--- title: As they all knew, the conditions of the race were that the two compe… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics description: As they all knew, the conditions of the race were that the two competitors were to start together and run to the end of the course, and then return to the starting-point, and the one who returned first would be the winner. Who acts: companions, conditions, one. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories from --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/21/31/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [tales](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/) / [Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/) / [Xxv.--how Two Bendega Young Men Change…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/21/) / 31 # Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xxv.--how Two Bendega Young Men Changed Their Skins., part 4, sentence 31 As they all knew, the conditions of the race were that the two competitors were to start together and run to the end of the course, and then return to the starting-point, and the one who returned first would be the winner. **Who acts:** companions, conditions, one · **What happens:** know, be, run, return, condition · **To what, where:** winner, race 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 (companions, conditions, one), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree. **Mova's own parse.** This tree may be wrong. ## The tree {#tree} ```conllu # sent_id = book:pg70959:21:31 # text = As they all knew, the conditions of the race were that the two competitors were to start together and run to the end of the course, and then return to the starting-point, and the one who returned first would be the winner. 1 As as SCONJ IN _ 4 mark _ _ 2 they they PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 4 nsubj _ _ 3 all all DET DT PronType=Tot 2 det _ _ 4 knew know VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 18 advcl _ SpaceAfter=No 5 , , PUNCT , _ 4 punct _ _ 6 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 7 det _ _ 7 conditions condition NOUN NNS Number=Plur 18 nsubj _ _ 8 of of ADP IN _ 10 case _ _ 9 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 10 det _ _ 10 race race NOUN NN Number=Sing 7 nmod _ _ 11 were be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 18 cop _ _ 12 that that SCONJ IN _ 18 mark _ _ 13 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 15 det _ _ 14 two two NUM CD NumForm=Word|NumType=Card 15 nummod _ _ 15 competitors competitor NOUN NNS Number=Plur 18 nsubj _ _ 16 were be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 18 aux _ _ 17 to to PART TO _ 18 mark _ _ 18 start start VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 0 root _ _ 19 together together ADV RB _ 18 advmod _ _ 20 and and CCONJ CC _ 21 cc _ _ 21 run run VERB VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 18 conj _ _ 22 to to ADP IN _ 24 case _ _ 23 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 24 det _ _ 24 end end NOUN NN Number=Sing 21 obl _ _ 25 of of ADP IN _ 27 case _ _ 26 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 27 det _ _ 27 course course NOUN NN Number=Sing 24 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 28 , , PUNCT , _ 31 punct _ _ 29 and and CCONJ CC _ 31 cc _ _ 30 then then ADV RB PronType=Dem 31 advmod _ _ 31 return return VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 18 conj _ _ 32 to to ADP IN _ 36 case _ _ 33 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 36 det _ _ 34 starting starting NOUN NN Number=Sing 36 compound _ SpaceAfter=No 35 - - PUNCT HYPH _ 34 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 36 point point NOUN NN Number=Sing 31 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 37 , , PUNCT , _ 47 punct _ _ 38 and and CCONJ CC _ 47 cc _ _ 39 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 40 det _ _ 40 one one NOUN NN Number=Sing 47 nsubj _ _ 41 who who PRON WP PronType=Rel 42 nsubj _ _ 42 returned return VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 40 acl:relcl _ _ 43 first first ADV RB NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord 42 advmod _ _ 44 would would AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 47 aux _ _ 45 be be AUX VB VerbForm=Inf 47 cop _ _ 46 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 47 det _ _ 47 winner winner NOUN NN Number=Sing 31 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 48 . . PUNCT . _ 18 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **know** | past | companions *= companion* | | | | | | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer | | 2 | **is** | past | the conditions of the race | | | | | the two competitors *nsubj*; start, together *property* | tree rules | | 3 | **run** | present | the conditions of the race *not said here* | | | | to the end of the course | | vn run-51.3.2-2-1 «NP V PP.result»: agent=Theme to end=Result | | 4 | **return** | infinitive | the conditions of the race *not said here* | | | | then | to the starting point *result* | vn convert-26.6.2-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Patient to point=Result | | 5 | **return** | past | the one | | | | | first *property* | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 6 | **is a** | would | the one | the winner | | | | | tree rules | | 7 | **condition** | | | the race | | | | | nom condition «state transitive»: of=patient | 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. **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. - ← previous: [sentence 30](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/21/30/) - next →: [sentence 32](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/21/32/) - ↑ back to [Xxv.--how Two Bendega Young Men Changed Their Skins., part 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/21/)