---
title: Agbor also said he was so frightened that he had come to ask her to… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: Agbor also said he was so frightened that he had come to ask her to run home with him, and he would then consult the lot caster as to what should be done before the chief arrived, as he felt certain the bird must have seen what they had done and would tell everybody. Who acts: Agbor, chief, men. A s
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xxxi.--chief Kekong’s Daughter ’ndere Who Married a Python., part 2, sentence 58

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Agbor also said he was so frightened that he had come to ask her to run home with him, and he would then consult the lot caster as to what should be done before the chief arrived, as he felt certain the bird must have seen what they had done and would tell everybody.

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**Who acts:** Agbor, chief, men · **What happens:** say, be, come, ask, run, consult · **To what, where:** AGBOR, wife, lot caster, bird, everybody · **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 (Agbor, chief, men), 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:pg70959:25:58
# text = Agbor also said he was so frightened that he had come to ask her to run home with him, and he would then consult the lot caster as to what should be done before the chief arrived, as he felt certain the bird must have seen what they had done and would tell everybody.
1	Agbor	Agbor	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
2	also	also	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
3	said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj:pass	_	_
5	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
6	so	so	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
7	frightened	frightened	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	ccomp	_	_
8	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	11	mark	_	_
9	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	11	nsubj	_	_
10	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	11	aux	_	_
11	come	come	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	7	advcl	_	_
12	to	to	PART	TO	_	13	mark	_	_
13	ask	ask	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	11	advcl	_	_
14	her	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	13	iobj	_	_
15	to	to	PART	TO	_	16	mark	_	_
16	run	run	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	13	xcomp	_	_
17	home	home	ADV	RB	_	16	advmod	_	_
18	with	with	ADP	IN	_	19	case	_	_
19	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	16	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	25	punct	_	_
21	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	25	cc	_	_
22	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	25	nsubj	_	_
23	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	25	aux	_	_
24	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	25	advmod	_	_
25	consult	consult	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	conj	_	_
26	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	28	det	_	_
27	lot	lot	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	28	compound	_	_
28	caster	caster	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	25	obj	_	_
29	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	34	mark	_	_
30	to	to	ADP	IN	_	29	fixed	_	_
31	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	34	obj	_	_
32	should	should	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	34	aux	_	_
33	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	34	aux:pass	_	_
34	done	do	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	25	advcl	_	_
35	before	before	SCONJ	IN	_	38	mark	_	_
36	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	37	det	_	_
37	chief	chief	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	38	nsubj	_	_
38	arrived	arrive	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	34	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
39	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	42	punct	_	_
40	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	42	mark	_	_
41	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	42	nsubj	_	_
42	felt	feel	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
43	certain	certain	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	42	xcomp	_	_
44	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	45	det	_	_
45	bird	bird	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	48	nsubj:pass	_	_
46	must	must	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	48	aux	_	_
47	have	have	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	48	aux	_	_
48	seen	see	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	42	ccomp	_	_
49	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	52	obj	_	_
50	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	52	nsubj	_	_
51	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	52	aux	_	_
52	done	do	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	48	xcomp	_	_
53	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	55	cc	_	_
54	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	55	aux	_	_
55	tell	tell	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	48	conj	_	_
56	everybody	everybody	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Tot	55	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
57	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | Agbor |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **is** | past · passive |  | AGBOR |  |  |  | frightened *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **come** | past · perfect | AGBOR |  |  |  |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 4 | **ask** *speech: ask* | to-infinitive | AGBOR *not said here* |  | wife |  |  |  | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V NP whether S\_INF»: agent=Agent she=Recipient clause=Topic |
| 5 | **run** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | AGBOR *not said here* |  |  |  |  | with AGBOR; home *property* | vn preparing-26.3-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent with he=Material |
| 6 | **consult** | would | AGBOR | the lot caster |  |  | then |  | vn assessment-34.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent caster=Theme |
| 7 | **do** | should · passive | AGBOR *not said here* |  |  |  |  | what *obj* | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: what=Eventuality |
| 8 | **arrive** | past | the chief |  |  |  |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 9 | **feel** | past | Chief |  |  |  |  | certain *property* | vn conjecture-29.5-2 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Theme |
| 10 | **see** | must · perfect · passive |  | the bird |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 11 | **do** | past · perfect | men *= man* |  |  |  |  | what *obj* | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent what=Eventuality |
| 12 | **tell** *speech: assert* | would |  |  | everybody |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent everybody=Recipient |

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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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