---
title: One of them said, “Let us make him blind in both eyes,” but the othe… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: One of them said, “Let us make him blind in both eyes,” but the others would not agree, and said he should be killed at once, as if he were only blind he would know what was going on and would still be able to punish them. Who acts: One, us, others, Oga. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Souther
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xxv.--how Two Bendega Young Men Changed Their Skins., part 3, sentence 49

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One of them said, “Let us make him blind in both eyes,” but the others would not agree, and said he should be killed at once, as if he were only blind he would know what was going on and would still be able to punish them.

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**Who acts:** One, us, others, Oga · **What happens:** say, let, make, not agree, kill, be · **To what, where:** us, Oga, slaves · **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, us, others, Oga), 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:pg70959:20:49
# text = One of them said, “Let us make him blind in both eyes,” but the others would not agree, and said he should be killed at once, as if he were only blind he would know what was going on and would still be able to punish them.
1	One	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	4	nsubj	_	_
2	of	of	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
3	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	1	nmod	_	_
4	said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
6	“	"	PUNCT	``	_	7	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	Let	let	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	ccomp	_	_
8	us	we	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs	7	obj	_	_
9	make	make	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	xcomp	_	_
10	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	obj	_	_
11	blind	blind	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	xcomp	_	_
12	in	in	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	both	both	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	14	det	_	_
14	eyes	eye	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	11	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	”	"	PUNCT	''	_	7	punct	_	_
17	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	22	cc	_	_
18	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	19	det	_	_
19	others	other	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	22	nsubj	_	_
20	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	22	aux	_	_
21	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	22	advmod	_	_
22	agree	agree	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	25	punct	_	_
24	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	25	cc	_	_
25	said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	conj	_	_
26	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	29	nsubj:pass	_	_
27	should	should	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	29	aux	_	_
28	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	29	aux:pass	_	_
29	killed	kill	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	25	ccomp	_	_
30	at	at	ADP	IN	_	31	case	_	_
31	once	once	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Mult	29	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
32	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	38	punct	_	_
33	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	38	mark	_	_
34	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	38	mark	_	_
35	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	38	nsubj	_	_
36	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	38	cop	_	_
37	only	only	ADV	RB	_	38	advmod	_	_
38	blind	blind	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	25	ccomp	_	_
39	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	41	nsubj	_	_
40	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	41	aux	_	_
41	know	know	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	38	parataxis	_	_
42	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	44	nsubj	_	_
43	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	44	aux	_	_
44	going	go	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	41	ccomp	_	_
45	on	on	ADP	RP	_	44	compound:prt	_	_
46	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	50	cc	_	_
47	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	50	aux	_	_
48	still	still	ADV	RB	_	50	advmod	_	_
49	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	50	cop	_	_
50	able	able	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	41	conj	_	_
51	to	to	PART	TO	_	52	mark	_	_
52	punish	punish	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	50	xcomp	_	_
53	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	52	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
54	.	.	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 | One of slaves |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **let** *in a quote* | infinitive |  | us |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **make** *in a quote* | infinitive | us *not said here* | Oga |  |  |  | blind *property* | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset he=Product |
| 4 | **not** **agree** *speech: agree* | would | the others |  |  |  |  |  | vn correspond-36.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 5 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | One of slaves *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 6 | **kill** | should · passive |  | Oga |  |  |  |  | vn remove-10.1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |
| 7 | **is** *a condition, not said to happen* | past | Oga |  |  |  |  | blind *property* | tree rules |
| 8 | **know** | would | Oga |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V how S\_INF»: agent=Experiencer clause=Stimulus |
| 9 | **go on** | past · progressive |  |  |  |  |  | what *nsubj* | vn function-105.2.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 10 | **is** | would | Oga *not said here* |  |  |  | still | able *property* | tree rules |
| 11 | **punish** | to-infinitive | Oga *not said here* | slaves *= slave* |  |  |  |  | vn prosecute-33.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent they=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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