---
title: The boy also said that by far the best thing Ode could do was to ask… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: The boy also said that by far the best thing Ode could do was to ask his father-in-law to help him to recover his wife, and not to come to Inde himself again. Who acts: boy, Ode, best thing. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Xxiii.--why Edidor Killed Her
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xxiii.--why Edidor Killed Her Husband and Her Lover., sentence 30

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The boy also said that by far the best thing Ode could do was to ask his father-in-law to help him to recover his wife, and not to come to Inde himself again.

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**Who acts:** boy, Ode, best thing · **What happens:** say, do, be, help, recover, not come · **To what, where:** best thing, Ode, wife, Inde · **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 (boy, Ode, best thing), 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:pg70959:17:30
# text = The boy also said that by far the best thing Ode could do was to ask his father-in-law to help him to recover his wife, and not to come to Inde himself again.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	boy	boy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	also	also	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	16	mark	_	_
6	by	by	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	far	far	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	10	obl	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
9	best	good	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	10	amod	_	_
10	thing	thing	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	nsubj	_	_
11	Ode	Ode	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	13	nsubj	_	_
12	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	13	aux	_	_
13	do	do	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	10	acl:relcl	_	_
14	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	16	cop	_	_
15	to	to	PART	TO	_	16	mark	_	_
16	ask	ask	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	ccomp	_	_
17	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	22	nmod:poss	_	_
18	father	father	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	22	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	22	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	in	in	ADP	IN	_	22	case	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	20	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	law	law	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	obj	_	_
23	to	to	PART	TO	_	24	mark	_	_
24	help	help	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	16	advcl	_	_
25	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	24	obj	_	_
26	to	to	PART	TO	_	27	mark	_	_
27	recover	recover	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	24	xcomp	_	_
28	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	29	nmod:poss	_	_
29	wife	wife	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	27	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
30	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	34	punct	_	_
31	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	34	cc	_	_
32	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	34	advmod	_	_
33	to	to	PART	TO	_	34	mark	_	_
34	come	come	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	4	conj	_	_
35	to	to	ADP	IN	_	36	case	_	_
36	Inde	Inde	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	34	obl	_	_
37	himself	himself	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes	34	obl:unmarked	_	_
38	again	again	ADV	RB	_	34	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
39	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | the boy |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V how S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **do** | could | Ode | the best thing *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent thing=Eventuality |
| 3 | **is** | past | the best thing |  |  |  |  | Ode's law  father *obj*; ask *property* | tree rules |
| 4 | **help** | to-infinitive | the best thing *not said here* | Ode |  |  |  |  | vn help-72.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Agent he=Beneficiary clause=Theme |
| 5 | **recover** | to-infinitive | Ode *not said here* | Ode's wife |  |  |  |  | vn obtain-13.5.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent wife=Theme |
| 6 | **not** **come** | to-infinitive | the boy *not said here* | Ode |  | Inde | again |  | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme to inde=Initial\_Location |

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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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