---
title: In the olden days when “might was right,” these children were taken… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: In the olden days when “might was right,” these children were taken by the husband, who kept them by the “strong hand” if he were sufficiently powerful; but there is a growing feeling amongst the younger chiefs and the more intelligent trading classes that the children born before marriage should be
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Opening, sentence 53

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In the olden days when “might was right,” these children were taken by the husband, who kept them by the “strong hand” if he were sufficiently powerful; but there is a growing feeling amongst the younger chiefs and the more intelligent trading classes that the children born before marriage should be given to the father when they are weaned.

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**Who acts:** husband, growing feeling · **What happens:** be, take, keep, grow, bear, give · **To what, where:** children

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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 (husband, growing feeling), 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:pg70959:1:53
# text = In the olden days when “might was right,” these children were taken by the husband, who kept them by the “strong hand” if he were sufficiently powerful; but there is a growing feeling amongst the younger chiefs and the more intelligent trading classes that the children born before marriage should be given to the father when they are weaned.
1	In	in	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	olden	olden	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	days	day	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	15	obl	_	_
5	when	when	SCONJ	WRB	_	9	mark	_	_
6	“	"	PUNCT	``	_	9	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	might	might	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	9	aux	_	_
8	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	9	cop	_	_
9	right	right	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	4	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	”	"	PUNCT	''	_	4	punct	_	_
12	these	this	DET	DT	Number=Plur|PronType=Dem	13	det	_	_
13	children	child	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	15	nsubj:pass	_	_
14	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	15	aux:pass	_	_
15	taken	take	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
16	by	by	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
17	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
18	husband	husband	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	21	punct	_	_
20	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	21	nsubj	_	_
21	kept	keep	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	15	conj	_	_
22	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	21	obj	_	_
23	by	by	ADP	IN	_	27	case	_	_
24	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	27	det	_	_
25	“	"	PUNCT	``	_	27	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
26	strong	strong	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	27	amod	_	_
27	hand	hand	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	21	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
28	”	"	PUNCT	''	_	27	punct	_	_
29	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	33	mark	_	_
30	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	33	nsubj	_	_
31	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	33	cop	_	_
32	sufficiently	sufficiently	ADV	RB	_	33	advmod	_	_
33	powerful	powerful	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	21	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
34	;	;	PUNCT	,	_	37	punct	_	_
35	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	37	cc	_	_
36	there	there	PRON	EX	PronType=Dem	37	expl	_	_
37	is	be	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	15	conj	_	_
38	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	40	det	_	_
39	growing	grow	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	40	amod	_	_
40	feeling	feeling	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	37	nsubj	_	_
41	amongst	amongst	ADP	IN	_	44	case	_	_
42	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	44	det	_	_
43	younger	young	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	44	amod	_	_
44	chiefs	chief	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	40	nmod	_	_
45	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	50	cc	_	_
46	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	50	det	_	_
47	more	more	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	48	advmod	_	_
48	intelligent	intelligent	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	50	amod	_	_
49	trading	trading	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	50	compound	_	_
50	classes	class	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	44	conj	_	_
51	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	59	obj	_	_
52	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	53	det	_	_
53	children	child	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	59	nsubj:pass	_	_
54	born	bear	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	53	acl	_	_
55	before	before	ADP	IN	_	56	case	_	_
56	marriage	marriage	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	54	obl	_	_
57	should	should	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	59	aux	_	_
58	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	59	aux:pass	_	_
59	given	give	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	50	acl:relcl	_	_
60	to	to	ADP	IN	_	62	case	_	_
61	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	62	det	_	_
62	father	father	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	59	obl	_	_
63	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	66	advmod	_	_
64	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	66	nsubj	_	_
65	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	66	aux:pass	_	_
66	weaned	wean	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	59	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
67	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	15	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** *in a quote* | might | the husband *not said here* |  |  |  |  | right *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **take** | past · passive | the husband | this children |  |  | day |  | vn bring-11.3 «NP V NP ADVP»: agent=Instrument subject=Destination |
| 3 | **keep** | past |  | children *= child* |  |  |  | by the strong hand; who *nsubj* | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP PP.location»: agent=Agent they=Theme by hand=Location |
| 4 | **is** *a condition, not said to happen* | past | husband |  |  |  |  | powerful, sufficiently *property* | tree rules |
| 5 | **be** | present | a growing feeling amongst the younger chiefs and the intelligent trading classes |  |  | there |  |  | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 6 | **grow** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 7 | **bear** | participle |  | the children *not said here* |  |  | before marriage |  | vn admire-31.2 «NP V that S»: agent=Experiencer |
| 8 | **give** | should · passive |  | the children |  |  |  | to the father; the intelligent trading classes *obj* | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP-Dative NP»: subject=Recipient that=Theme |
| 9 | **wean** | present · passive |  | children *= child* |  |  |  |  | vn free-10.6.3 «NP V NP PP.theme»: subject=Source |

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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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