---
title: Then the head chief remembered that Indoma had been very fond of a b… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: Then the head chief remembered that Indoma had been very fond of a boy named Edim, so they caught him, and, having tied him up, placed him in the grave near the dead chief’s head, so that he and the other four young men should be able to work for their master in the spirit land. Who acts: head chief
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Iv.--how Elili of Inkum Died, and Was Brought Back to Life Again., sentence 39

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Then the head chief remembered that Indoma had been very fond of a boy named Edim, so they caught him, and, having tied him up, placed him in the grave near the dead chief’s head, so that he and the other four young men should be able to work for their master in the spirit land.

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**Who acts:** head chief, Indoma, boys · **What happens:** remember, be, name, catch, tie up, place · **To what, where:** boy, Indoma, grave, spirit land

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This is a sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Iv.--how Elili of Inkum Died, and Was Brought Back to Life Again.. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (head chief, Indoma, boys), 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:pg70959:5:39
# text = Then the head chief remembered that Indoma had been very fond of a boy named Edim, so they caught him, and, having tied him up, placed him in the grave near the dead chief’s head, so that he and the other four young men should be able to work for their master in the spirit land.
1	Then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	5	advmod	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	head	head	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	compound	_	_
4	chief	chief	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
5	remembered	remember	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	11	mark	_	_
7	Indoma	Indoma	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	11	nsubj	_	_
8	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	11	aux	_	_
9	been	be	AUX	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	11	cop	_	_
10	very	very	ADV	RB	_	11	advmod	_	_
11	fond	fond	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	ccomp	_	_
12	of	of	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	boy	boy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obl	_	_
15	named	name	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	14	acl	_	_
16	Edim	Edim	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	15	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	20	punct	_	_
18	so	so	ADV	RB	_	20	advmod	_	_
19	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	20	nsubj	_	_
20	caught	catch	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	conj	_	_
21	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	20	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	26	punct	_	_
23	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	26	cc	_	SpaceAfter=No
24	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	23	punct	_	_
25	having	have	AUX	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	26	aux	_	_
26	tied	tie	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	5	conj	_	_
27	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	26	obj	_	_
28	up	up	ADP	RP	_	26	compound:prt	_	SpaceAfter=No
29	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	30	punct	_	_
30	placed	place	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	conj	_	_
31	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	30	obj	_	_
32	in	in	ADP	IN	_	34	case	_	_
33	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	34	det	_	_
34	grave	grave	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	30	obl	_	_
35	near	near	ADP	IN	_	40	case	_	_
36	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	38	det	_	_
37	dead	dead	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	38	amod	_	_
38	chief	chief	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	40	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
39	’s	's	PART	POS	_	38	case	_	_
40	head	head	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	30	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
41	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	53	punct	_	_
42	so	so	SCONJ	IN	ExtPos=SCONJ	53	mark	_	_
43	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	42	fixed	_	_
44	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	53	nsubj	_	_
45	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	53	cc	_	_
46	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	50	det	_	_
47	other	other	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	50	amod	_	_
48	four	four	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	50	nummod	_	_
49	young	young	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	50	amod	_	_
50	men	man	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	53	nsubj	_	_
51	should	should	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	53	aux	_	_
52	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	53	cop	_	_
53	able	able	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	30	parataxis	_	_
54	to	to	PART	TO	_	55	mark	_	_
55	work	work	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	53	xcomp	_	_
56	for	for	ADP	IN	_	58	case	_	_
57	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	58	nmod:poss	_	_
58	master	master	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	55	obl	_	_
59	in	in	ADP	IN	_	62	case	_	_
60	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	62	det	_	_
61	spirit	spirit	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	62	compound	_	_
62	land	land	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	55	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
63	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **remember** | past | the head chief |  |  |  | then |  | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **is** | past · perfect | Indoma |  |  |  |  | of a boy; fond *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **name** | participle |  | a boy *not said here* |  |  |  | Edim *xcomp* | vn appoint-29.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 4 | **catch** | past | boys *= boy* | Indoma |  |  |  |  | vn get-13.5.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent he=Theme |
| 5 | **tie up** | gerund · perfect | the head chief *not said here* | Indoma |  |  |  |  | vn mix-22.1-2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent he=Patient |
| 6 | **place** | past | the head chief *not said here* | Indoma |  | the grave |  | near the dead chief's head | vn put-9.1-2 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent he=Theme in grave=Destination |
| 7 | **is** | should | Indoma |  |  |  |  | the other four young men *nsubj*; able *property* | tree rules |
| 8 | **work** | to-infinitive | Indoma *not said here* |  |  | the spirit land |  | for boys's master | vn employment-95.3 «NP V PP.beneficiary»: agent=Agent for master=Beneficiary |

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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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