---
title: It will be observed on perusing some of these stories that in severa… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: It will be observed on perusing some of these stories that in several of them the greater part of the tale has nothing, apparently, to do with the main object, which frequently might be dismissed in a few sentences. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Open
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Opening, sentence 54

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It will be observed on perusing some of these stories that in several of them the greater part of the tale has nothing, apparently, to do with the main object, which frequently might be dismissed in a few sentences.

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**What happens:** observe, peruse, have, do, dismiss · **To what, where:** dowry, some, that, greater part, main object, few sentences

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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: 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:pg70959:1:54
# text = It will be observed on perusing some of these stories that in several of them the greater part of the tale has nothing, apparently, to do with the main object, which frequently might be dismissed in a few sentences.
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	will	will	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	observed	observe	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	on	on	SCONJ	IN	_	6	mark	_	_
6	perusing	peruse	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	4	advcl	_	_
7	some	some	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	6	obj	_	_
8	of	of	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	these	this	DET	DT	Number=Plur|PronType=Dem	10	det	_	_
10	stories	story	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nmod	_	_
11	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	22	obj	_	_
12	in	in	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
13	several	several	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	18	nsubj	_	_
14	of	of	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
15	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	13	nmod	_	_
16	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
17	greater	great	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	18	amod	_	_
18	part	part	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	22	obl	_	_
19	of	of	ADP	IN	_	21	case	_	_
20	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	21	det	_	_
21	tale	tale	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	nmod	_	_
22	has	have	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	10	parataxis	_	_
23	nothing	nothing	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	22	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
24	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	28	punct	_	_
25	apparently	apparently	ADV	RB	_	28	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
26	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	28	punct	_	_
27	to	to	PART	TO	_	28	mark	_	_
28	do	do	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	23	acl:relcl	_	_
29	with	with	ADP	IN	_	32	case	_	_
30	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	32	det	_	_
31	main	main	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	32	amod	_	_
32	object	object	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	28	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
33	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	38	punct	_	_
34	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	38	nsubj:pass	_	_
35	frequently	frequently	ADV	RB	_	38	advmod	_	_
36	might	might	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	38	aux	_	_
37	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	38	aux:pass	_	_
38	dismissed	dismiss	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	32	acl:relcl	_	_
39	in	in	ADP	IN	_	42	case	_	_
40	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	42	det	_	_
41	few	few	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	42	amod	_	_
42	sentences	sentence	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	38	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
43	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **observe** | future · passive |  | dowry |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: subject=Topic |
| 2 | **peruse** | gerund |  | some of this stories |  |  |  |  | vn assessment-34.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent some=Theme |
| 3 | **have** | present |  | that |  | the greater part of the tale |  | nothing *obj* | tree rules |
| 4 | **do** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  | with the main object; apparently *property* | vn act-114-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 5 | **dismiss** | might · passive |  | the main object |  | a few sentences |  | frequently *property* | vn banish-10.2 «NP V NP»: subject=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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