---
title: The next stick may represent twenty yams given to the mother, and th… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: The next stick may represent twenty yams given to the mother, and the following sticks may mean twenty-five rods, a silk handkerchief, a bar of soap and some bottles of gin. Who acts: next stick, following sticks. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Openin
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Opening, sentence 20

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The next stick may represent twenty yams given to the mother, and the following sticks may mean twenty-five rods, a silk handkerchief, a bar of soap and some bottles of gin.

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**Who acts:** next stick, following sticks · **What happens:** represent, give, follow, mean · **To what, where:** twenty yams, mother, five rods

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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 (next stick, following sticks), 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:pg70959:1:20
# text = The next stick may represent twenty yams given to the mother, and the following sticks may mean twenty-five rods, a silk handkerchief, a bar of soap and some bottles of gin.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	next	next	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	stick	stick	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
4	may	may	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
5	represent	represent	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
6	twenty	twenty	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	7	nummod	_	_
7	yams	yam	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obj	_	_
8	given	give	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	7	acl	_	_
9	to	to	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	mother	mother	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	18	punct	_	_
13	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	18	cc	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
15	following	follow	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	16	amod	_	_
16	sticks	stick	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	18	nsubj	_	_
17	may	may	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	18	aux	_	_
18	mean	mean	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	conj	_	_
19	twenty	twenty	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	21	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	19	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	five	five	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	22	nummod	_	_
22	rods	rod	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	18	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	26	punct	_	_
24	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	26	det	_	_
25	silk	silk	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	26	compound	_	_
26	handkerchief	handkerchief	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	22	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
27	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	29	punct	_	_
28	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	29	det	_	_
29	bar	bar	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	26	appos	_	_
30	of	of	ADP	IN	_	31	case	_	_
31	soap	soap	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	29	nmod	_	_
32	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	34	cc	_	_
33	some	some	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	34	det	_	_
34	bottles	bottle	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	22	conj	_	_
35	of	of	ADP	IN	_	36	case	_	_
36	gin	gin	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	34	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
37	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **represent** | may | the next stick | twenty yams |  |  |  |  | vn representation-110.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot yam=Theme |
| 2 | **give** | participle |  | twenty yams *not said here* | the mother |  |  |  | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V PP.recipient»: agent=Agent to mother=Recipient |
| 3 | **follow** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 4 | **mean** | may | the following sticks | five rods and a silk handkerchief and some bottles of gin |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent rod=Topic |

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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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