---
title: When all the people had arrived, the oldest chief of the town stood… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: When all the people had arrived, the oldest chief of the town stood up, and said, “I have seen to-day what I have never seen before since I was born. Who acts: people, oldest chief. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Xxiii.--why Edidor Killed Her Husband 
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xxiii.--why Edidor Killed Her Husband and Her Lover., sentence 139

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When all the people had arrived, the oldest chief of the town stood up, and said, “I have seen to-day what I have never seen before since I was born.

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**Who acts:** people, oldest chief · **What happens:** arrive, stand up, say, see, not see, bear · **To what, where:** oldest chief · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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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 (people, oldest chief), 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:pg70959:17:139
# text = When all the people had arrived, the oldest chief of the town stood up, and said, “I have seen to-day what I have never seen before since I was born.
1	When	when	SCONJ	WRB	_	6	mark	_	_
2	all	all	DET	PDT	PronType=Tot	4	det:predet	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	people	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nsubj	_	_
5	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
6	arrived	arrive	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	14	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	6	punct	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
9	oldest	old	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	10	amod	_	_
10	chief	chief	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	nsubj	_	_
11	of	of	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	town	town	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nmod	_	_
14	stood	stand	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
15	up	up	ADP	RP	_	14	compound:prt	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	18	punct	_	_
17	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	18	cc	_	_
18	said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	14	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	23	punct	_	_
20	“	"	PUNCT	``	_	23	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	23	nsubj	_	_
22	have	have	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	23	aux	_	_
23	seen	see	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	18	ccomp	_	_
24	to	to	ADP	IN	_	26	case	_	SpaceAfter=No
25	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	24	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
26	day	day	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	23	obl	_	_
27	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	31	obl	_	_
28	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	31	nsubj	_	_
29	have	have	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	31	aux	_	_
30	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	31	advmod	_	_
31	seen	see	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	23	conj	_	_
32	before	before	SCONJ	IN	_	31	advmod	_	_
33	since	since	SCONJ	IN	_	36	mark	_	_
34	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	36	nsubj:pass	_	_
35	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	36	aux:pass	_	_
36	born	bear	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	31	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
37	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	14	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **arrive** | past · perfect | all people |  |  |  |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **stand up** | past | the oldest chief of the town |  |  |  |  |  | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | the oldest chief of the town *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 4 | **see** *in a quote* | present · perfect | the oldest chief of the town *= chief* |  |  |  | day |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer |
| 5 | **not** **see** *in a quote* | present · perfect | the oldest chief of the town *= chief* |  |  |  |  | what *obl* | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer |
| 6 | **bear** *in a quote* | past · passive |  | the oldest chief of the town *= chief* |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Patient |

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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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