---
title: Shortly afterwards the seven bad men returned with the water, and af… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: Shortly afterwards the seven bad men returned with the water, and after he had taken a drink he told the others what he had seen in the tree. Who acts: seven bad men, man. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Xix.--why the Mist Rises From the Water., with i
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xix.--why the Mist Rises From the Water., sentence 27

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Shortly afterwards the seven bad men returned with the water, and after he had taken a drink he told the others what he had seen in the tree.

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**Who acts:** seven bad men, man · **What happens:** return, take, tell, see · **To what, where:** drink, others, tree · **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 (seven bad men, man), 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:pg70959:14:27
# text = Shortly afterwards the seven bad men returned with the water, and after he had taken a drink he told the others what he had seen in the tree.
1	Shortly	shortly	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
2	afterwards	afterwards	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
4	seven	seven	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	6	nummod	_	_
5	bad	bad	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	men	man	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nsubj	_	_
7	returned	return	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
8	with	with	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	20	punct	_	_
12	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	20	cc	_	_
13	after	after	SCONJ	IN	_	16	mark	_	_
14	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	16	nsubj	_	_
15	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	16	aux	_	_
16	taken	take	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	20	advcl	_	_
17	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
18	drink	drink	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	obj	_	_
19	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	20	nsubj	_	_
20	told	tell	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	conj	_	_
21	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	22	det	_	_
22	others	other	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	20	iobj	_	_
23	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	26	obj	_	_
24	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	26	nsubj	_	_
25	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	26	aux	_	_
26	seen	see	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	20	ccomp	_	_
27	in	in	ADP	IN	_	29	case	_	_
28	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	29	det	_	_
29	tree	tree	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	26	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
30	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **return** | past | the seven bad men |  |  |  |  | with the water; afterwards *property* | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **take** | past · perfect | man | a drink |  |  |  |  | vn bring-11.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent drink=Theme |
| 3 | **tell** *speech: assert* | past | man |  | the others |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP what S»: agent=Agent other=Recipient clause=Topic |
| 4 | **see** | past · perfect | man |  |  | the tree |  | what *obj* | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer what=Stimulus |

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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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