---
title: Now, all that had passed between these two people had been observed… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: Now, all that had passed between these two people had been observed by a bird called Aictor, who was sitting in a tree and could see everything that happened. Who acts: that, bird. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Xxxi.--chief Kekong’s Daughter ’ndere W
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xxxi.--chief Kekong’s Daughter ’ndere Who Married a Python., part 2, sentence 44

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Now, all that had passed between these two people had been observed by a bird called Aictor, who was sitting in a tree and could see everything that happened.

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**Who acts:** that, bird · **What happens:** pass, observe, call, sit, see, happen · **To what, where:** two people, bird, tree, everything · **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 2. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (that, bird), 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:pg70959:25:44
# text = Now, all that had passed between these two people had been observed by a bird called Aictor, who was sitting in a tree and could see everything that happened.
1	Now	now	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	6	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	all	all	DET	PDT	PronType=Tot	6	det:predet	_	_
4	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	6	nsubj	_	_
5	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
6	passed	pass	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
7	between	between	ADP	IN	_	13	mark	_	_
8	these	this	DET	DT	Number=Plur|PronType=Dem	10	det	_	_
9	two	two	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	10	nummod	_	_
10	people	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	13	nsubj:pass	_	_
11	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	13	aux	_	_
12	been	be	AUX	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	13	aux:pass	_	_
13	observed	observe	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	6	advcl	_	_
14	by	by	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
15	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
16	bird	bird	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obl	_	_
17	called	call	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	16	acl	_	_
18	Aictor	Aictor	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	17	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	22	punct	_	_
20	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	22	nsubj	_	_
21	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	22	aux	_	_
22	sitting	sit	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	16	acl	_	_
23	in	in	ADP	IN	_	25	case	_	_
24	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	25	det	_	_
25	tree	tree	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	22	obl	_	_
26	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	28	cc	_	_
27	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	28	aux	_	_
28	see	see	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	conj	_	_
29	everything	everything	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Tot	28	obj	_	_
30	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	31	nsubj	_	_
31	happened	happen	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	29	acl:relcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
32	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **pass** | past · perfect | that |  |  |  | now |  | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **observe** | past · perfect · passive | a bird | this two people |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: agent=Agent subject=Topic |
| 3 | **call** | participle |  | a bird *not said here* |  |  |  | Aictor *xcomp* | vn initiate\_communication-37.4.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 4 | **sit** | past · progressive | a bird |  |  | a tree |  |  | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent in tree=Location |
| 5 | **see** | could | that *not said here* | everything |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer everything=Stimulus |
| 6 | **happen** | past |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn occur-48.3-1 «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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