---
title: It was decided that the races should be run from one end of the cour… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: It was decided that the races should be run from one end of the course to the other and back again to the starting-point, and the first one to get back would be declared the winner. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Xxv.--how Two Bendega Young Men Change
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xxv.--how Two Bendega Young Men Changed Their Skins., part 4, sentence 20

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It was decided that the races should be run from one end of the course to the other and back again to the starting-point, and the first one to get back would be declared the winner.

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**What happens:** decide, run, get back, declare · **To what, where:** course, races, one end, first one · **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: 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:pg70959:21:20
# text = It was decided that the races should be run from one end of the course to the other and back again to the starting-point, and the first one to get back would be declared the winner.
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	decided	decide	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	9	mark	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	races	race	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	nsubj:pass	_	_
7	should	should	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	9	aux	_	_
8	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	9	aux:pass	_	_
9	run	run	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	ccomp	_	_
10	from	from	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	12	nummod	_	_
12	end	end	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	_
13	of	of	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	course	course	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nmod	_	_
16	to	to	ADP	IN	_	26	case	_	_
17	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	26	det	_	_
18	other	other	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	26	amod	_	_
19	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	26	cc	_	_
20	back	back	ADV	RB	_	21	advmod	_	_
21	again	again	ADV	RB	_	26	advmod	_	_
22	to	to	ADP	IN	_	26	case	_	_
23	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	26	det	_	_
24	starting	starting	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	26	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
25	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	24	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
26	point	point	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
27	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	37	punct	_	_
28	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	37	cc	_	_
29	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	31	det	_	_
30	first	first	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos|NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord	31	amod	_	_
31	one	one	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	37	nsubj:pass	_	_
32	to	to	PART	TO	_	33	mark	_	_
33	get	get	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	31	acl	_	_
34	back	back	ADV	RB	_	33	advmod	_	_
35	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	37	aux	_	_
36	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	37	aux:pass	_	_
37	declared	declare	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	conj	_	_
38	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	39	det	_	_
39	winner	winner	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	37	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
40	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **decide** | past · passive |  | course |  |  |  |  | vn correspond-36.1-1 «NP V PP.co-agent that S»: subject=Co-Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **run** | should · passive |  | the races |  |  | from one end of the course | to the other starting point | vn carry-11.4 «NP V NP PP.initial\_location PP.destination»: subject=Theme from end=Initial\_Location to point=Destination |
| 3 | **get back** | to-infinitive |  | the first one *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Experiencer |
| 4 | **declare** *speech: other* | would · passive |  | the first one |  |  |  | the winner *obj* | vn declare-29.4-1-1-1 «NP V NP ADJ»: subject=Theme winner=Attribute |

<!-- .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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