---
title: Her parents tried their best to persuade ’Ndere to change her mind,… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: Her parents tried their best to persuade ’Ndere to change her mind, but she was obstinate, and continued to threaten to hang herself if they refused to do what she wanted; they therefore left her until the next morning. Who acts: parents, Ndere. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xxxi.--chief Kekong’s Daughter ’ndere Who Married a Python., part 1, sentence 37

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Her parents tried their best to persuade ’Ndere to change her mind, but she was obstinate, and continued to threaten to hang herself if they refused to do what she wanted; they therefore left her until the next morning.

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**Who acts:** parents, Ndere · **What happens:** try, persuade, change, be, continue, threaten · **To what, where:** best, Ndere, mind

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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 (parents, 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:pg70959:24:37
# text = Her parents tried their best to persuade ’Ndere to change her mind, but she was obstinate, and continued to threaten to hang herself if they refused to do what she wanted; they therefore left her until the next morning.
1	Her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	parents	parent	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	tried	try	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	5	nmod:poss	_	_
5	best	good	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	3	obj	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
7	persuade	persuade	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	xcomp	_	_
8	’	'	PUNCT	``	_	9	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	Ndere	Ndere	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
10	to	to	PART	TO	_	11	mark	_	_
11	change	change	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	advcl	_	_
12	her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	13	nmod:poss	_	_
13	mind	mind	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	18	punct	_	_
15	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	18	cc	_	_
16	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	18	nsubj	_	_
17	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	18	cop	_	_
18	obstinate	obstinate	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	parataxis	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	21	punct	_	_
20	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	21	cc	_	_
21	continued	continue	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	18	parataxis	_	_
22	to	to	PART	TO	_	23	mark	_	_
23	threaten	threaten	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	21	xcomp	_	_
24	to	to	PART	TO	_	25	mark	_	_
25	hang	hang	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	23	xcomp	_	_
26	herself	herself	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes	25	obj	_	_
27	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	29	mark	_	_
28	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	29	nsubj	_	_
29	refused	refuse	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	25	advcl	_	_
30	to	to	PART	TO	_	31	mark	_	_
31	do	do	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	29	xcomp	_	_
32	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	31	obj	_	_
33	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	34	nsubj	_	_
34	wanted	want	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	32	acl:relcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
35	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	38	punct	_	_
36	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	38	nsubj	_	_
37	therefore	therefore	ADV	RB	_	38	advmod	_	_
38	left	leave	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
39	her	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	38	obj	_	_
40	until	until	ADP	IN	_	43	case	_	_
41	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	43	det	_	_
42	next	next	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	43	amod	_	_
43	morning	morning	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	38	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
44	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **try** | past | wife's parents | parents's best |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **persuade** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | wife's parents *not said here* | Ndere |  |  |  |  | vn compel-59.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent ndere=Patient |
| 3 | **change** | to-infinitive | wife's parents *not said here* | Ndere's mind |  |  |  |  | vn dress-41.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent mind=Patient |
| 4 | **is** | past | Ndere |  |  |  |  | obstinate *property* | tree rules |
| 5 | **continue** | past |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn continue-55.3 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality |
| 6 | **threaten** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 7 | **hang** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive |  | Ndere |  |  |  |  | vn poison-42.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent herself=Patient |
| 8 | **refuse** *a condition, not said to happen* | past | parents *= parent* |  |  |  |  |  | vn reject-77.2 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Agent clause=Theme |
| 9 | **not** **do** | to-infinitive | parents *= parent* *not said here* |  |  |  |  | what *obj* | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent what=Eventuality |
| 10 | **want** | past | Ndere |  |  |  |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Pivot |
| 11 | **leave** | past | parents *= parent* | Ndere |  |  | morning | therefore *property* | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent she=Theme |
| 12 | **mind** |  | Ndere |  |  |  |  |  | nom mind «cognition transitive»: 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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