---
title: When he returned, Chief ’Njum asked him what had become of his mothe… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: When he returned, Chief ’Njum asked him what had become of his mother, but Ogbaja’s heart was so full of grief that he could not answer. Who acts: Ogbaja, Njum, heart. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Xix.--why the Mist Rises From the Water., with its d
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xix.--why the Mist Rises From the Water., sentence 35

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When he returned, Chief ’Njum asked him what had become of his mother, but Ogbaja’s heart was so full of grief that he could not answer.

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**Who acts:** Ogbaja, Njum, heart · **What happens:** return, ask, become, be, not answer · **To what, where:** Ogbaja · **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 (Ogbaja, Njum, heart), 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:pg70959:14:35
# text = When he returned, Chief ’Njum asked him what had become of his mother, but Ogbaja’s heart was so full of grief that he could not answer.
1	When	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	3	advmod	_	_
2	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
3	returned	return	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	8	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	3	punct	_	_
5	Chief	Chief	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	7	nmod:poss	_	_
6	’	's	PART	POS	_	5	case	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	Njum	Njum	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
8	asked	ask	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
9	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	iobj	_	_
10	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	12	nsubj	_	_
11	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	12	aux	_	_
12	become	become	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	8	ccomp	_	_
13	of	of	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
14	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	15	nmod:poss	_	_
15	mother	mother	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	23	punct	_	_
17	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	23	cc	_	_
18	Ogbaja	Ogbaja	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	20	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	’s	's	PART	POS	_	18	case	_	_
20	heart	heart	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	23	nsubj	_	_
21	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	23	cop	_	_
22	so	so	ADV	RB	_	23	advmod	_	_
23	full	full	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	parataxis	_	_
24	of	of	ADP	IN	_	25	case	_	_
25	grief	grief	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	23	obl	_	_
26	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	30	mark	_	_
27	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	30	nsubj	_	_
28	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	30	aux	_	_
29	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	30	advmod	_	_
30	answer	answer	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	23	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
31	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	8	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **return** | past | Ogbaja |  |  |  |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **ask** *speech: ask* | past | Chief's Njum |  | Ogbaja |  |  |  | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V NP whether S»: agent=Agent he=Recipient clause=Topic |
| 3 | **become** | past · perfect |  |  |  |  |  | of Ogbaja's mother; what *nsubj* | vn become-109.1-1-1 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Patient |
| 4 | **is** | past | Ogbaja's heart |  |  |  |  | of grief; full *property* | tree rules |
| 5 | **not** **answer** *speech: assert* | could | Ogbaja |  |  |  |  |  | vn reciprocate-112-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

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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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