---
title: As the grave was very big and deep they put sticks across it, wedged… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: As the grave was very big and deep they put sticks across it, wedged firmly into the sides, planks were then placed over the sticks, and the planks were covered with sand. Who acts: boys. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Iv.--how Elili of Inkum Died, an
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Iv.--how Elili of Inkum Died, and Was Brought Back to Life Again., sentence 40

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As the grave was very big and deep they put sticks across it, wedged firmly into the sides, planks were then placed over the sticks, and the planks were covered with sand.

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**Who acts:** boys · **What happens:** be, put, wedge, place, cover · **To what, where:** sticks, grave, sides, planks

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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 (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:pg70959:5:40
# text = As the grave was very big and deep they put sticks across it, wedged firmly into the sides, planks were then placed over the sticks, and the planks were covered with sand.
1	As	as	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	grave	grave	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
4	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
5	very	very	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
6	big	big	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
8	deep	deep	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	conj	_	_
9	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	nsubj	_	_
10	put	put	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	parataxis	_	_
11	sticks	stick	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	obj	_	_
12	across	across	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
13	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	15	punct	_	_
15	wedged	wedge	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	conj	_	_
16	firmly	firmly	ADV	RB	_	15	advmod	_	_
17	into	into	ADP	IN	_	19	case	_	_
18	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	19	det	_	_
19	sides	side	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	15	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	24	punct	_	_
21	planks	plank	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	24	nsubj:pass	_	_
22	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	24	aux:pass	_	_
23	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	24	advmod	_	_
24	placed	place	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	15	parataxis	_	_
25	over	over	ADP	IN	_	27	case	_	_
26	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	27	det	_	_
27	sticks	stick	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	24	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
28	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	33	punct	_	_
29	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	33	cc	_	_
30	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	31	det	_	_
31	planks	plank	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	33	nsubj:pass	_	_
32	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	33	aux:pass	_	_
33	covered	cover	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	24	conj	_	_
34	with	with	ADP	IN	_	35	case	_	_
35	sand	sand	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	33	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
36	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past |  |  |  |  |  | as the grave; big *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **be** |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **put** | past | boys *= boy* | sticks |  | grave |  |  | vn invest-13.5.4-1 «NP V PP»: agent=Agent stick=Goal |
| 4 | **wedge** | past |  |  |  | the sides |  | firmly *property* | vn funnel-9.3-1-1 «NP V PP.destination»: agent=Theme into side=Destination |
| 5 | **place** | past · passive |  | planks |  | the sticks | then |  | vn put-9.1-2 «NP V NP PP.destination»: subject=Theme over stick=Destination |
| 6 | **cover** | past · passive |  | the planks |  |  |  | with sand | vn fill-9.8-1 «NP V NP PP.theme»: subject=Destination with sand=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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