---
title: So the python said, “I want to marry ’Ndere, the daughter of Chief K… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: So the python said, “I want to marry ’Ndere, the daughter of Chief Kekong of Okuni, but, as I have no hands or feet, she will not look at me. Who acts: python, Ndere. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Xxxi.--chief Kekong’s Daughter ’ndere Who Married a P
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xxxi.--chief Kekong’s Daughter ’ndere Who Married a Python., part 1, sentence 12

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So the python said, “I want to marry ’Ndere, the daughter of Chief Kekong of Okuni, but, as I have no hands or feet, she will not look at me.

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**Who acts:** python, Ndere · **What happens:** say, want, marry, have, not look · **To what, where:** Ndere, hands · **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 (python, Ndere), 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:pg70959:24:12
# text = So the python said, “I want to marry ’Ndere, the daughter of Chief Kekong of Okuni, but, as I have no hands or feet, she will not look at me.
1	So	so	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	python	python	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
6	“	"	PUNCT	``	_	8	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	_
8	want	want	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	ccomp	_	_
9	to	to	PART	TO	_	10	mark	_	_
10	marry	marry	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	8	xcomp	_	_
11	’	'	PUNCT	``	_	12	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	Ndere	Ndere	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	10	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	15	punct	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	daughter	daughter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	appos	_	_
16	of	of	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
17	Chief	Chief	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	18	compound	_	_
18	Kekong	Kekong	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	15	nmod	_	_
19	of	of	ADP	IN	_	20	case	_	_
20	Okuni	Okuni	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	18	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	35	punct	_	_
22	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	35	cc	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	22	punct	_	_
24	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	26	mark	_	_
25	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	26	nsubj	_	_
26	have	have	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	35	advcl	_	_
27	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	28	det	_	_
28	hands	hand	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	26	obj	_	_
29	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	30	cc	_	_
30	feet	foot	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	28	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
31	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	26	punct	_	_
32	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	35	nsubj	_	_
33	will	will	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	35	aux	_	_
34	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	35	advmod	_	_
35	look	look	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	conj	_	_
36	at	at	ADP	IN	_	37	case	_	_
37	me	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	35	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
38	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | the python |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **want** *in a quote* | present | the python *= python* |  |  |  |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Pivot clause=Theme |
| 3 | **marry** *not said to happen, in a quote* | to-infinitive | the python *= python* *not said here* | Ndere |  |  |  |  | vn amalgamate-22.2-3-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent ndere=Patient |
| 4 | **have** *in a quote* | present | the python *= python* | no hands or feet |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent hand=Patient |
| 5 | **not** **look** *in a quote* | future | Ndere |  |  |  |  | at the python *= python* | vn peer-30.3 «NP V PP.theme»: agent=Agent at i=Theme |

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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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