---
title: I will therefore leave you at the top of the tree, where you will be… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: I will therefore leave you at the top of the tree, where you will be safe from the wicked men, but you must be careful to keep very quiet and not move when they come.” Who acts: I, you, fruits. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Xix.--why the Mist Rises F
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xix.--why the Mist Rises From the Water., sentence 20

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I will therefore leave you at the top of the tree, where you will be safe from the wicked men, but you must be careful to keep very quiet and not move when they come.”

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**Who acts:** I, you, fruits · **What happens:** leave, be, keep, not move, come · **To what, where:** you, top

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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: who acts (I, you, fruits), 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:pg70959:14:20
# text = I will therefore leave you at the top of the tree, where you will be safe from the wicked men, but you must be careful to keep very quiet and not move when they come.”
1	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
2	will	will	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	therefore	therefore	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	leave	leave	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Person=2|PronType=Prs	4	obj	_	_
6	at	at	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	top	top	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
9	of	of	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	tree	tree	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	17	punct	_	_
13	where	where	ADV	WRB	PronType=Rel	17	advmod	_	_
14	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	17	nsubj	_	_
15	will	will	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	17	aux	_	_
16	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	17	cop	_	_
17	safe	safe	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	acl:relcl	_	_
18	from	from	ADP	IN	_	21	case	_	_
19	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	21	det	_	_
20	wicked	wicked	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	21	amod	_	_
21	men	man	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	17	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	27	punct	_	_
23	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	27	cc	_	_
24	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	27	nsubj	_	_
25	must	must	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	27	aux	_	_
26	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	27	cop	_	_
27	careful	careful	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	conj	_	_
28	to	to	PART	TO	_	29	mark	_	_
29	keep	keep	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	27	advcl	_	_
30	very	very	ADV	RB	_	31	advmod	_	_
31	quiet	quiet	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	29	xcomp	_	_
32	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	34	cc	_	_
33	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	34	advmod	_	_
34	move	move	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	29	conj	_	_
35	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	37	advmod	_	_
36	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	37	nsubj	_	_
37	come	come	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	34	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
38	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
39	”	"	PUNCT	''	_	4	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **leave** | future | I | you |  | the top of the tree |  | therefore *property* | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP PP.location»: agent=Agent you=Theme at top=Location |
| 2 | **is** | future | you |  |  |  |  | from the wicked men; safe *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **is** | must | you |  |  |  |  | careful *property* | tree rules |
| 4 | **keep** | to-infinitive | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  | quiet *property* | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 5 | **not** **move** | infinitive | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn roll-51.3.1 «NP.theme V»: agent=Theme |
| 6 | **come** | present | fruits *= fruit* |  |  |  |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=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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