--- title: The chief became more anxious as it got later, and there were no sig… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics description: The chief became more anxious as it got later, and there were no signs of any of the people he had sent out, so just before midnight he sent eight more slaves with fire-brands, to help in the search. Who acts: chief, FOOD, signs, Eba. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphin --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/12/88/) [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/) / [Xv.--what Happened At Okuni When Anyon…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/12/) / 88 # Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xv.--what Happened At Okuni When Anyone Was Killed By Accident., sentence 88 The chief became more anxious as it got later, and there were no signs of any of the people he had sent out, so just before midnight he sent eight more slaves with fire-brands, to help in the search. **Who acts:** chief, FOOD, signs, Eba · **What happens:** become, get, be, send out, send, help · **To what, where:** people, eight more slaves, search 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 (chief, FOOD, signs, Eba), 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:pg70959:12:89 # text = The chief became more anxious as it got later, and there were no signs of any of the people he had sent out, so just before midnight he sent eight more slaves with fire-brands, to help in the search. 1 The the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 2 det _ _ 2 chief chief NOUN NN Number=Sing 3 nsubj _ _ 3 became become VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 4 more more ADV RBR Degree=Cmp 5 advmod _ _ 5 anxious anxious ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 3 xcomp _ _ 6 as as SCONJ IN _ 8 mark _ _ 7 it it PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 8 nsubj _ _ 8 got get VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 5 advcl _ _ 9 later late ADV RBR Degree=Cmp 8 advmod _ SpaceAfter=No 10 , , PUNCT , _ 13 punct _ _ 11 and and CCONJ CC _ 13 cc _ _ 12 there there PRON EX PronType=Dem 13 expl _ _ 13 were be VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 3 conj _ _ 14 no no DET DT PronType=Neg 15 det _ _ 15 signs sign NOUN NNS Number=Plur 13 nsubj _ _ 16 of of ADP IN _ 17 case _ _ 17 any any DET DT PronType=Ind 15 nmod _ _ 18 of of ADP IN _ 20 case _ _ 19 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 20 det _ _ 20 people people NOUN NNS Number=Plur 17 nmod _ _ 21 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 23 nsubj _ _ 22 had have AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 23 aux _ _ 23 sent send VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part 20 acl _ _ 24 out out ADP RP _ 23 compound:prt _ SpaceAfter=No 25 , , PUNCT , _ 31 punct _ _ 26 so so ADV RB _ 31 advmod _ _ 27 just just ADV RB _ 29 advmod _ _ 28 before before ADP IN _ 29 case _ _ 29 midnight midnight NOUN NN Number=Sing 31 obl _ _ 30 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 31 nsubj _ _ 31 sent send VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 3 conj _ _ 32 eight eight NUM CD NumForm=Word|NumType=Card 34 nummod _ _ 33 more more ADJ JJR Degree=Cmp 34 amod _ _ 34 slaves slave NOUN NNS Number=Plur 31 obj _ _ 35 with with ADP IN _ 38 case _ _ 36 fire fire NOUN NN Number=Sing 38 compound _ SpaceAfter=No 37 - - PUNCT HYPH _ 36 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 38 brands brand NOUN NNS Number=Plur 34 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 39 , , PUNCT , _ 41 punct _ _ 40 to to PART TO _ 41 mark _ _ 41 help help VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 31 advcl _ _ 42 in in ADP IN _ 44 case _ _ 43 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 44 det _ _ 44 search search NOUN NN Number=Sing 41 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 45 . . PUNCT . _ 3 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **become** | past | the chief | | | | | anxious *property* | vn become-109.1-1-1 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Patient | | 2 | **get** | past | FOOD | | | | | late *property* | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Experiencer | | 3 | **be** | past | no signs of any of the people | | | there | | | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 4 | **send out** | past · perfect | Eba | the people *not said here* | | | | | vn confine-92-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent people=Theme | | 5 | **send** | past | Eba | eight more slaves | | | midnight | with fire brands | vn confine-92-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent slave=Theme | | 6 | **help** | to-infinitive | Eba *not said here* | | | the search | | | vn help-72.1-1-1 «NP V PP.theme»: agent=Agent | 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 87](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/12/87/) - next →: [sentence 89](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/12/89/) - ↑ back to [Xv.--what Happened At Okuni When Anyone Was Killed By Accident.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/12/)