---
title: It is therefore often somewhat difficult to distinguish the differen… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: It is therefore often somewhat difficult to distinguish the difference between the dowry paid for a girl on her marriage and the price which was formerly paid for a slave, seeing that the inclinations of the girl are not consulted and she has absolutely no say in the matter of a choice of husband. W
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Opening, sentence 51

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It is therefore often somewhat difficult to distinguish the difference between the dowry paid for a girl on her marriage and the price which was formerly paid for a slave, seeing that the inclinations of the girl are not consulted and she has absolutely no say in the matter of a choice of husband.

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**Who acts:** dowry, girl, choice · **What happens:** be, distinguish, pay, see, not consult, have · **To what, where:** difference, marriage, price, inclinations, say, matter

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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 (dowry, girl, choice), 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:pg70959:1:51
# text = It is therefore often somewhat difficult to distinguish the difference between the dowry paid for a girl on her marriage and the price which was formerly paid for a slave, seeing that the inclinations of the girl are not consulted and she has absolutely no say in the matter of a choice of husband.
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	expl	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
3	therefore	therefore	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
4	often	often	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
5	somewhat	somewhat	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
6	difficult	difficult	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
7	to	to	PART	TO	_	8	mark	_	_
8	distinguish	distinguish	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	csubj	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	difference	difference	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
11	between	between	ADP	IN	_	14	mark	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	dowry	dowry	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	nsubj	_	_
14	paid	pay	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	10	acl	_	_
15	for	for	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
16	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
17	girl	girl	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	obl	_	_
18	on	on	ADP	IN	_	20	case	_	_
19	her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	20	nmod:poss	_	_
20	marriage	marriage	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	obl	_	_
21	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	23	cc	_	_
22	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	23	det	_	_
23	price	price	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	20	conj	_	_
24	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	27	nsubj:pass	_	_
25	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	27	aux:pass	_	_
26	formerly	formerly	ADV	RB	_	27	advmod	_	_
27	paid	pay	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	23	acl:relcl	_	_
28	for	for	ADP	IN	_	30	case	_	_
29	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	30	det	_	_
30	slave	slave	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	27	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
31	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	32	punct	_	_
32	seeing	see	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	14	advcl	_	_
33	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	41	mark	_	_
34	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	35	det	_	_
35	inclinations	inclination	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	41	nsubj:pass	_	_
36	of	of	ADP	IN	_	38	case	_	_
37	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	38	det	_	_
38	girl	girl	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	35	nmod	_	_
39	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	41	aux:pass	_	_
40	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	41	advmod	_	_
41	consulted	consult	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	32	advcl	_	_
42	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	44	cc	_	_
43	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	44	nsubj	_	_
44	has	have	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	14	conj	_	_
45	absolutely	absolutely	ADV	RB	_	47	advmod	_	_
46	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	47	det	_	_
47	say	say	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	44	obj	_	_
48	in	in	ADP	IN	_	50	case	_	_
49	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	50	det	_	_
50	matter	matter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	47	nmod	_	_
51	of	of	ADP	IN	_	53	case	_	_
52	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	53	det	_	_
53	choice	choice	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	50	nmod	_	_
54	of	of	ADP	IN	_	55	case	_	_
55	husband	husband	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	53	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
56	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present |  |  |  |  |  | difficult, often, somewhat, therefore *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **distinguish** | to-infinitive |  | the difference |  |  |  |  | vn distinguish-23.5-1 «NP V NP PP»: agent=Attribute difference=Theme |
| 3 | **pay** | past | the dowry | the difference *not said here* |  | girl's marriage and the price |  | for a girl | vn pay-68-1 «NP V NP PP.theme»: agent=Agent difference=Asset for girl=Theme |
| 4 | **pay** | past · passive |  | the price |  |  |  | for a slave; formerly *property* | vn pay-68-1 «NP V NP PP.theme»: subject=Asset for slave=Theme |
| 5 | **see** | gerund | the dowry *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer |
| 6 | **not** **consult** | present · passive |  | the inclinations of the girl |  |  |  |  | vn assessment-34.1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |
| 7 | **have** | present | girl | no say |  | the matter of a choice of husband |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent say=Patient |
| 8 | **marry** |  | girl |  |  |  |  |  | nom marriage «state transitive»: poss=agent |
| 9 | **incline** |  | the girl |  |  |  |  |  | nom inclination «cognition intransitive»: of=agent |
| 10 | **matter** |  | a choice of husband |  |  |  |  |  | nom matter «cognition intransitive»: of=agent |

<!-- .note -->
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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