---
title: The man would then build a house for the woman, being helped with th… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: The man would then build a house for the woman, being helped with the mudding of the walls by his sisters and the sisters of the girl. Who acts: man, sisters. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Opening, with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of every
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Opening, sentence 36

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The man would then build a house for the woman, being helped with the mudding of the walls by his sisters and the sisters of the girl.

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**Who acts:** man, sisters · **What happens:** build, help · **To what, where:** house

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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, sisters), 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:pg70959:1:36
# text = The man would then build a house for the woman, being helped with the mudding of the walls by his sisters and the sisters of the girl.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	man	man	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
3	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
4	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	5	advmod	_	_
5	build	build	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	house	house	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
8	for	for	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	woman	woman	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
12	being	be	AUX	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	13	aux:pass	_	_
13	helped	help	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	5	parataxis	_	_
14	with	with	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
15	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
16	mudding	mudding	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obl	_	_
17	of	of	ADP	IN	_	19	case	_	_
18	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	19	det	_	_
19	walls	wall	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	16	nmod	_	_
20	by	by	ADP	IN	_	22	case	_	_
21	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	22	nmod:poss	_	_
22	sisters	sister	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	13	obl	_	_
23	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	25	cc	_	_
24	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	25	det	_	_
25	sisters	sister	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	22	conj	_	_
26	of	of	ADP	IN	_	28	case	_	_
27	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	28	det	_	_
28	girl	girl	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	25	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
29	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **build** | would | the man | a house |  |  | then | for the woman | vn build-26.1-1 «NP V NP PP.beneficiary»: agent=Agent house=Product for woman=Beneficiary |
| 2 | **help** | gerund · passive | man's sisters and the sisters of the girl |  |  |  |  | with the mudding of the walls | vn help-72.1-1-1 «NP V PP.theme»: agent=Agent with mudding=Theme |

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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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