---
title: The voice then called out again, saying, “Tell my father to bring a… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: The voice then called out again, saying, “Tell my father to bring a white goat, a white ram, a white cock, and a white chicken to the river-side and sacrifice them to the river ju-ju, and tell him that if he does this I shall be set free.” Who acts: FATHER, this. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories fro
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xxxi.--chief Kekong’s Daughter ’ndere Who Married a Python., part 3, sentence 62

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The voice then called out again, saying, “Tell my father to bring a white goat, a white ram, a white cock, and a white chicken to the river-side and sacrifice them to the river ju-ju, and tell him that if he does this I shall be set free.”

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**Who acts:** FATHER, this · **What happens:** call out, say, tell, bring, sacrifice, do · **To what, where:** voice, father, white goat, goats, river ju ju · **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 (FATHER, this), 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:pg70959:26:62
# text = The voice then called out again, saying, “Tell my father to bring a white goat, a white ram, a white cock, and a white chicken to the river-side and sacrifice them to the river ju-ju, and tell him that if he does this I shall be set free.”
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	voice	voice	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	4	advmod	_	_
4	called	call	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	out	out	ADP	RP	_	4	compound:prt	_	_
6	again	again	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
8	saying	say	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	4	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
10	“	"	PUNCT	``	_	11	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	Tell	tell	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	8	ccomp	_	_
12	my	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	13	nmod:poss	_	_
13	father	father	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	iobj	_	_
14	to	to	PART	TO	_	15	mark	_	_
15	bring	bring	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	11	ccomp	_	_
16	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
17	white	white	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	18	amod	_	_
18	goat	goat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	22	punct	_	_
20	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	22	det	_	_
21	white	white	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	22	amod	_	_
22	ram	ram	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	26	punct	_	_
24	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	26	det	_	_
25	white	white	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	26	amod	_	_
26	cock	cock	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
27	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	31	punct	_	_
28	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	31	cc	_	_
29	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	31	det	_	_
30	white	white	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	31	amod	_	_
31	chicken	chicken	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	xcomp	_	_
32	to	to	ADP	IN	_	36	case	_	_
33	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	36	det	_	_
34	river	river	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	36	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
35	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	34	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
36	side	side	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	31	nmod	_	_
37	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	38	cc	_	_
38	sacrifice	sacrifice	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	conj	_	_
39	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	38	obj	_	_
40	to	to	ADP	IN	_	45	case	_	_
41	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	45	det	_	_
42	river	river	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	45	compound	_	_
43	ju	ju	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	45	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
44	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	43	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
45	ju	ju	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	38	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
46	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	48	punct	_	_
47	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	48	cc	_	_
48	tell	tell	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	conj	_	_
49	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	48	iobj	_	_
50	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	53	mark	_	_
51	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	53	mark	_	_
52	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	53	nsubj	_	_
53	does	do	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	48	advcl	_	_
54	this	this	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	59	nsubj	_	_
55	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	59	nsubj	_	_
56	shall	shall	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	59	aux	_	_
57	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	59	cop	_	_
58	set	set	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	59	amod	_	_
59	free	free	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	53	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
60	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
61	”	"	PUNCT	''	_	4	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **call out** *speech: assert* | participle · passive |  | the voice |  |  | then; again | a white chicken to the river side *xcomp* | vn initiate\_communication-37.4.2-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: subject=Recipient |
| 2 | **say** *speech: assert* | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 3 | **tell** *speech: assert* *in a quote* | infinitive |  |  | my father |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Agent father=Recipient clause=Topic |
| 4 | **bring** *not said to happen, in a quote* | to-infinitive |  |  | a white goat and a white ram and a white cock |  |  |  | vn bring-11.3-1 «NP V NP ADVP»: agent=Instrument goat=Destination |
| 5 | **sacrifice** *in a quote* | infinitive |  | goats *= goat* | the river ju ju |  |  |  | vn contribute-13.2-1-1 «NP V NP PP.recipient»: agent=Agent they=Theme to ju=Recipient |
| 6 | **tell** *speech: assert* *in a quote* | infinitive |  |  | FATHER |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent he=Recipient |
| 7 | **do** *a condition, not said to happen, in a quote* | present | FATHER |  |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 8 | **is** *in a quote* | shall | this |  |  |  |  | I *nsubj*; free *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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