---
title: The goat replied that in every town he had visited he had always bee… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: The goat replied that in every town he had visited he had always been paid for anything belonging to him which had been taken, but that in this town the chief had referred him to the dead body of the slave, and as the corpse refused to pay he had butted it with his horns, and the smell seemed to sti
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xxi.--why the Head of the Male Goat Smells So Strong., sentence 50

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The goat replied that in every town he had visited he had always been paid for anything belonging to him which had been taken, but that in this town the chief had referred him to the dead body of the slave, and as the corpse refused to pay he had butted it with his horns, and the smell seemed to stick to him.

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**Who acts:** goat, corpse, head, smell · **What happens:** reply, visit, pay, belong, take, refer · **To what, where:** head, town, that, corpse

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This is a sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Xxi.--why the Head of the Male Goat Smells So Strong.. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (goat, corpse, head, smell), 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:pg70959:15:50
# text = The goat replied that in every town he had visited he had always been paid for anything belonging to him which had been taken, but that in this town the chief had referred him to the dead body of the slave, and as the corpse refused to pay he had butted it with his horns, and the smell seemed to stick to him.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	goat	goat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	replied	reply	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	10	mark	_	_
5	in	in	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	every	every	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	7	det	_	_
7	town	town	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obl	_	_
8	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	nsubj:pass	_	_
9	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	10	aux	_	_
10	visited	visit	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	advcl	_	_
11	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	15	nsubj:pass	_	_
12	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	15	aux	_	_
13	always	always	ADV	RB	PronType=Tot	15	advmod	_	_
14	been	be	AUX	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	15	aux:pass	_	_
15	paid	pay	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	10	conj	_	_
16	for	for	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
17	anything	anything	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	15	obl	_	_
18	belonging	belong	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	17	acl	_	_
19	to	to	ADP	IN	_	20	case	_	_
20	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	18	obl	_	_
21	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	24	nsubj:pass	_	_
22	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	24	aux	_	_
23	been	be	AUX	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	24	aux:pass	_	_
24	taken	take	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	17	acl:relcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
25	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	34	punct	_	_
26	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	34	cc	_	_
27	that	that	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	34	nsubj:pass	_	_
28	in	in	ADP	IN	_	30	case	_	_
29	this	this	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	30	det	_	_
30	town	town	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	34	obl	_	_
31	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	32	det	_	_
32	chief	chief	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	34	nsubj:pass	_	_
33	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	34	aux	_	_
34	referred	refer	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	conj	_	_
35	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	34	obj	_	_
36	to	to	ADP	IN	_	39	case	_	_
37	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	39	det	_	_
38	dead	dead	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	39	amod	_	_
39	body	body	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	34	obl	_	_
40	of	of	ADP	IN	_	42	case	_	_
41	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	42	det	_	_
42	slave	slave	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	39	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
43	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	48	punct	_	_
44	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	48	cc	_	_
45	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	48	mark	_	_
46	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	47	det	_	_
47	corpse	corpse	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	48	nsubj	_	_
48	refused	refuse	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
49	to	to	PART	TO	_	50	mark	_	_
50	pay	pay	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	48	xcomp	_	_
51	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	53	nsubj	_	_
52	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	53	aux	_	_
53	butted	butt	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	50	ccomp	_	_
54	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	53	obj	_	_
55	with	with	ADP	IN	_	57	case	_	_
56	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	57	nmod:poss	_	_
57	horns	horn	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	53	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
58	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	62	punct	_	_
59	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	62	cc	_	_
60	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	61	det	_	_
61	smell	smell	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	62	nsubj	_	_
62	seemed	seem	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	parataxis	_	_
63	to	to	PART	TO	_	64	mark	_	_
64	stick	stick	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	62	xcomp	_	_
65	to	to	ADP	IN	_	66	case	_	_
66	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	64	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
67	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **reply** *speech: assert* | past | the goat |  |  |  |  |  | vn respond-113 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **visit** | past · perfect · passive |  | head |  | every town |  |  | vn meet-36.3-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Co-Agent |
| 3 | **pay** | past · perfect · passive |  | head |  |  |  | for anything; always *property* | vn pay-68-1 «NP V NP PP.theme»: subject=Asset for anything=Theme |
| 4 | **belong** | gerund |  |  | head |  |  |  | vn attend-107.4-2 «NP V PP»: agent=Theme |
| 5 | **take** | past · perfect · passive |  |  |  |  |  | which *nsubj:pass* | vn bring-11.3 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |
| 6 | **refer** | past · perfect · passive |  | that |  | this town |  | to the dead body of the slave; the chief *nsubj:pass*; head *obj* | tree rules |
| 7 | **refuse** | past | the corpse |  |  |  |  |  | vn reject-77.2 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Agent clause=Theme |
| 8 | **not** **pay** | to-infinitive | the corpse *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 9 | **butt** | past · perfect | head | corpse |  |  |  | with head's horns | vn hit-18.1-1 «NP V NP PP.instrument»: agent=Agent it=Patient with horn=Instrument |
| 10 | **seem** | past | the smell |  |  |  |  |  | vn seem-109-1-1-1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Theme clause=Attribute |
| 11 | **stick** | to-infinitive | the smell *not said here* |  | head |  |  |  | vn shake-22.3-2 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Patient |

<!-- .note -->
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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