---
title: There was one thing, however, that vexed Chief Erim, and that was th… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: There was one thing, however, that vexed Chief Erim, and that was that Odoggha Eyu was his eldest son, and he knew that when he died Odoggha Eyu would return to Okuni, which was his mother’s birthplace. Who acts: one thing, that, thing, Odoggha. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xxv.--how Two Bendega Young Men Changed Their Skins., part 3, sentence 4

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There was one thing, however, that vexed Chief Erim, and that was that Odoggha Eyu was his eldest son, and he knew that when he died Odoggha Eyu would return to Okuni, which was his mother’s birthplace.

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**Who acts:** one thing, that, thing, Odoggha, Okuni · **What happens:** be, vex, know, die, return · **To what, where:** Chief Erim, eldest son, Okuni, birthplace · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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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 3. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (one thing, that, thing, Odoggha), 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:pg70959:20:4
# text = There was one thing, however, that vexed Chief Erim, and that was that Odoggha Eyu was his eldest son, and he knew that when he died Odoggha Eyu would return to Okuni, which was his mother’s birthplace.
1	There	there	PRON	EX	PronType=Dem	2	expl	_	_
2	was	be	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	4	nummod	_	_
4	thing	thing	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
6	however	however	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
8	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	9	nsubj	_	_
9	vexed	vex	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
10	Chief	Chief	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	11	compound	_	_
11	Erim	Erim	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	9	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	22	punct	_	_
13	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	22	cc	_	_
14	that	that	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	22	nsubj	_	_
15	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	22	cop	_	_
16	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	22	mark	_	_
17	Odoggha	Odoggha	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	22	nsubj	_	_
18	Eyu	Eyu	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	17	flat	_	_
19	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	22	cop	_	_
20	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	22	nmod:poss	_	_
21	eldest	eld	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	22	amod	_	_
22	son	son	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	26	punct	_	_
24	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	26	cc	_	_
25	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	26	nsubj	_	_
26	knew	know	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	parataxis	_	_
27	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	30	mark	_	_
28	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	30	advmod	_	_
29	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	30	nsubj	_	_
30	died	die	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	26	ccomp	_	_
31	Odoggha	Odoggha	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	34	nsubj	_	_
32	Eyu	Eyu	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	31	flat	_	_
33	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	34	aux	_	_
34	return	return	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	30	ccomp	_	_
35	to	to	ADP	IN	_	36	case	_	_
36	Okuni	Okuni	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	34	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
37	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	43	punct	_	_
38	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	43	nsubj	_	_
39	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	43	cop	_	_
40	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	41	nmod:poss	_	_
41	mother	mother	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	43	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
42	’s	's	PART	POS	_	41	case	_	_
43	birthplace	birthplace	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	36	appos	_	SpaceAfter=No
44	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **be** | past | one thing |  |  | there |  |  | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **vex** | past | that | Chief Erim |  |  |  | however *property* | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus erim=Experiencer |
| 3 | **is a** | past | that | Odoggha's eldest son |  |  |  | Odoggha *nsubj* | tree rules |
| 4 | **know** | past | thing |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V how S\_INF»: agent=Experiencer clause=Stimulus |
| 5 | **die** | past | thing |  |  |  |  |  | vn long-32.2 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Pivot clause=Theme |
| 6 | **return** | would | Odoggha |  | Okuni |  |  |  | vn convert-26.6.2-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Patient to okuni=Result |
| 7 | **is a** | past | Okuni | Odoggha's mother's birthplace |  |  |  | Odoggha's mother *nmod:poss* | tree rules |

<!-- .note -->
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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