--- title: The head slave also said that ever since he had been married his wif… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics description: The head slave also said that ever since he had been married his wife had always brought the right number of cakes, and as this was the first time she had failed to do so he begged the chief not to punish her. Who acts: head slave, this, Erim, Chief. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Ni --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/20/10/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [tales](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/) / [Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/) / [Xxv.--how Two Bendega Young Men Change…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/20/) / 10 # Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xxv.--how Two Bendega Young Men Changed Their Skins., part 3, sentence 10 The head slave also said that ever since he had been married his wife had always brought the right number of cakes, and as this was the first time she had failed to do so he begged the chief not to punish her. **Who acts:** head slave, this, Erim, Chief · **What happens:** say, marry, bring, be, fail, not do · **To what, where:** Chief, wife, first time, Erim · **Speech:** someone speaks here This is a sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Xxv.--how Two Bendega Young Men Changed Their Skins., part 3. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (head slave, this, Erim, Chief), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree. **Mova's own parse.** This tree may be wrong. ## The tree {#tree} ```conllu # sent_id = book:pg70959:20:10 # text = The head slave also said that ever since he had been married his wife had always brought the right number of cakes, and as this was the first time she had failed to do so he begged the chief not to punish her. 1 The the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 3 det _ _ 2 head head NOUN NN Number=Sing 3 compound _ _ 3 slave slave NOUN NN Number=Sing 5 nsubj _ _ 4 also also ADV RB _ 5 advmod _ _ 5 said say VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 6 that that SCONJ IN _ 12 mark _ _ 7 ever ever ADV RB PronType=Ind 12 advmod _ _ 8 since since SCONJ IN _ 12 mark _ _ 9 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 12 nsubj:pass _ _ 10 had have AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 12 aux _ _ 11 been be AUX VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part 12 aux:pass _ _ 12 married marry VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 5 ccomp _ _ 13 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 14 nmod:poss _ _ 14 wife wife NOUN NN Number=Sing 17 nsubj:pass _ _ 15 had have AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 17 aux _ _ 16 always always ADV RB PronType=Tot 17 advmod _ _ 17 brought bring VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 12 conj _ _ 18 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 20 det _ _ 19 right right ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 20 amod _ _ 20 number number NOUN NN Number=Sing 17 obj _ _ 21 of of ADP IN _ 22 case _ _ 22 cakes cake NOUN NNS Number=Plur 20 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 23 , , PUNCT , _ 30 punct _ _ 24 and and CCONJ CC _ 30 cc _ _ 25 as as SCONJ IN _ 30 mark _ _ 26 this this PRON DT Number=Sing|PronType=Dem 30 nsubj _ _ 27 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 30 cop _ _ 28 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 30 det _ _ 29 first first ADJ JJ Degree=Pos|NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord 30 amod _ _ 30 time time NOUN NN Number=Sing 5 obl _ _ 31 she she PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 33 nsubj _ _ 32 had have AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 33 aux _ _ 33 failed fail VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part 30 acl:relcl _ _ 34 to to PART TO _ 35 mark _ _ 35 do do VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 33 xcomp _ _ 36 so so ADV RB _ 38 advmod _ _ 37 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 38 nsubj _ _ 38 begged beg VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 35 advcl _ _ 39 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 40 det _ _ 40 chief chief NOUN NN Number=Sing 38 obj _ _ 41 not not PART RB Polarity=Neg 43 advmod _ _ 42 to to PART TO _ 43 mark _ _ 43 punish punish VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 38 advcl _ _ 44 her she PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 43 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 45 . . PUNCT . _ 5 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | the head slave | | | | | | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic | | 2 | **marry** | past · perfect · passive | | Chief | | | ever | | vn amalgamate-22.2-3-1-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Patient | | 3 | **bring** | past · perfect · passive | | Chief's wife | | | | the right number of cakes *obj*; always *property* | vn bring-11.3-1 «NP V NP NP»: subject=Destination number=Theme | | 4 | **is a** | past | this | the first time | | | | | tree rules | | 5 | **fail** | past · perfect | Erim | the first time *not said here* | | | | | tree rules | | 6 | **not** **do** | to-infinitive | Erim *not said here* | | | | | | vn act-114-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent | | 7 | **beg** *speech: request* | past | Chief | the chief | | | | | vn beg-58.2-1-1 «NP V NP PP.Topic»: agent=Agent chief=Recipient | | 8 | **not** **punish** | to-infinitive | Chief *not said here* | Erim | | | | | vn prosecute-33.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent she=Patient | 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. **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. - ← previous: [sentence 9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/20/9/) - next →: [sentence 11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/20/11/) - ↑ back to [Xxv.--how Two Bendega Young Men Changed Their Skins., part 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/20/)