---
title: A messenger was then sent to Odoggha Eyu to tell him that his brothe… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: A messenger was then sent to Odoggha Eyu to tell him that his brother was dead. Who acts: brother. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Xxv.--how Two Bendega Young Men Changed Their Skins., part 3, with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of every clause
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xxv.--how Two Bendega Young Men Changed Their Skins., part 3, sentence 62

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A messenger was then sent to Odoggha Eyu to tell him that his brother was dead.

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**Who acts:** brother · **What happens:** send, tell, be · **To what, where:** messenger, Odoggha, Oga · **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 (brother), 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:pg70959:20:62
# text = A messenger was then sent to Odoggha Eyu to tell him that his brother was dead.
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	messenger	messenger	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux:pass	_	_
4	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	5	advmod	_	_
5	sent	send	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
6	to	to	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	Odoggha	Odoggha	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
8	Eyu	Eyu	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	7	flat	_	_
9	to	to	PART	TO	_	10	mark	_	_
10	tell	tell	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	advcl	_	_
11	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	iobj	_	_
12	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	16	mark	_	_
13	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	14	nmod:poss	_	_
14	brother	brother	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	nsubj	_	_
15	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	16	cop	_	_
16	dead	dead	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **send** | past · passive |  | a messenger | Odoggha |  | then |  | vn confine-92-1 «NP V NP PP.destination»: subject=Theme to odoggha=Destination |
| 2 | **tell** *speech: assert* | to-infinitive |  |  | Oga |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent he=Recipient |
| 3 | **is** | past | Oga's brother |  |  |  |  | dead *property* | tree rules |

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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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