---
title: When she saw that so many men were bidding for her, she got a calaba… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: When she saw that so many men were bidding for her, she got a calabash and painted it different colours. Who acts: Akoba, many men. 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., with its dependency t
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Iv.--how Elili of Inkum Died, and Was Brought Back to Life Again., sentence 58

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When she saw that so many men were bidding for her, she got a calabash and painted it different colours.

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**Who acts:** Akoba, many men · **What happens:** see, bid, get, paint · **To what, where:** that, calabash · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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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 (Akoba, many men), 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:pg70959:5:58
# text = When she saw that so many men were bidding for her, she got a calabash and painted it different colours.
1	When	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	3	advmod	_	_
2	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
3	saw	see	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	14	advcl	_	_
4	that	that	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	3	obj	_	_
5	so	so	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
6	many	many	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	men	man	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	nsubj	_	_
8	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	9	aux	_	_
9	bidding	bid	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	3	ccomp	_	_
10	for	for	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	her	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	3	punct	_	_
13	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	14	nsubj	_	_
14	got	get	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
15	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
16	calabash	calabash	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	obj	_	_
17	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	18	cc	_	_
18	painted	paint	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	14	conj	_	_
19	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	18	obj	_	_
20	different	different	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	21	amod	_	_
21	colours	colour	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	18	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	14	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **see** | past | Akoba | that |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **bid** | past · progressive | many men |  |  |  |  | for Akoba | tree rules |
| 3 | **get** | past | Akoba | a calabash |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer calabash=Stimulus |
| 4 | **paint** | past | Akoba *not said here* | calabash |  |  |  | different colours *obj* | vn coloring-24 «NP V NP ADJP»: agent=Agent it=Patient colour=Result |

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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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