---
title: After the bush had been cut and burnt, and the ground prepared for t… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: After the bush had been cut and burnt, and the ground prepared for the farm the Chief waited until some heavy rains had fallen, and then proceeded to distribute the yams for planting. Who acts: ground, Chief, heavy rains. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xv.--what Happened At Okuni When Anyone Was Killed By Accident., sentence 76

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After the bush had been cut and burnt, and the ground prepared for the farm the Chief waited until some heavy rains had fallen, and then proceeded to distribute the yams for planting.

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**Who acts:** ground, Chief, heavy rains · **What happens:** cut, burnt, prepare, wait, fall, proceed · **To what, where:** yams

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This is a sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Xv.--what Happened At Okuni When Anyone Was Killed By Accident.. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (ground, Chief, heavy rains), 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:pg70959:12:77
# text = After the bush had been cut and burnt, and the ground prepared for the farm the Chief waited until some heavy rains had fallen, and then proceeded to distribute the yams for planting.
1	After	after	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	bush	bush	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
4	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
5	been	be	AUX	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	6	aux:pass	_	_
6	cut	cut	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
8	burnt	burnt	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	6	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
10	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	13	cc	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	ground	ground	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	nsubj	_	_
13	prepared	prepare	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	6	conj	_	_
14	for	for	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
15	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
16	farm	farm	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obl	_	_
17	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
18	Chief	Chief	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	19	nsubj	_	_
19	waited	wait	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	13	conj	_	_
20	until	until	SCONJ	IN	_	25	mark	_	_
21	some	some	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	23	det	_	_
22	heavy	heavy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	23	amod	_	_
23	rains	rain	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	25	nsubj	_	_
24	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	25	aux	_	_
25	fallen	fall	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	19	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
26	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	29	punct	_	_
27	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	29	cc	_	_
28	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	29	advmod	_	_
29	proceeded	proceed	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	conj	_	_
30	to	to	PART	TO	_	31	mark	_	_
31	distribute	distribute	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	29	xcomp	_	_
32	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	33	det	_	_
33	yams	yam	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	31	obj	_	_
34	for	for	ADP	IN	_	35	case	_	_
35	planting	planting	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	31	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
36	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **cut** | past · perfect · passive |  |  |  |  | after the bush |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V ADV-Middle» |
| 2 | **burnt** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **prepare** | participle | the ground |  |  |  |  | for the farm | vn preparing-26.3-1 «NP V NP PP.beneficiary»: agent=Agent for farm=Beneficiary |
| 4 | **wait** | past | the Chief |  |  |  |  |  | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 5 | **fall** | past · perfect | some heavy rains |  |  |  |  |  | vn occur-48.3 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 6 | **proceed** | past |  |  |  |  | then |  | vn begin-55.1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality |
| 7 | **distribute** | to-infinitive |  | the yams |  |  |  | for planting | vn contribute-13.2-1 «NP V NP.theme (PP)»: agent=Agent yam=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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