---
title: Akoba, who was a witch, then started to cut down the tree in which h… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: Akoba, who was a witch, then started to cut down the tree in which her husband had taken refuge. Who acts: Akoba. 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 tree and the pragma
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Iv.--how Elili of Inkum Died, and Was Brought Back to Life Again., sentence 76

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Akoba, who was a witch, then started to cut down the tree in which her husband had taken refuge.

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**Who acts:** Akoba · **What happens:** be, start, cut down, take · **To what, where:** witch, tree, husband

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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), 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:pg70959:5:76
# text = Akoba, who was a witch, then started to cut down the tree in which her husband had taken refuge.
1	Akoba	Akoba	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	6	punct	_	_
3	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	6	nsubj	_	_
4	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	witch	witch	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	appos	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
8	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	9	advmod	_	_
9	started	start	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
10	to	to	PART	TO	_	11	mark	_	_
11	cut	cut	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	9	xcomp	_	_
12	down	down	ADP	RP	_	11	compound:prt	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	tree	tree	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obj	_	_
15	in	in	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
16	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	20	obl	_	_
17	her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	18	nmod:poss	_	_
18	husband	husband	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	20	nsubj:pass	_	_
19	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	20	aux	_	_
20	taken	take	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	14	acl:relcl	_	_
21	refuge	refuge	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	20	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	9	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | past | Akoba | a witch |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **start** | past | Akoba |  |  |  | then |  | vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality |
| 3 | **cut down** | to-infinitive | Akoba *not said here* | the tree |  |  |  |  | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset tree=Product |
| 4 | **take** | past · perfect · passive |  | Akoba's husband |  | the tree |  | refuge *obj* | vn bring-11.3 «NP V NP ADVP»: subject=Theme refuge=Destination |

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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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