---
title: This drum was used for dances and for calling the people in from the… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: This drum was used for dances and for calling the people in from the farms when there was any big palaver on, or if the town were going to be attacked. Who acts: big palaver, town. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Xix.--why the Mist Rises From the Water
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xix.--why the Mist Rises From the Water., sentence 73

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This drum was used for dances and for calling the people in from the farms when there was any big palaver on, or if the town were going to be attacked.

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**Who acts:** big palaver, town · **What happens:** use, call in, be on, go, attack · **To what, where:** drum, people, farms

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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 (big palaver, town), 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:pg70959:14:73
# text = This drum was used for dances and for calling the people in from the farms when there was any big palaver on, or if the town were going to be attacked.
1	This	this	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	2	det	_	_
2	drum	drum	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	used	use	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	for	for	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	dances	dance	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
8	for	for	SCONJ	IN	_	9	mark	_	_
9	calling	call	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	4	conj	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	people	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	obj	_	_
12	in	in	ADP	RP	_	9	compound:prt	_	_
13	from	from	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	farms	farm	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	obl	_	_
16	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	18	advmod	_	_
17	there	there	PRON	EX	PronType=Dem	18	expl	_	_
18	was	be	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	9	advcl	_	_
19	any	any	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	21	det	_	_
20	big	big	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	21	amod	_	_
21	palaver	palaver	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	nsubj	_	_
22	on	on	ADP	RP	_	18	compound:prt	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	29	punct	_	_
24	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	29	cc	_	_
25	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	29	mark	_	_
26	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	27	det	_	_
27	town	town	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	29	nsubj	_	_
28	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	29	aux	_	_
29	going	go	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	4	conj	_	_
30	to	to	PART	TO	_	32	mark	_	_
31	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	32	aux:pass	_	_
32	attacked	attack	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	29	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
33	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **use** | past · passive |  | this drum |  |  |  | for dances | vn use-105.1 «NP V NP PP.predicate»: subject=Theme for dance=Eventuality |
| 2 | **call in** *speech: assert* | gerund |  | the people |  | the farms |  |  | vn get-13.5.1 «NP V NP PP.source»: agent=Agent people=Theme from farm=Source |
| 3 | **be on** | past | any big palaver |  |  | there |  |  | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 4 | **go** *a condition, not said to happen* | past · progressive | the town |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7 «NP V S-Quote»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 5 | **attack** | to-infinitive · passive | the town *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn attack-60.1-1 «NP V» |

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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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