---
title: When they had finished, they told him they were going to the stream… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: When they had finished, they told him they were going to the stream to get water and would return to him later. Who acts: witches. 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 
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xix.--why the Mist Rises From the Water., sentence 24

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When they had finished, they told him they were going to the stream to get water and would return to him later.

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**Who acts:** witches · **What happens:** finish, tell, go, get, return · **To what, where:** man, stream, water · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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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 (witches), 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:pg70959:14:24
# text = When they had finished, they told him they were going to the stream to get water and would return to him later.
1	When	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	4	advmod	_	_
2	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
3	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	finished	finish	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	7	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	4	punct	_	_
6	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj	_	_
7	told	tell	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
8	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	iobj	_	_
9	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	11	nsubj	_	_
10	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	11	aux	_	_
11	going	go	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	7	ccomp	_	_
12	to	to	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	stream	stream	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obl	_	_
15	to	to	PART	TO	_	16	mark	_	_
16	get	get	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	11	advcl	_	_
17	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	obj	_	_
18	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	20	cc	_	_
19	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	20	aux	_	_
20	return	return	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	16	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	_	_
23	later	late	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	20	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
24	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **finish** | past · perfect | witches *= witch* |  |  |  |  |  | vn stop-55.4-1-1 «NP.eventuality V»: agent=Eventuality |
| 2 | **tell** *speech: assert* | past | witches *= witch* |  | man |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Agent he=Recipient clause=Topic |
| 3 | **go** | past · progressive | witches *= witch* |  |  | the stream |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme to stream=Initial\_Location |
| 4 | **get** | to-infinitive | witches *= witch* *not said here* | water |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer water=Stimulus |
| 5 | **return** | would | witches *= witch* *not said here* |  | man |  |  | late *property* | vn convert-26.6.2-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Patient to he=Result |

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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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