---
title: In making this offer the bush buck thought he was perfectly safe, as… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: In making this offer the bush buck thought he was perfectly safe, as it was well known that he was a faster runner than anyone in the country. Who acts: this, making, man. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Xxv.--how Two Bendega Young Men Changed Their Sk
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xxv.--how Two Bendega Young Men Changed Their Skins., part 4, sentence 18

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In making this offer the bush buck thought he was perfectly safe, as it was well known that he was a faster runner than anyone in the country.

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**Who acts:** this, making, man · **What happens:** make, offer, think, be, know · **To what, where:** this, bush buck, dowry, faster runner · **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 4. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (this, making, man), 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:pg70959:21:18
# text = In making this offer the bush buck thought he was perfectly safe, as it was well known that he was a faster runner than anyone in the country.
1	In	in	SCONJ	IN	_	2	mark	_	_
2	making	make	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	8	csubj	_	_
3	this	this	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	2	obj	_	_
4	offer	offer	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	xcomp	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	bush	bush	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	compound	_	_
7	buck	buck	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
8	thought	think	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
9	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	12	nsubj	_	_
10	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	12	cop	_	_
11	perfectly	perfectly	ADV	RB	_	12	advmod	_	_
12	safe	safe	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	18	punct	_	_
14	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	18	mark	_	_
15	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	18	nsubj:pass	_	_
16	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	18	aux:pass	_	_
17	well	well	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	18	advmod	_	_
18	known	know	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	8	conj	_	_
19	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	24	mark	_	_
20	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	24	nsubj	_	_
21	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	24	cop	_	_
22	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	24	det	_	_
23	faster	fast	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	24	amod	_	_
24	runner	runner	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	xcomp	_	_
25	than	than	ADP	IN	_	26	case	_	_
26	anyone	anyone	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	24	nmod	_	_
27	in	in	ADP	IN	_	29	case	_	_
28	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	29	det	_	_
29	country	country	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	26	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
30	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	8	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **make** | gerund |  | this |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **offer** | infinitive | this *not said here* | the bush buck |  |  |  |  | vn future\_having-13.3 «NP V NP.theme (PP)»: agent=Agent buck=Theme |
| 3 | **think** *speech: other* | past | making |  |  |  |  |  | vn focus-87.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 4 | **is** | past | man |  |  |  |  | perfectly, safe *property* | tree rules |
| 5 | **know** | past · passive |  | dowry |  |  |  | well *property* | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: subject=Stimulus |
| 6 | **is a** | past | man | a faster runner |  |  |  | than anyone in the country | 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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