---
title: When a man is asked how much “dowry” he paid for his wife, he will f… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: When a man is asked how much “dowry” he paid for his wife, he will frequently produce his “bush book,” consisting of bundles of small sticks tied round with “tie-tie,” one bundle for each year. Who acts: man. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Opening, wi
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Opening, sentence 17

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When a man is asked how much “dowry” he paid for his wife, he will frequently produce his “bush book,” consisting of bundles of small sticks tied round with “tie-tie,” one bundle for each year.

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**Who acts:** man · **What happens:** ask, pay, produce, consist, tie · **To what, where:** man, bush book, small sticks

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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 (man), 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:pg70959:1:17
# text = When a man is asked how much “dowry” he paid for his wife, he will frequently produce his “bush book,” consisting of bundles of small sticks tied round with “tie-tie,” one bundle for each year.
1	When	when	SCONJ	WRB	_	5	mark	_	_
2	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	man	man	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
4	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux:pass	_	_
5	asked	ask	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	20	advcl	_	_
6	how	how	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	7	advmod	_	_
7	much	much	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
8	“	"	PUNCT	``	_	9	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	dowry	dowry	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	”	"	PUNCT	''	_	9	punct	_	_
11	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	12	nsubj	_	_
12	paid	pay	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	conj	_	_
13	for	for	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
14	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	15	nmod:poss	_	_
15	wife	wife	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	5	punct	_	_
17	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	20	nsubj	_	_
18	will	will	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	20	aux	_	_
19	frequently	frequently	ADV	RB	_	20	advmod	_	_
20	produce	produce	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
21	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	24	nmod:poss	_	_
22	“	"	PUNCT	``	_	24	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	bush	bush	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	24	compound	_	_
24	book	book	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	20	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
25	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	27	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
26	”	"	PUNCT	''	_	27	punct	_	_
27	consisting	consist	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	20	advcl	_	_
28	of	of	ADP	IN	_	29	case	_	_
29	bundles	bundle	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	27	obl	_	_
30	of	of	ADP	IN	_	32	case	_	_
31	small	small	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	32	amod	_	_
32	sticks	stick	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	29	nmod	_	_
33	tied	tie	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	32	acl	_	_
34	round	round	ADV	RB	_	33	advmod	_	_
35	with	with	ADP	IN	_	39	case	_	_
36	“	"	PUNCT	``	_	39	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
37	tie	tie	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	39	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
38	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	37	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
39	tie	tie	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	33	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
40	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	27	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
41	”	"	PUNCT	''	_	20	punct	_	_
42	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	43	nummod	_	_
43	bundle	bundle	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	20	parataxis	_	_
44	for	for	ADP	IN	_	46	case	_	_
45	each	each	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	46	det	_	_
46	year	year	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	43	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
47	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	20	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ask** *speech: ask* | present · passive |  | a man |  |  |  | much dowry *ccomp* | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V NP.recipient»: subject=Recipient |
| 2 | **pay** | past | man |  |  |  |  | for man's wife | vn pay-68-1 «NP V NP PP.theme»: agent=Agent for wife=Theme |
| 3 | **produce** | future | man | man's bush book |  |  |  | one bundle for each year *parataxis*; frequently *property* | vn create-26.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent book=Result |
| 4 | **consist** | gerund | man *not said here* |  |  |  |  | of bundles of small sticks | tree rules |
| 5 | **tie** | participle |  | small sticks *not said here* |  |  |  | with tie tie; round *property* | vn mix-22.1-2 «NP V ADVP-Middle PP»: agent=Patient with tie=Co-Patient |

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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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