---
title: When Agbor was dead, the father of Awo claimed his head, so it was c… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: When Agbor was dead, the father of Awo claimed his head, so it was cut off and given to him, and the body was buried. Who acts: Agbor, father. 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., with i
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xiv.--the Fate of Agbor the Hunter, Who Killed His Wife and Children., sentence 38

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When Agbor was dead, the father of Awo claimed his head, so it was cut off and given to him, and the body was buried.

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**Who acts:** Agbor, father · **What happens:** be, claim, cut off, give, bury · **To what, where:** head, Agbor, body

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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 (Agbor, father), 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:pg70959:11:38
# text = When Agbor was dead, the father of Awo claimed his head, so it was cut off and given to him, and the body was buried.
1	When	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	4	advmod	_	_
2	Agbor	Agbor	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
4	dead	dead	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	father	father	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nsubj	_	_
8	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	Awo	Awo	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	7	nmod	_	_
10	claimed	claim	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	parataxis	_	_
11	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	12	nmod:poss	_	_
12	head	head	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	17	punct	_	_
14	so	so	ADV	RB	_	17	advmod	_	_
15	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	17	nsubj:pass	_	_
16	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	17	aux:pass	_	_
17	cut	cut	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	10	conj	_	_
18	off	off	ADP	RP	_	17	compound:prt	_	_
19	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	20	cc	_	_
20	given	give	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	17	conj	_	_
21	to	to	ADP	IN	_	22	case	_	_
22	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	20	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	28	punct	_	_
24	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	28	cc	_	_
25	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	26	det	_	_
26	body	body	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	28	nsubj:pass	_	_
27	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	28	aux:pass	_	_
28	buried	bury	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	17	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
29	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | Agbor |  |  |  |  | dead *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **claim** *speech: other* | past | the father of Awo | Agbor's head |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: agent=Agent head=Topic |
| 3 | **cut off** | past · passive |  | head |  |  |  |  | vn stop-55.4-1 «NP V NP.eventuality»: subject=Eventuality |
| 4 | **give** | participle |  |  | Agbor |  |  |  | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V PP.recipient»: agent=Agent to he=Recipient |
| 5 | **bury** | past · passive |  | the body |  |  |  |  | vn put-9.1-1 «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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