---
title: Then Chief Kaku asked the python what he wanted and how he could ass… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: Then Chief Kaku asked the python what he wanted and how he could assist him. Who acts: Chief. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Xxxi.--chief Kekong’s Daughter ’ndere Who Married a Python., part 1, with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of every clau
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xxxi.--chief Kekong’s Daughter ’ndere Who Married a Python., part 1, sentence 11

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Then Chief Kaku asked the python what he wanted and how he could assist him.

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**Who acts:** Chief · **What happens:** ask, want, assist · **To what, where:** python · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is a sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Xxxi.--chief Kekong’s Daughter ’ndere Who Married a Python., part 1. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (Chief), 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:pg70959:24:11
# text = Then Chief Kaku asked the python what he wanted and how he could assist him.
1	Then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	4	advmod	_	_
2	Chief	Chief	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	Kaku	Kaku	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	flat	_	_
4	asked	ask	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	python	python	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
7	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	9	obj	_	_
8	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	nsubj	_	_
9	wanted	want	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	ccomp	_	_
10	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	14	cc	_	_
11	how	how	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	14	advmod	_	_
12	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	14	nsubj	_	_
13	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	14	aux	_	_
14	assist	assist	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	9	conj	_	_
15	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	14	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ask** *speech: ask* | past | Chief | the python |  |  | then |  | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V NP whether S»: agent=Agent python=Recipient clause=Topic |
| 2 | **want** | past | Chief |  |  |  |  | what *obj* | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Pivot what=Theme |
| 3 | **assist** | could | Chief |  | python |  |  |  | vn help-72.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent he=Beneficiary |

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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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