---
title: The bones were then used to beat the drums with at dances and in tim… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: The bones were then used to beat the drums with at dances and in times of danger. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Xix.--why the Mist Rises From the Water., with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of every clause.
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xix.--why the Mist Rises From the Water., sentence 137

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The bones were then used to beat the drums with at dances and in times of danger.

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**What happens:** use, beat · **To what, where:** bones, drums

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This is a sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Xix.--why the Mist Rises From the Water.. 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:pg70959:14:137
# text = The bones were then used to beat the drums with at dances and in times of danger.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	bones	bone	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux:pass	_	_
4	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	5	advmod	_	_
5	used	use	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
7	beat	beat	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	xcomp	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	drums	drum	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	obj	_	_
10	with	with	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	at	at	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
12	dances	dance	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	obl	_	_
13	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	15	cc	_	_
14	in	in	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
15	times	time	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	12	conj	_	_
16	of	of	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
17	danger	danger	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **use** | past · passive |  | the bones |  |  | then |  | vn use-105.1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: subject=Theme clause=Eventuality |
| 2 | **beat** | to-infinitive |  | the drums |  |  |  | with dances and times of danger | vn hit-18.1-1 «NP V NP PP.instrument»: agent=Agent drum=Patient with dance=Instrument |

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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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