---
title: When the chief returned to the town with his hunters, he sent some m… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: When the chief returned to the town with his hunters, he sent some men to call Agbor, but although they knocked at his door for a long time and called both Agbor and his wife by name, they received no reply. Who acts: chief, men. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xxxi.--chief Kekong’s Daughter ’ndere Who Married a Python., part 3, sentence 1

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When the chief returned to the town with his hunters, he sent some men to call Agbor, but although they knocked at his door for a long time and called both Agbor and his wife by name, they received no reply.

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**Who acts:** chief, men · **What happens:** return, send, call, knock, receive · **To what, where:** men, Agbor, reply · **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 3. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (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:pg70959:26:1
# text = When the chief returned to the town with his hunters, he sent some men to call Agbor, but although they knocked at his door for a long time and called both Agbor and his wife by name, they received no reply.
1	When	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	4	advmod	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	chief	chief	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	returned	return	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	13	advcl	_	_
5	to	to	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	town	town	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
8	with	with	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	10	nmod:poss	_	_
10	hunters	hunter	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	4	punct	_	_
12	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	13	nsubj	_	_
13	sent	send	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
14	some	some	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	15	det	_	_
15	men	man	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	13	obj	_	_
16	to	to	PART	TO	_	17	mark	_	_
17	call	call	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	13	advcl	_	_
18	Agbor	Agbor	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	17	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	23	punct	_	_
20	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	23	cc	_	_
21	although	although	SCONJ	IN	_	23	mark	_	_
22	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	23	nsubj	_	_
23	knocked	knock	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	13	conj	_	_
24	at	at	ADP	IN	_	26	case	_	_
25	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	26	nmod:poss	_	_
26	door	door	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	23	obl	_	_
27	for	for	ADP	IN	_	30	case	_	_
28	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	30	det	_	_
29	long	long	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	30	amod	_	_
30	time	time	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	23	obl	_	_
31	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	32	cc	_	_
32	called	call	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	23	conj	_	_
33	both	both	CCONJ	CC	_	34	cc:preconj	_	_
34	Agbor	Agbor	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	32	xcomp	_	_
35	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	37	cc	_	_
36	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	37	nmod:poss	_	_
37	wife	wife	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	34	conj	_	_
38	by	by	ADP	IN	_	39	case	_	_
39	name	name	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	32	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
40	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	42	punct	_	_
41	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	42	nsubj	_	_
42	received	receive	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	13	conj	_	_
43	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	44	det	_	_
44	reply	reply	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	42	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
45	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	13	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **return** | past | the chief |  |  |  |  | to the town *result*; with chief's hunters | vn convert-26.6.2-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Patient to town=Result |
| 2 | **send** | past | chief | some men |  |  |  |  | vn confine-92-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent man=Theme |
| 3 | **call** | to-infinitive | chief *not said here* |  | Agbor |  |  |  | vn initiate\_communication-37.4.2-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent agbor=Recipient |
| 4 | **knock** | past | men *= man* |  |  |  | time | at chief's door | vn hit-18.1-1 «NP V PP»: agent=Agent at door=Patient |
| 5 | **call** | past | men *= man* *not said here* |  |  |  |  | by name; Agbor and chief's wife *xcomp* | vn initiate\_communication-37.4.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 6 | **receive** | past | men *= man* | no reply |  |  |  |  | vn obtain-13.5.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent reply=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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