---
title: The reason the dogs will not obey now is because they say that the c… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: The reason the dogs will not obey now is because they say that the chief broke their dog law when he told his wife what they did for him. Who acts: dogs, reason, chief. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Iv.--how Elili of Inkum Died, and Was Brought Back 
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Iv.--how Elili of Inkum Died, and Was Brought Back to Life Again., sentence 95

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The reason the dogs will not obey now is because they say that the chief broke their dog law when he told his wife what they did for him.

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**Who acts:** dogs, reason, chief · **What happens:** not obey, be, break, tell, do · **To what, where:** reason, dog law, wife · **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 (dogs, reason, chief), 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:pg70959:5:95
# text = The reason the dogs will not obey now is because they say that the chief broke their dog law when he told his wife what they did for him.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	reason	reason	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nsubj:outer	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	dogs	dog	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nsubj	_	_
5	will	will	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	7	aux	_	_
6	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	7	advmod	_	_
7	obey	obey	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	acl:relcl	_	_
8	now	now	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	7	advmod	_	_
9	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	12	cop	_	_
10	because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	12	mark	_	_
11	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	12	nsubj	_	_
12	say	say	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
13	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	16	mark	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	chief	chief	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	nsubj	_	_
16	broke	break	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	12	ccomp	_	_
17	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	19	nmod:poss	_	_
18	dog	dog	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	19	compound	_	_
19	law	law	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	obj	_	_
20	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	22	advmod	_	_
21	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	22	nsubj	_	_
22	told	tell	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	16	advcl	_	_
23	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	24	nmod:poss	_	_
24	wife	wife	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	22	iobj	_	_
25	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	27	obj	_	_
26	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	27	nsubj	_	_
27	did	do	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	22	ccomp	_	_
28	for	for	ADP	IN	_	29	case	_	_
29	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	27	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
30	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	12	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **obey** | future | the dogs | the reason *not said here* |  |  | now |  | vn abide\_by-93.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent reason=Theme |
| 2 | **be** *speech: assert* | present | the reason |  |  |  |  | DOGS *= dog* *nsubj*; say *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **break** | past | the chief | DOGS's dog law |  |  |  |  | vn hurt-40.8.3-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer law=Patient |
| 4 | **tell** *speech: assert* | past | Chief |  | Chief's wife |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP what S»: agent=Agent wife=Recipient clause=Topic |
| 5 | **do** | past | DOGS *= dog* |  |  |  |  | for Chief; what *obj* | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent what=Eventuality |

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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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