---
title: He then told her that the python wanted to marry her, and asked ’Nde… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: He then told her that the python wanted to marry her, and asked ’Ndere what her wishes were. Who acts: Chief, python, Ndere. 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 a
---

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[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/24/26/)

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xxxi.--chief Kekong’s Daughter ’ndere Who Married a Python., part 1, sentence 26

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He then told her that the python wanted to marry her, and asked ’Ndere what her wishes were.

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**Who acts:** Chief, python, Ndere · **What happens:** tell, want, marry, ask, wish · **To what, where:** wife, Ndere · **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, 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:pg70959:24:26
# text = He then told her that the python wanted to marry her, and asked ’Ndere what her wishes were.
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	3	advmod	_	_
3	told	tell	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	her	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	iobj	_	_
5	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	8	mark	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	python	python	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
8	wanted	want	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	ccomp	_	_
9	to	to	PART	TO	_	10	mark	_	_
10	marry	marry	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	8	xcomp	_	_
11	her	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
13	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	14	cc	_	_
14	asked	ask	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
15	’	'	PUNCT	``	_	16	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	Ndere	Ndere	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	14	obl	_	_
17	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	16	obj	_	_
18	her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	19	nmod:poss	_	_
19	wishes	wish	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	20	nsubj	_	_
20	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	17	acl:relcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **tell** *speech: assert* | past | Chief |  | wife |  | then |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Agent she=Recipient clause=Topic |
| 2 | **want** | past | the python |  |  |  |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Pivot clause=Theme |
| 3 | **marry** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | the python *not said here* | wife |  |  |  |  | vn amalgamate-22.2-3-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent she=Patient |
| 4 | **ask** *speech: ask* | past | Chief *not said here* | Ndere |  |  |  |  | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 5 | **wish** |  | Ndere |  |  |  |  |  | nom wish «feeling intransitive»: poss=agent |

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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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