---
title: Then Chief Okim told his son Ode that he was to be his sister’s atte… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: Then Chief Okim told his son Ode that he was to be his sister’s attendant while she was kept in the house, and that he was to look after the goat. Who acts: Chief. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Xxxi.--chief Kekong’s Daughter ’ndere Who Married a Pyth
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xxxi.--chief Kekong’s Daughter ’ndere Who Married a Python., part 3, sentence 29

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Then Chief Okim told his son Ode that he was to be his sister’s attendant while she was kept in the house, and that he was to look after the goat.

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**Who acts:** Chief · **What happens:** tell, be, keep · **To what, where:** son Ode, attendant, Ode, house · **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), 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:pg70959:26:29
# text = Then Chief Okim told his son Ode that he was to be his sister’s attendant while she was kept in the house, and that he was to look after the goat.
1	Then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	4	advmod	_	_
2	Chief	Chief	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	Okim	Okim	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	flat	_	_
4	told	tell	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	7	nmod:poss	_	_
6	son	son	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	compound	_	_
7	Ode	ode	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	iobj	_	_
8	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	16	mark	_	_
9	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	16	nsubj	_	_
10	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	16	cop	_	_
11	to	to	PART	TO	_	12	mark	_	_
12	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	16	cop	_	_
13	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	14	nmod:poss	_	_
14	sister	sister	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	’s	's	PART	POS	_	14	case	_	_
16	attendant	attendant	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	ccomp	_	_
17	while	while	SCONJ	IN	_	20	mark	_	_
18	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	20	nsubj	_	_
19	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	20	aux:pass	_	_
20	kept	keep	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	ccomp	_	_
21	in	in	ADP	IN	_	23	case	_	_
22	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	23	det	_	_
23	house	house	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	20	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
24	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	30	punct	_	_
25	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	30	cc	_	_
26	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	30	mark	_	_
27	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	30	nsubj	_	_
28	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	30	cop	_	_
29	to	to	PART	TO	_	30	mark	_	_
30	look	look	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	conj	_	_
31	after	after	ADP	IN	_	33	case	_	_
32	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	33	det	_	_
33	goat	goat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	30	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
34	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **tell** *speech: assert* | past | Chief |  | chief's son Ode |  | then |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Agent ode=Recipient clause=Topic |
| 2 | **is a** | past | chief | chief's sister's attendant |  |  |  | chief's sister *nmod:poss* | tree rules |
| 3 | **keep** | past · passive |  | Ode |  | the house |  |  | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP PP.location»: subject=Theme in house=Location |
| 4 | **is** | past | chief |  |  |  | after the goat | look *property* | tree rules |

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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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