---
title: These sores were so bad that Oga could not walk about, and his body… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: These sores were so bad that Oga could not walk about, and his body smelt so disgustingly that the people would not let him come near them. Who acts: sores, Oga, body, people. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Xxv.--how Two Bendega Young Men Changed Thei
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xxv.--how Two Bendega Young Men Changed Their Skins., part 1, sentence 7

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These sores were so bad that Oga could not walk about, and his body smelt so disgustingly that the people would not let him come near them.

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**Who acts:** sores, Oga, body, people · **What happens:** be, not walk, smelt, not let, come · **To what, where:** Oga

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This is a sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Xxv.--how Two Bendega Young Men Changed Their Skins., part 1. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (sores, Oga, body, people), 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:pg70959:18:7
# text = These sores were so bad that Oga could not walk about, and his body smelt so disgustingly that the people would not let him come near them.
1	These	this	DET	DT	Number=Plur|PronType=Dem	2	det	_	_
2	sores	sore	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
3	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
4	so	so	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	bad	bad	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
6	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	10	mark	_	_
7	Oga	Oga	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	10	nsubj	_	_
8	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	10	aux	_	_
9	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	10	advmod	_	_
10	walk	walk	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	advcl	_	_
11	about	about	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	16	punct	_	_
13	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	16	cc	_	_
14	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	15	nmod:poss	_	_
15	body	body	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	nsubj	_	_
16	smelt	smelt	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	parataxis	_	_
17	so	so	ADV	RB	_	18	advmod	_	_
18	disgustingly	disgustingly	ADV	RB	_	16	advmod	_	_
19	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	24	mark	_	_
20	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	21	det	_	_
21	people	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	24	nsubj	_	_
22	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	24	aux	_	_
23	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	24	advmod	_	_
24	let	let	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	16	advcl	_	_
25	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	24	obj	_	_
26	come	come	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	24	xcomp	_	_
27	near	near	ADP	IN	_	28	case	_	_
28	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	26	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
29	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | this sores |  |  |  |  | bad *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **not** **walk** | could | Oga |  |  |  |  | about *property* | vn run-51.3.2-2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 3 | **smelt** | past | Oga's body |  |  |  |  | disgustingly *property* | tree rules |
| 4 | **not** **let** | would | the people | Oga |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 5 | **come** | infinitive | Oga *not said here* |  |  |  |  | near sores *= sore* | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme near they=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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