---
title: I have, however, adhered to the old expression of “dowry” as it is i… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: I have, however, adhered to the old expression of “dowry” as it is in general use, and is so well known on the “Coast.” Who acts: I, dowry. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Opening, with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of every clause.
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Opening, sentence 16

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I have, however, adhered to the old expression of “dowry” as it is in general use, and is so well known on the “Coast.”

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**Who acts:** I, dowry · **What happens:** have, adhere, be, know · **To what, where:** general use, Coast

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This is a sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Opening. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (I, dowry), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree.

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**Mova's own parse.** This tree may be wrong.

## The tree {#tree}

```conllu
# sent_id = book:pg70959:1:16
# text = I have, however, adhered to the old expression of “dowry” as it is in general use, and is so well known on the “Coast.”
1	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	have	have	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	6	punct	_	_
4	however	however	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	6	punct	_	_
6	adhered	adhere	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	2	xcomp	_	_
7	to	to	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
9	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	expression	expression	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
11	of	of	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	“	"	PUNCT	``	_	13	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	dowry	dowry	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	”	"	PUNCT	''	_	10	punct	_	_
15	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	20	mark	_	_
16	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	20	nsubj	_	_
17	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	20	cop	_	_
18	in	in	ADP	IN	_	20	case	_	_
19	general	general	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	20	amod	_	_
20	use	use	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	26	punct	_	_
22	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	26	cc	_	_
23	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	26	aux:pass	_	_
24	so	so	ADV	RB	_	25	advmod	_	_
25	well	well	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	26	advmod	_	_
26	known	know	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	2	conj	_	_
27	on	on	ADP	IN	_	30	case	_	_
28	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	30	det	_	_
29	“	"	PUNCT	``	_	30	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
30	Coast	coast	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	26	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
31	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
32	”	"	PUNCT	''	_	2	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **have** | present | I |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **adhere** | participle | I *not said here* |  |  |  |  | to the old expression of dowry; however *property* | vn cling-22.5 «NP V PP.co-theme»: agent=Theme to expression=Co-Theme |
| 3 | **is** | present | dowry |  |  | general use |  |  | tree rules |
| 4 | **know** | present · passive | I *not said here* |  |  | the Coast |  | well *property* | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V» |

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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.

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**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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