--- title: About this time, many people from the surrounding towns and countrie… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics description: About this time, many people from the surrounding towns and countries disappeared and were never seen or heard of again, until at last it became known that one of these wooden drums lived in a town in the bush not far from Ikom, and if anyone strayed into the wooden drum’s town by accident he was sw --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/14/75/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [tales](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/) / [Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/) / [Xix.--why the Mist Rises From the Water.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/14/) / 75 # Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xix.--why the Mist Rises From the Water., sentence 75 About this time, many people from the surrounding towns and countries disappeared and were never seen or heard of again, until at last it became known that one of these wooden drums lived in a town in the bush not far from Ikom, and if anyone strayed into the wooden drum’s town by accident he was swallowed alive and was never seen again. **Who acts:** many people, town, one, anyone, accident · **What happens:** disappear, not see, hear, become, know, live · **To what, where:** town, message 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 (many people, town, one, anyone), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree. **Mova's own parse.** This tree may be wrong. ## The tree {#tree} ```conllu # sent_id = book:pg70959:14:75 # text = About this time, many people from the surrounding towns and countries disappeared and were never seen or heard of again, until at last it became known that one of these wooden drums lived in a town in the bush not far from Ikom, and if anyone strayed into the wooden drum’s town by accident he was swallowed alive and was never seen again. 1 About about ADP IN _ 3 case _ _ 2 this this DET DT Number=Sing|PronType=Dem 3 det _ _ 3 time time NOUN NN Number=Sing 13 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 4 , , PUNCT , _ 3 punct _ _ 5 many many ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 6 amod _ _ 6 people people NOUN NNS Number=Plur 13 nsubj _ _ 7 from from ADP IN _ 10 case _ _ 8 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 10 det _ _ 9 surrounding surrounding NOUN NN Number=Sing 10 compound _ _ 10 towns town NOUN NNS Number=Plur 6 nmod _ _ 11 and and CCONJ CC _ 12 cc _ _ 12 countries country NOUN NNS Number=Plur 10 conj _ _ 13 disappeared disappear VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 14 and and CCONJ CC _ 17 cc _ _ 15 were be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 17 aux:pass _ _ 16 never never ADV RB PronType=Neg 17 advmod _ _ 17 seen see VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 13 ccomp _ _ 18 or or CCONJ CC _ 19 cc _ _ 19 heard hear VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 17 conj _ _ 20 of of ADP IN _ 21 case _ _ 21 again again ADV RB _ 19 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 22 , , PUNCT , _ 25 punct _ _ 23 until until ADP IN _ 25 case _ _ 24 at at ADP IN _ 25 case _ _ 25 last last ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 17 conj _ _ 26 it it PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 27 nsubj _ _ 27 became become VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 25 acl:relcl _ _ 28 known know VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 27 xcomp _ _ 29 that that SCONJ IN _ 35 mark _ _ 30 one one NUM CD NumForm=Word|NumType=Card 35 nsubj _ _ 31 of of ADP IN _ 34 case _ _ 32 these this DET DT Number=Plur|PronType=Dem 34 det _ _ 33 wooden wooden ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 34 amod _ _ 34 drums drum NOUN NNS Number=Plur 30 nmod _ _ 35 lived live VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 28 advcl _ _ 36 in in ADP IN _ 38 case _ _ 37 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 38 det _ _ 38 town town NOUN NN Number=Sing 35 obl _ _ 39 in in ADP IN _ 41 case _ _ 40 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 41 det _ _ 41 bush bush NOUN NN Number=Sing 38 nmod _ _ 42 not not PART RB Polarity=Neg 43 advmod _ _ 43 far far ADV RB Degree=Pos 41 advmod _ _ 44 from from ADP IN _ 45 case _ _ 45 Ikom Ikom PROPN NNP Number=Sing 43 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 46 , , PUNCT , _ 50 punct _ _ 47 and and CCONJ CC _ 50 cc _ _ 48 if if SCONJ IN _ 50 mark _ _ 49 anyone anyone PRON NN Number=Sing|PronType=Ind 50 nsubj _ _ 50 strayed stray VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part 13 conj _ _ 51 into into ADP IN _ 56 case _ _ 52 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 54 det _ _ 53 wooden wooden ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 54 amod _ _ 54 drum drum NOUN NN Number=Sing 56 nmod:poss _ SpaceAfter=No 55 ’s 's PART POS _ 54 case _ _ 56 town town NOUN NN Number=Sing 50 obl _ _ 57 by by ADP IN _ 58 case _ _ 58 accident accident NOUN NN Number=Sing 50 obl _ _ 59 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 61 nsubj:pass _ _ 60 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 61 aux:pass _ _ 61 swallowed swallow VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 58 acl:relcl _ _ 62 alive alive ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 61 xcomp _ _ 63 and and CCONJ CC _ 66 cc _ _ 64 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 66 aux:pass _ _ 65 never never ADV RB PronType=Neg 66 advmod _ _ 66 seen see VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 50 conj _ _ 67 again again ADV RB _ 66 advmod _ SpaceAfter=No 68 . . PUNCT . _ 13 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **disappear** | past | many people from the surrounding towns and countries | | | | time | | tree rules | | 2 | **not** **see** | past · passive | many people from the surrounding towns and countries *not said here* | | | | | | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V» | | 3 | **hear** | participle | many people from the surrounding towns and countries *not said here* | | | | | | vn see-30.1-1-1 «NP V PP.stimulus»: agent=Experiencer of again=Stimulus | | 4 | **become** | past | town | | | | | | tree rules | | 5 | **know** | participle | town *not said here* | | | | | | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer | | 6 | **live** | past | one of this wooden drums | | | a town in the bush | | | vn lodge-46 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme in town=Location | | 7 | **stray** *a condition, not said to happen* | participle | anyone | | | the wooden drum's town | | by accident | vn run-51.3.2 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme into town=Destination | | 8 | **swallow** | past · passive | accident *not said here* | message | | | | alive *property* | vn gobble-39.3 «NP V NP»: subject=Patient | | 9 | **not** **see** | past · passive | anyone *not said here* | | | | again | | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V» | 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. **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. - ← previous: [sentence 74](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/14/74/) - next →: [sentence 76](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/14/76/) - ↑ back to [Xix.--why the Mist Rises From the Water.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/14/)