--- title: As they could not discover who had killed the python, they met toget… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics description: As they could not discover who had killed the python, they met together and decided that for the future they would not make any more farms or live in the towns, as the men were jealous of them on account of the python having married ’Ndere. Who acts: men, more farms, python. A sentence of «Ikom folk --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/25/6/) [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/) / 6 # Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xxxi.--chief Kekong’s Daughter ’ndere Who Married a Python., part 2, sentence 6 As they could not discover who had killed the python, they met together and decided that for the future they would not make any more farms or live in the towns, as the men were jealous of them on account of the python having married ’Ndere. **Who acts:** men, more farms, python · **What happens:** not discover, kill, meet, decide, not make, live · **To what, where:** python, more farms, towns, account · **Speech:** someone speaks here 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 (men, more farms, python), 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:pg70959:25:6 # text = As they could not discover who had killed the python, they met together and decided that for the future they would not make any more farms or live in the towns, as the men were jealous of them on account of the python having married ’Ndere. 1 As as SCONJ IN _ 5 mark _ _ 2 they they PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 5 nsubj _ _ 3 could could AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 5 aux _ _ 4 not not PART RB Polarity=Neg 5 advmod _ _ 5 discover discover VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 13 advcl _ _ 6 who who PRON WP PronType=Rel 8 nsubj:pass _ _ 7 had have AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 8 aux _ _ 8 killed kill VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 5 ccomp _ _ 9 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 10 det _ _ 10 python python NOUN NN Number=Sing 8 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 11 , , PUNCT , _ 13 punct _ _ 12 they they PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 13 nsubj _ _ 13 met meet VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 14 together together ADV RB _ 13 advmod _ _ 15 and and CCONJ CC _ 16 cc _ _ 16 decided decide VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 13 conj _ _ 17 that that SCONJ IN _ 24 mark _ _ 18 for for ADP IN _ 20 case _ _ 19 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 20 det _ _ 20 future future NOUN NN Number=Sing 24 obl _ _ 21 they they PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 24 nsubj _ _ 22 would would AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 24 aux _ _ 23 not not PART RB Polarity=Neg 24 advmod _ _ 24 make make VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 16 ccomp _ _ 25 any any ADV RB _ 26 advmod _ _ 26 more more ADJ JJR Degree=Cmp 27 amod _ _ 27 farms farm NOUN NNS Number=Plur 24 obj _ _ 28 or or CCONJ CC _ 29 cc _ _ 29 live live VERB VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 27 acl:relcl _ _ 30 in in ADP IN _ 32 case _ _ 31 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 32 det _ _ 32 towns town NOUN NNS Number=Plur 29 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 33 , , PUNCT , _ 38 punct _ _ 34 as as SCONJ IN _ 38 mark _ _ 35 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 36 det _ _ 36 men man NOUN NNS Number=Plur 38 nsubj _ _ 37 were be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 38 cop _ _ 38 jealous jealous ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 24 conj _ _ 39 of of ADP IN _ 40 case _ _ 40 them they PRON PRP Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 38 obl _ _ 41 on on ADP IN _ 42 case _ _ 42 account account NOUN NN Number=Sing 38 obl _ _ 43 of of ADP IN _ 45 case _ _ 44 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 45 det _ _ 45 python python NOUN NN Number=Sing 42 nmod _ _ 46 having have VERB VBG VerbForm=Ger 45 acl _ _ 47 married marry VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 46 xcomp _ _ 48 ’ ' X GW _ 47 conj _ SpaceAfter=No 49 Ndere Ndere PROPN NNP Number=Sing 48 goeswith _ SpaceAfter=No 50 . . PUNCT . _ 13 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **not** **discover** | could | men *= man* | | | | | | vn discover-84-1 «NP V what S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Topic | | 2 | **kill** | past · perfect · passive | | the python | | | | who *nsubj:pass* | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP ADJ»: subject=Experiencer python=Result | | 3 | **meet** | past | men *= man* | | | | | together *property* | vn meet-36.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent | | 4 | **decide** | past | men *= man* *not said here* | | | | | | vn correspond-36.1-1 «NP V what S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Topic | | 5 | **not** **make** | would | men *= man* | more farms | | | | for the future | vn build-26.1-1 «NP V NP P.asset»: agent=Agent farm=Product for future=Asset | | 6 | **live** | present | more farms *not said here* | | | the towns | | | vn lodge-46 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme in town=Location | | 7 | **is** | past | the men | | | account of the python | | of towns *= town*; jealous *property* | tree rules | | 8 | **have** | gerund | the python *not said here* | | | | | | tree rules | | 9 | **marry** | participle | the python *not said here* | | | | | | vn amalgamate-22.2-3-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Patient | | 10 | **account** | | | the python | | | | | nom account «communication transitive»: of=patient | 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 5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/25/5/) - next →: [sentence 7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/25/7/) - ↑ 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/)