---
title: The friendly python told him that if he did this and returned to Oku… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: The friendly python told him that if he did this and returned to Okuni and asked ’Ndere to marry him, it was very likely that she would do so. Who acts: friendly python, python, Ndere, country. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Xxxi.--chief Kekong’s Daug
---

<!-- md -->
[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/24/8/)

<!-- crumbs -->
[home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [tales](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/) / [Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/) / [Xxxi.--chief Kekong’s Daughter ’ndere…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/24/) / 8

# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xxxi.--chief Kekong’s Daughter ’ndere Who Married a Python., part 1, sentence 8

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The friendly python told him that if he did this and returned to Okuni and asked ’Ndere to marry him, it was very likely that she would do so.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** friendly python, python, Ndere, country · **What happens:** tell, do, return, ask, marry, be · **To what, where:** Okuni, this, Ndere, python · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
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 (friendly python, python, Ndere, country), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree.

<!-- .note-en -->
**Mova's own parse.** This tree may be wrong.

## The tree {#tree}

```conllu
# sent_id = book:pg70959:24:8
# text = The friendly python told him that if he did this and returned to Okuni and asked ’Ndere to marry him, it was very likely that she would do so.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	friendly	friendly	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	python	python	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	told	tell	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	iobj	_	_
6	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	9	mark	_	_
7	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	9	mark	_	_
8	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	nsubj	_	_
9	did	do	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	advcl	_	_
10	this	this	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	9	obj	_	_
11	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
12	returned	return	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	9	conj	_	_
13	to	to	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
14	Okuni	Okuni	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	12	obl	_	_
15	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	16	cc	_	_
16	asked	ask	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	conj	_	_
17	’	'	PUNCT	``	_	18	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	Ndere	Ndere	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	16	obl	_	_
19	to	to	PART	TO	_	20	mark	_	_
20	marry	marry	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	16	xcomp	_	_
21	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	20	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	26	punct	_	_
23	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	26	nsubj	_	_
24	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	26	cop	_	_
25	very	very	ADV	RB	_	26	advmod	_	_
26	likely	likely	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	parataxis	_	_
27	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	30	mark	_	_
28	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	30	nsubj	_	_
29	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	30	aux	_	_
30	do	do	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	26	xcomp	_	_
31	so	so	ADV	RB	_	30	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
32	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **tell** *speech: assert* | past | the friendly python |  | Okuni |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent he=Recipient |
| 2 | **do** *a condition, not said to happen* | past | python | this |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent this=Eventuality |
| 3 | **return** | past | python *not said here* |  | Okuni |  |  |  | vn convert-26.6.2-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Patient to okuni=Result |
| 4 | **ask** *speech: ask* | past | the friendly python *not said here* | Ndere |  |  |  |  | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V how S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 5 | **marry** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | Ndere *not said here* | python |  |  |  |  | vn amalgamate-22.2-3-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent he=Patient |
| 6 | **is** | past | country |  |  |  |  | likely *property* | tree rules |
| 7 | **do** | would | Ndere |  |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

<!-- .note -->
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.

<!-- div src -->

**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.

<!-- /div -->

<!-- pn -->
- ← previous: [sentence 7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/24/7/)
- next →: [sentence 9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/24/9/)
- ↑ back to [Xxxi.--chief Kekong’s Daughter ’ndere Who Married a Python., part 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/24/)