--- title: His wife then began to pack up her smoked fish, but, before she had… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics description: His wife then began to pack up her smoked fish, but, before she had finished Aictor came and sat on a tree near to where they were standing, and called out “Agbor Adam! Who acts: wife, Aictor, men. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Xxxi.--chief Kekong’s --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/25/59/) [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/pg70959/25/) / 59 # Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xxxi.--chief Kekong’s Daughter ’ndere Who Married a Python., part 2, sentence 59 His wife then began to pack up her smoked fish, but, before she had finished Aictor came and sat on a tree near to where they were standing, and called out “Agbor Adam! **Who acts:** wife, Aictor, men · **What happens:** begin, pack up, smoke, finish, come, sit · **To what, where:** smoked fish, tree, Agbor Adam 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 (wife, Aictor, men), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree. **Mova's own parse.** This tree may be wrong. ## The tree {#tree} ```conllu # sent_id = book:pg70959:25:59 # text = His wife then began to pack up her smoked fish, but, before she had finished Aictor came and sat on a tree near to where they were standing, and called out “Agbor Adam! 1 His his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 2 nmod:poss _ _ 2 wife wife NOUN NN Number=Sing 4 nsubj _ _ 3 then then ADV RB PronType=Dem 4 advmod _ _ 4 began begin VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 5 to to PART TO _ 6 mark _ _ 6 pack pack VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 4 xcomp _ _ 7 up up ADP RP _ 6 compound:prt _ _ 8 her her PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 10 nmod:poss _ _ 9 smoked smoke VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 10 amod _ _ 10 fish fish NOUN NN Number=Sing 6 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 11 , , PUNCT , _ 17 punct _ _ 12 but but CCONJ CC _ 17 cc _ SpaceAfter=No 13 , , PUNCT , _ 17 punct _ _ 14 before before SCONJ IN _ 17 mark _ _ 15 she she PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 17 nsubj _ _ 16 had have AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 17 aux _ _ 17 finished finish VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part 4 conj _ _ 18 Aictor Aictor PROPN NNP Number=Sing 19 nsubj _ _ 19 came come VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 17 parataxis _ _ 20 and and CCONJ CC _ 21 cc _ _ 21 sat sit VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 19 conj _ _ 22 on on ADP IN _ 24 case _ _ 23 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 24 det _ _ 24 tree tree NOUN NN Number=Sing 21 obl _ _ 25 near near ADP IN _ 30 mark _ _ 26 to to SCONJ IN _ 30 mark _ _ 27 where where ADV WRB PronType=Rel 30 advmod _ _ 28 they they PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 30 nsubj _ _ 29 were be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 30 aux _ _ 30 standing stand VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 21 advcl _ SpaceAfter=No 31 , , PUNCT , _ 33 punct _ _ 32 and and CCONJ CC _ 33 cc _ _ 33 called call VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 4 parataxis _ _ 34 out out ADP RP _ 33 compound:prt _ _ 35 “ " PUNCT `` _ 37 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 36 Agbor Agbor PROPN NNP Number=Sing 37 compound _ _ 37 Adam Adam PROPN NNP Number=Sing 33 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 38 ! ! PUNCT . _ 4 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **begin** | past | bird's wife | | | | then | | vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality | | 2 | **pack up** | to-infinitive | bird's wife *not said here* | | wife's smoked fish | | | | vn spray-9.7-1-1 «NP.theme V NP»: agent=Theme fish=Destination | | 3 | **smoke** | participle | | | | | | | vn eat-39.1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent | | 4 | **finish** | past · perfect | wife | | | | | | vn stop-55.4-1-1 «NP.eventuality V»: agent=Eventuality | | 5 | **come** | past | Aictor | | | | | | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 6 | **sit** | past | Aictor *not said here* | | | a tree | | | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent on tree=Location | | 7 | **stand** | past · progressive | men *= man* | | | | | | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V»: agent=Agent | | 8 | **call out** *speech: assert* | participle | | Agbor Adam | | | | | vn initiate\_communication-37.4.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent | 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. **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. - ← previous: [sentence 58](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/25/58/) - next →: [sentence 60](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/25/60/) - ↑ back to [Xxxi.--chief Kekong’s Daughter ’ndere Who Married a Python., part 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/25/)