Kaffir folk-lore, Story of the Cannibal’s Wonderful Bird., sentence 29
He asked the cannibal to go for some water, and said he would give him plenty of beef when he returned.
Who acts: chief, cannibal · What happens: ask, go, say, give, return · To what, where: cannibal, plenty · Speech: someone speaks here
This is a sentence of «Kaffir folk-lore» by George McCall Theal, Story of the Cannibal’s Wonderful Bird.. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (chief, cannibal), 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 | 2 asked | nsubj |
| 2 | asked | ask | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 3 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 4 cannibal | det |
| 4 | cannibal | cannibal | NOUN | Number=Sing | 2 asked | obj |
| 5 | to | to | PART | _ | 6 go | mark |
| 6 | go | go | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 2 asked | xcomp |
| 7 | for | for | ADP | _ | 9 water | case |
| 8 | some | some | DET | PronType=Ind | 9 water | det |
| 9 | water | water | NOUN | Number=Sing | 6 go | obl |
| 10 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 12 said | punct |
| 11 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 12 said | cc |
| 12 | said | say | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 2 asked | parataxis |
| 13 | he | he | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 15 give | nsubj |
| 14 | would | would | AUX | VerbForm=Fin | 15 give | aux |
| 15 | give | give | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 12 said | ccomp |
| 16 | him | he | PRON | Case=Acc Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 15 give | iobj |
| 17 | plenty | plenty | NOUN | Number=Sing | 15 give | obj |
| 18 | of | of | ADP | _ | 19 beef | case |
| 19 | beef | beef | NOUN | Number=Sing | 17 plenty | nmod |
| 20 | when | when | ADV | PronType=Int | 22 returned | advmod |
| 21 | he | he | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 22 returned | nsubj |
| 22 | returned | return | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 15 give | advcl |
| 23 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 2 asked | punct |
Pragmatics
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ask speech: ask | past | chief | the cannibal | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V NP whether S_INF»: agent=Agent cannibal=Recipient clause=Topic | ||||
| 2 | go not said to happen | to-infinitive | the cannibal not said here | for some water | vn help-72.1-2 «NP V PP.beneficiary»: agent=Agent for water=Beneficiary | ||||
| 3 | say speech: assert | past | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic | ||||||
| 4 | give | would | chief | plenty of beef | cannibal | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP-Dative NP»: agent=Agent he=Recipient plenty=Theme | |||
| 5 | return | past | chief | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
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: «Kaffir folk-lore» by George McCall Theal, Project Gutenberg book 71335 (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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