---
title: This he did six times, but when he had got to the top of the tree fo… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: This he did six times, but when he had got to the top of the tree for the seventh time, and was just going to hang himself, Chief Ossima ’nkom of Yammi appeared, and called upon him to stop, saying, “I am the oldest and biggest chief in the town, and am going to beg for you.” Who acts: This, Agbor, 
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xxxi.--chief Kekong’s Daughter ’ndere Who Married a Python., part 3, sentence 18

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This he did six times, but when he had got to the top of the tree for the seventh time, and was just going to hang himself, Chief Ossima ’nkom of Yammi appeared, and called upon him to stop, saying, “I am the oldest and biggest chief in the town, and am going to beg for you.”

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**Who acts:** This, Agbor, nkom · **What happens:** do, get, go, hang, appear, call · **To what, where:** Agbor, oldest chief, town · **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 (This, Agbor, nkom), 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:pg70959:26:18
# text = This he did six times, but when he had got to the top of the tree for the seventh time, and was just going to hang himself, Chief Ossima ’nkom of Yammi appeared, and called upon him to stop, saying, “I am the oldest and biggest chief in the town, and am going to beg for you.”
1	This	this	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	3	nsubj	_	_
2	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
3	did	do	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	six	six	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	5	nummod	_	_
5	times	time	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl:unmarked	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
7	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	11	cc	_	_
8	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	11	advmod	_	_
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	got	get	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	3	conj	_	_
12	to	to	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	top	top	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obl	_	_
15	of	of	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
16	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
17	tree	tree	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	nmod	_	_
18	for	for	ADP	IN	_	21	case	_	_
19	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	21	det	_	_
20	seventh	seventh	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	21	amod	_	_
21	time	time	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	26	punct	_	_
23	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	26	cc	_	_
24	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	26	aux	_	_
25	just	just	ADV	RB	_	26	advmod	_	_
26	going	go	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	37	advcl	_	_
27	to	to	PART	TO	_	28	mark	_	_
28	hang	hang	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	26	xcomp	_	_
29	himself	himself	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes	28	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
30	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	26	punct	_	_
31	Chief	Chief	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	34	nmod:poss	_	_
32	Ossima	Ossima	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	31	flat	_	_
33	’	's	PART	POS	_	31	case	_	SpaceAfter=No
34	nkom	nkom	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	37	nsubj	_	_
35	of	of	ADP	IN	_	36	case	_	_
36	Yammi	Yammi	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	34	nmod	_	_
37	appeared	appear	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	parataxis	_	SpaceAfter=No
38	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	40	punct	_	_
39	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	40	cc	_	_
40	called	call	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	37	conj	_	_
41	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	42	case	_	_
42	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	40	obl	_	_
43	to	to	PART	TO	_	44	mark	_	_
44	stop	stop	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	40	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
45	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	46	punct	_	_
46	saying	say	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	44	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
47	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	55	punct	_	_
48	“	"	PUNCT	``	_	55	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
49	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	55	nsubj	_	_
50	am	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	55	cop	_	_
51	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	55	det	_	_
52	oldest	old	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	55	amod	_	_
53	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	54	cc	_	_
54	biggest	big	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	52	conj	_	_
55	chief	chief	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	46	ccomp	_	_
56	in	in	ADP	IN	_	58	case	_	_
57	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	58	det	_	_
58	town	town	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	55	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
59	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	62	punct	_	_
60	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	62	cc	_	_
61	am	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	62	aux	_	_
62	going	go	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	3	advcl	_	_
63	to	to	PART	TO	_	64	mark	_	_
64	beg	beg	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	62	xcomp	_	_
65	for	for	ADP	IN	_	66	case	_	_
66	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Person=2|PronType=Prs	64	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
67	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	62	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
68	”	"	PUNCT	''	_	62	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **do** | past | This |  |  |  | time | Agbor *nsubj* | vn act-114-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **get** | past · perfect | Agbor |  |  |  | time | to the top of the tree *result* | vn convert-26.6.2 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Patient to top=Result |
| 3 | **go** | past · progressive | Chief's nkom of Yammi *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7 «NP V S-Quote»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 4 | **hang** | to-infinitive | Chief's nkom of Yammi *not said here* | Agbor |  |  |  |  | vn poison-42.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent himself=Patient |
| 5 | **appear** | past | Chief's nkom of Yammi |  |  |  |  |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 6 | **call** | past | Chief's nkom of Yammi *not said here* |  |  |  |  | upon Agbor | vn initiate\_communication-37.4.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 7 | **stop** | to-infinitive | Chief's nkom of Yammi *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn stop-55.4-1-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Affector clause=Eventuality |
| 8 | **say** *speech: assert* | gerund | Chief's nkom of Yammi *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |
| 9 | **is a** *in a quote* | present | Chief's nkom of Yammi *= nkom* | the oldest chief |  | the town |  |  | tree rules |
| 10 | **go** *in a quote* | present · progressive | This *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7 «NP V S-Quote»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 11 | **beg** *speech: request* *in a quote* | to-infinitive | This *not said here* |  |  |  |  | for you | vn beg-58.2-1-1 «NP V PP.Topic»: agent=Agent for you=Topic |

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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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