--- title: After searching for some time they found him setting one of his trap… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics description: After searching for some time they found him setting one of his traps, so they surrounded and caught him; then, having tied him up securely with his hands behind his back, they brought him into the town and handed him over to the head chief. Who acts: people. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories from So --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/11/25/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [tales](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/) / [Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/) / [Xiv.--the Fate of Agbor the Hunter, Wh…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/11/) / 25 # Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xiv.--the Fate of Agbor the Hunter, Who Killed His Wife and Children., sentence 25 After searching for some time they found him setting one of his traps, so they surrounded and caught him; then, having tied him up securely with his hands behind his back, they brought him into the town and handed him over to the head chief. **Who acts:** people · **What happens:** search, find, set, surround, catch, tie up · **To what, where:** Agbor, one, people, town, head chief This is a sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Xiv.--the Fate of Agbor the Hunter, Who Killed His Wife and Children.. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (people), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree. **Mova's own parse.** This tree may be wrong. ## The tree {#tree} ```conllu # sent_id = book:pg70959:11:25 # text = After searching for some time they found him setting one of his traps, so they surrounded and caught him; then, having tied him up securely with his hands behind his back, they brought him into the town and handed him over to the head chief. 1 After after SCONJ IN _ 2 mark _ _ 2 searching search VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 17 advcl _ _ 3 for for ADP IN _ 5 case _ _ 4 some some DET DT PronType=Ind 5 det _ _ 5 time time NOUN NN Number=Sing 2 obl _ _ 6 they they PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 7 nsubj _ _ 7 found find VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 5 acl:relcl _ _ 8 him he PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 7 obj _ _ 9 setting set VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 7 advcl _ _ 10 one one NUM CD NumForm=Word|NumType=Card 9 obj _ _ 11 of of ADP IN _ 13 case _ _ 12 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 13 nmod:poss _ _ 13 traps trap NOUN NNS Number=Plur 10 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 14 , , PUNCT , _ 2 punct _ _ 15 so so ADV RB _ 17 advmod _ _ 16 they they PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 17 nsubj:pass _ _ 17 surrounded surround VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 0 root _ _ 18 and and CCONJ CC _ 19 cc _ _ 19 caught catch VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 17 conj _ _ 20 him he PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 19 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 21 ; ; PUNCT : _ 25 punct _ _ 22 then then ADV RB PronType=Dem 25 advmod _ SpaceAfter=No 23 , , PUNCT , _ 22 punct _ _ 24 having have AUX VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 25 aux _ _ 25 tied tie VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part 17 conj _ _ 26 him he PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 25 obj _ _ 27 up up ADP RP _ 25 compound:prt _ _ 28 securely securely ADV RB _ 25 advmod _ _ 29 with with ADP IN _ 31 case _ _ 30 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 31 nmod:poss _ _ 31 hands hand NOUN NNS Number=Plur 25 obl _ _ 32 behind behind ADP IN _ 34 case _ _ 33 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 34 nmod:poss _ _ 34 back back NOUN NN Number=Sing 31 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 35 , , PUNCT , _ 37 punct _ _ 36 they they PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 37 nsubj _ _ 37 brought bring VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 17 conj _ _ 38 him he PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 37 obj _ _ 39 into into ADP IN _ 41 case _ _ 40 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 41 det _ _ 41 town town NOUN NN Number=Sing 37 obl _ _ 42 and and CCONJ CC _ 43 cc _ _ 43 handed hand VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 37 conj _ _ 44 him he PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 43 obj _ _ 45 over over ADP RP _ 43 compound:prt _ _ 46 to to ADP IN _ 49 case _ _ 47 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 49 det _ _ 48 head head NOUN NN Number=Sing 49 compound _ _ 49 chief chief NOUN NN Number=Sing 43 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 50 . . PUNCT . _ 17 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **search** | gerund | | | | | time | | vn search-35.2 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent | | 2 | **find** | past | people | Agbor | | | | | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent he=Topic | | 3 | **set** | gerund | people *not said here* | one of Agbor's traps | | | | | vn other\_cos-45.4-1 «NP V NP ADJ»: agent=Patient one=Result | | 4 | **surround** | participle · passive | | people | | | | | vn contiguous\_location-47.8 «NP V NP»: subject=Co-Theme | | 5 | **catch** | past | | Agbor | | | | | vn get-13.5.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent he=Theme | | 6 | **tie up** | gerund · perfect | | Agbor | | | then | with Agbor's hands behind Agbor's back; securely *property* | vn mix-22.1-2 «NP V NP PP.co-patient»: agent=Agent he=Patient with hand=Co-Patient | | 7 | **bring** | past | people | Agbor | | the town | | | vn bring-11.3-1 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent he=Theme into town=Destination | | 8 | **hand over** | past | people *not said here* | Agbor | | the head chief | | | vn send-11.1-1 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent he=Theme to chief=Destination | 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. **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. - ← previous: [sentence 24](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/11/24/) - next →: [sentence 26](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/11/26/) - ↑ back to [Xiv.--the Fate of Agbor the Hunter, Who Killed His Wife and Children.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/11/)