---
title: When Ode was ready he got into a small canoe and started down river… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: When Ode was ready he got into a small canoe and started down river for Inkum, but he had only gone a little distance when the canoe sank, and Ode swam to the shore. Who acts: Ode, canoe. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Xxiii.--why Edidor Killed Her Hu
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xxiii.--why Edidor Killed Her Husband and Her Lover., sentence 11

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When Ode was ready he got into a small canoe and started down river for Inkum, but he had only gone a little distance when the canoe sank, and Ode swam to the shore.

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**Who acts:** Ode, canoe · **What happens:** be, get, start down, go, sink, swim · **To what, where:** small canoe, river, little distance, shore

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This is a sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Xxiii.--why Edidor Killed Her Husband and Her Lover.. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (Ode, canoe), 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:pg70959:17:11
# text = When Ode was ready he got into a small canoe and started down river for Inkum, but he had only gone a little distance when the canoe sank, and Ode swam to the shore.
1	When	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	4	advmod	_	_
2	Ode	Ode	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
4	ready	ready	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
5	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj	_	_
6	got	get	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	ccomp	_	_
7	into	into	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
9	small	small	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	canoe	canoe	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
11	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
12	started	start	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	conj	_	_
13	down	down	ADP	RP	_	12	compound:prt	_	_
14	river	river	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obj	_	_
15	for	for	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
16	Inkum	Inkum	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	12	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	22	punct	_	_
18	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	22	cc	_	_
19	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	22	nsubj	_	_
20	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	22	aux	_	_
21	only	only	ADV	RB	_	22	advmod	_	_
22	gone	go	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	6	conj	_	_
23	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	25	det	_	_
24	little	little	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	25	amod	_	_
25	distance	distance	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	22	obl	_	_
26	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	29	advmod	_	_
27	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	28	det	_	_
28	canoe	canoe	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	29	nsubj	_	_
29	sank	sink	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	22	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
30	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	33	punct	_	_
31	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	33	cc	_	_
32	Ode	Ode	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	33	nsubj	_	_
33	swam	swim	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	29	conj	_	_
34	to	to	ADP	IN	_	36	case	_	_
35	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	36	det	_	_
36	shore	shore	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	33	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
37	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | Ode |  |  |  |  | ready *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **get** | past | Ode |  |  | a small canoe |  |  | vn escape-51.1 «NP V PP.destination»: agent=Theme into canoe=Destination |
| 3 | **start down** | past | Ode *not said here* | river |  |  |  | for Inkum | vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent river=Eventuality |
| 4 | **go** | past · perfect | Ode | a little distance |  |  |  |  | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 5 | **sink** | past | the canoe |  |  |  |  |  | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient |
| 6 | **swim** | past | Ode |  |  | the shore |  |  | vn run-51.3.2-1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme to shore=Destination |

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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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