---
title: The people of Ikom therefore warned their children never to go by th… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: The people of Ikom therefore warned their children never to go by themselves to the farms unless they knew the road very well indeed, as if they took the wrong path and went to the town where the wooden drum lived, they would be swallowed up and would disappear for ever. Who acts: people, wooden dru
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xix.--why the Mist Rises From the Water., sentence 76

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The people of Ikom therefore warned their children never to go by themselves to the farms unless they knew the road very well indeed, as if they took the wrong path and went to the town where the wooden drum lived, they would be swallowed up and would disappear for ever.

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**Who acts:** people, wooden drum · **What happens:** warn, not go, know, take, go, live · **To what, where:** children, farms, road, wrong path, town, people · **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 (people, wooden drum), 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:pg70959:14:76
# text = The people of Ikom therefore warned their children never to go by themselves to the farms unless they knew the road very well indeed, as if they took the wrong path and went to the town where the wooden drum lived, they would be swallowed up and would disappear for ever.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	people	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nsubj	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	Ikom	Ikom	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
5	therefore	therefore	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
6	warned	warn	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	8	nmod:poss	_	_
8	children	child	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	obj	_	_
9	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	11	advmod	_	_
10	to	to	PART	TO	_	11	mark	_	_
11	go	go	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	6	ccomp	_	_
12	by	by	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
13	themselves	themselves	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes	11	obl	_	_
14	to	to	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
15	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
16	farms	farm	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	11	obl	_	_
17	unless	unless	SCONJ	IN	_	19	mark	_	_
18	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	19	nsubj	_	_
19	knew	know	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	11	advcl	_	_
20	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	21	det	_	_
21	road	road	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	19	obj	_	_
22	very	very	ADV	RB	_	23	advmod	_	_
23	well	well	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	24	advmod	_	_
24	indeed	indeed	ADV	RB	_	19	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
25	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	29	punct	_	_
26	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	29	mark	_	_
27	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	29	mark	_	_
28	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	29	nsubj	_	_
29	took	take	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	conj	_	_
30	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	32	det	_	_
31	wrong	wrong	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	32	amod	_	_
32	path	path	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	29	obj	_	_
33	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	34	cc	_	_
34	went	go	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	29	conj	_	_
35	to	to	ADP	IN	_	37	case	_	_
36	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	37	det	_	_
37	town	town	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	34	obl	_	_
38	where	where	ADV	WRB	PronType=Rel	42	advmod	_	_
39	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	41	det	_	_
40	wooden	wooden	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	41	amod	_	_
41	drum	drum	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	42	nsubj	_	_
42	lived	live	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	37	acl:relcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
43	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	47	punct	_	_
44	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	47	nsubj:pass	_	_
45	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	47	aux	_	_
46	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	47	aux:pass	_	_
47	swallowed	swallow	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	29	parataxis	_	_
48	up	up	ADP	RP	_	47	compound:prt	_	_
49	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	51	cc	_	_
50	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	51	aux	_	_
51	disappear	disappear	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	47	conj	_	_
52	for	for	ADP	IN	_	53	case	_	_
53	ever	ever	ADV	RB	PronType=Ind	51	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
54	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **warn** *speech: warn* | past | the people of Ikom |  | people's children |  |  | therefore *property* | vn advise-37.9-1 «NP V NP how S\_INF»: agent=Agent child=Recipient clause=Topic |
| 2 | **not** **go** | to-infinitive |  |  |  | the farms |  | by people | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme to farm=Initial\_Location |
| 3 | **know** *a condition, not said to happen* | past | people | the road |  |  |  | indeed *property* | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Experiencer road=Stimulus |
| 4 | **take** *a condition, not said to happen* | past | people | the wrong path |  |  |  |  | vn bring-11.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent path=Theme |
| 5 | **go** | past | people *not said here* |  |  | the town |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme to town=Initial\_Location |
| 6 | **live** | past | the wooden drum |  |  |  |  |  | vn exist-47.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 7 | **swallow up** | would · passive |  | people |  |  |  |  | vn gobble-39.3 «NP V NP»: subject=Patient |
| 8 | **disappear** | would |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

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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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