---
title: On the other hand, the younger generation maintain that when the chi… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: On the other hand, the younger generation maintain that when the children are old enough to leave their mother they should be handed over to their proper fathers. Who acts: younger generation, children, old. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Opening, wit
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Opening, sentence 45

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On the other hand, the younger generation maintain that when the children are old enough to leave their mother they should be handed over to their proper fathers.

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**Who acts:** younger generation, children, old · **What happens:** maintain, be, leave, hand over · **To what, where:** other hand, mother, children, proper fathers

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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 (younger generation, children, old), 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:pg70959:1:45
# text = On the other hand, the younger generation maintain that when the children are old enough to leave their mother they should be handed over to their proper fathers.
1	On	on	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	other	other	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	hand	hand	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	4	punct	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	younger	young	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	8	amod	_	_
8	generation	generation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	_
9	maintain	maintain	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
10	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	18	mark	_	_
11	when	when	SCONJ	WRB	_	15	mark	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	children	child	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	15	nsubj	_	_
14	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	15	cop	_	_
15	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	18	nsubj	_	_
16	enough	enough	ADV	RB	_	15	advmod	_	_
17	to	to	PART	TO	_	18	mark	_	_
18	leave	leave	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	9	ccomp	_	_
19	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	20	nmod:poss	_	_
20	mother	mother	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	obj	_	_
21	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	24	nsubj	_	_
22	should	should	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	24	aux	_	_
23	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	24	aux:pass	_	_
24	handed	hand	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	18	parataxis	_	_
25	over	over	ADP	RP	_	24	compound:prt	_	_
26	to	to	ADP	IN	_	29	case	_	_
27	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	29	nmod:poss	_	_
28	proper	proper	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	29	amod	_	_
29	fathers	father	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	24	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
30	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	9	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **maintain** | present | the younger generation |  |  | the other hand |  |  | vn declare-29.4-1 «NP V NP to be NP»: agent=Agent clause=Theme |
| 2 | **is** | present | the children |  |  |  |  | enough, old *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **leave** | to-infinitive | old | children's mother |  |  |  |  | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent mother=Theme |
| 4 | **hand over** | should · passive |  | children *= child* | children's proper fathers |  |  |  | vn send-11.1-1 «NP V NP PP.destination»: subject=Theme to father=Destination |

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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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