---
title: Then Chief Agborleku sat for a long time without speaking, consideri… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: Then Chief Agborleku sat for a long time without speaking, considering what was the best way to get rid of these wicked men. Who acts: Chief, best way. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Xix.--why the Mist Rises From the Water., with its dependency tree a
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xix.--why the Mist Rises From the Water., sentence 40

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Then Chief Agborleku sat for a long time without speaking, considering what was the best way to get rid of these wicked men.

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**Who acts:** Chief, best way · **What happens:** sit, speak, consider, be, get · **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 (Chief, best way), 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:pg70959:14:40
# text = Then Chief Agborleku sat for a long time without speaking, considering what was the best way to get rid of these wicked men.
1	Then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	4	advmod	_	_
2	Chief	Chief	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	Agborleku	Agborleku	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	flat	_	_
4	sat	sit	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	for	for	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	long	long	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	time	time	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
9	without	without	SCONJ	IN	_	10	mark	_	_
10	speaking	speak	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	4	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
12	considering	consider	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	10	conj	_	_
13	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	12	obj	_	_
14	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	13	cop	_	_
15	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
16	best	good	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	17	amod	_	_
17	way	way	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	nsubj	_	_
18	to	to	PART	TO	_	19	mark	_	_
19	get	get	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	17	acl	_	_
20	rid	rid	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	19	xcomp	_	_
21	of	of	ADP	IN	_	24	case	_	_
22	these	this	DET	DT	Number=Plur|PronType=Dem	24	det	_	_
23	wicked	wicked	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	24	amod	_	_
24	men	man	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	20	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
25	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **sit** | past | Chief |  |  |  | then; time |  | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **speak** *speech: other* | gerund | Chief *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn talk-37.5 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **consider** | gerund | Chief *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn consider-29.9-1-1 «NP V whether/if S»: agent=Agent |
| 4 | **is a** | past | the best way |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 5 | **get** | to-infinitive | the best way *not said here* |  |  |  |  | rid *property* | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Experiencer |

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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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