---
title: When he had eaten all the food he returned to the place where he had… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: When he had eaten all the food he returned to the place where he had left his wife, and found her waiting for him. 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 Python., part 1, with its de
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xxxi.--chief Kekong’s Daughter ’ndere Who Married a Python., part 1, sentence 79

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When he had eaten all the food he returned to the place where he had left his wife, and found her waiting for him.

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**Who acts:** python, Ndere · **What happens:** eat, return, leave, find, wait · **To what, where:** food, place, wife, Ndere

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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:pg70959:24:79
# text = When he had eaten all the food he returned to the place where he had left his wife, and found her waiting for him.
1	When	when	SCONJ	WRB	_	4	mark	_	_
2	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
3	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	eaten	eat	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
5	all	all	DET	PDT	PronType=Tot	7	det:predet	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	food	food	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
8	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	nsubj	_	_
9	returned	return	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	acl:relcl	_	_
10	to	to	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	place	place	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	_
13	where	where	ADV	WRB	PronType=Rel	16	advmod	_	_
14	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	16	nsubj	_	_
15	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	16	aux	_	_
16	left	leave	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	12	acl:relcl	_	_
17	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	18	nmod:poss	_	_
18	wife	wife	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	21	punct	_	_
20	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	21	cc	_	_
21	found	find	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	conj	_	_
22	her	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	21	obj	_	_
23	waiting	wait	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	21	xcomp	_	_
24	for	for	ADP	IN	_	25	case	_	_
25	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	23	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
26	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **eat** | past · perfect | python | all food |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent food=Patient |
| 2 | **return** | past | python | all food *not said here* |  | the place |  |  | vn send-11.1 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent food=Theme to place=Destination |
| 3 | **leave** | past · perfect | python | python's wife |  |  |  |  | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent wife=Theme |
| 4 | **find** | past | python *not said here* | Ndere |  |  |  |  | vn declare-29.4-1-1 «NP V NP ADJ»: agent=Agent she=Attribute clause=Theme |
| 5 | **wait** | gerund | Ndere *not said here* |  |  |  |  | for python | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=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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