7 | had | have | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 9 making | aux |
| 8 | been | be | AUX | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part | 9 making | aux |
| 9 | making | make | VERB | Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part | root | root |
| 10 | sacrifices | sacrifice | NOUN | Number=Plur | 9 making | obj |
| 11 | to | to | ADP | _ | 15 ju | case |
| 12 | his | his | PRON | Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 15 ju | nmod:poss |
| 13 | ju | ju | NOUN | Number=Sing | 15 ju | compound |
| 14 | - | - | PUNCT | _ | 13 ju | punct |
| 15 | ju | ju | NOUN | Number=Sing | 9 making | obl |
| 16 | to | to | PART | _ | 17 protect | mark |
| 17 | protect | protect | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 9 making | advcl |
| 18 | him | he | PRON | Case=Acc Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 17 protect | obj |
| 19 | against | against | ADP | _ | 20 witchcraft | case |
| 20 | witchcraft | witchcraft | NOUN | Number=Sing | 17 protect | obl |
| 21 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 24 used | punct |
| 22 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 24 used | cc |
| 23 | he | he | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 24 used | nsubj |
| 24 | used | use | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 9 making | parataxis |
| 25 | to | to | PART | _ | 26 call | mark |
| 26 | call | call | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 24 used | xcomp |
| 27 | all | all | DET | PronType=Tot | 29 sons | det:predet |
| 28 | his | his | PRON | Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 29 sons | nmod:poss |
| 29 | sons | son | NOUN | Number=Plur | 26 call | obj |
| 30 | together | together | ADV | _ | 26 call | advmod |
| 31 | to | to | PART | _ | 32 sit | mark |
| 32 | sit | sit | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 26 call | advcl |
| 33 | round | round | ADP | _ | 37 ju | case |
| 34 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 37 ju | det |
| 35 | ju | ju | NOUN | Number=Sing | 37 ju | compound |
| 36 | - | - | PUNCT | _ | 35 ju | punct |
| 37 | ju | ju | NOUN | Number=Sing | 32 sit | obl |
| 38 | while | while | SCONJ | _ | 43 made | mark |
| 39 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 40 sacrifices | det |
| 40 | sacrifices | sacrifice | NOUN | Number=Plur | 43 made | nsubj:pass |
| 41 | were | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 43 made | aux:pass |
| 42 | being | be | AUX | Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part | 43 made | aux:pass |
| 43 | made | make | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 32 sit | advcl |
| 44 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 47 sat | punct |
| 45 | but | but | CCONJ | _ | 47 sat | cc |
| 46 | Amoru | Amoru | PROPN | Number=Sing | 47 sat | nsubj |
| 47 | sat | sit | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 24 used | conj |
| 48 | outside | outside | ADV | _ | 47 sat | advmod |
| 49 | as | as | SCONJ | _ | 52 afraid | mark |
| 50 | he | he | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 52 afraid | nsubj |
| 51 | was | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 52 afraid | cop |
| 52 | afraid | afraid | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 47 sat | advcl |
| 53 | to | to | PART | _ | 54 go | mark |
| 54 | go | go | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 52 afraid | xcomp |
| 55 | near | near | ADP | _ | 61 ju | case |
| 56 | his | his | PRON | Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 57 father | nmod:poss |
| 57 | father | father | NOUN | Number=Sing | 61 ju | nmod:poss |
| 58 | ’s | 's | PART | _ | 57 father | case |
| 59 | ju | ju | NOUN | Number=Sing | 61 ju | compound |
| 60 | - | - | PUNCT | _ | 59 ju | punct |
| 61 | ju | ju | NOUN | Number=Sing | 54 go | obl |
| 62 | on | on | ADP | _ | 63 account | case |
| 63 | account | account | NOUN | Number=Sing | 54 go | obl |
| 64 | of | of | ADP | _ | 66 witch | case |
| 65 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 66 witch | det |
| 66 | witch | witch | NOUN | Number=Sing | 63 account | nmod |
| 67 | in | in | ADP | _ | 68 him | case |
| 68 | him | he | PRON | Case=Acc Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 66 witch | nmod |
| 69 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 9 making | punct |
Pragmatics
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | make | past · perfect · progressive | Chief | sacrifices | time | to chief's ju ju | vn build-26.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent sacrifice=Product | ||
| 2 | protect | to-infinitive | Chief not said here | chief | against witchcraft | vn defend-72.3 «NP V NP PP.theme»: agent=Agent he=Beneficiary against witchcraft=Theme | |||
| 3 | use | past | chief | vn use-105.1 «NP V NP S_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality | |||||
| 4 | call | to-infinitive | chief not said here | chief's sons | together property | vn initiate_communication-37.4.2-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent son=Recipient | |||
| 5 | sit | to-infinitive | chief not said here | round the ju ju | vn assuming_position-50 «NP V»: agent=Agent | ||||
| 6 | make | past · passive | the sacrifices | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: subject=Product | |||||
| 7 | sit | past | Amoru | outside property | vn assuming_position-50 «NP V»: agent=Agent | ||||
| 8 | is | past | Amoru | afraid property | tree rules | ||||
| 9 | go | to-infinitive | Amoru not said here | Amoru's father's ju ju | on account of the witch in Amoru | vn occur-48.3-2 «NP V PP»: agent=Theme near ju=Location | |||
| 10 | account | the witch in Amoru | nom account «communication transitive»: of=patient |
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/pg70959/9/57/