---
title: The chief then told all the young men of the town to go early the ne… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: The chief then told all the young men of the town to go early the next morning to the place where Ewa Abagi had been seen and to try and get her out of the river. Who acts: chief. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Vii.--how Two Friends Fell Out: the Spid
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Vii.--how Two Friends Fell Out: the Spider and the Grasshopper., sentence 104

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The chief then told all the young men of the town to go early the next morning to the place where Ewa Abagi had been seen and to try and get her out of the river.

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**Who acts:** chief · **What happens:** tell, go, see, try, get · **To what, where:** young men, place, Ewa, river · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is a sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Vii.--how Two Friends Fell Out: the Spider and the Grasshopper.. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (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:pg70959:6:104
# text = The chief then told all the young men of the town to go early the next morning to the place where Ewa Abagi had been seen and to try and get her out of the river.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	chief	chief	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	4	advmod	_	_
4	told	tell	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	all	all	DET	PDT	PronType=Tot	8	det:predet	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	young	young	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	men	man	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obj	_	_
9	of	of	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	town	town	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nmod	_	_
12	to	to	PART	TO	_	13	mark	_	_
13	go	go	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	4	ccomp	_	_
14	early	early	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	13	advmod	_	_
15	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
16	next	next	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	17	amod	_	_
17	morning	morning	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obl:unmarked	_	_
18	to	to	ADP	IN	_	20	case	_	_
19	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	20	det	_	_
20	place	place	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obl	_	_
21	where	where	ADV	WRB	PronType=Rel	26	advmod	_	_
22	Ewa	Ewa	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	26	nsubj:pass	_	_
23	Abagi	Abagi	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	22	flat	_	_
24	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	26	aux	_	_
25	been	be	AUX	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	26	aux:pass	_	_
26	seen	see	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	20	acl:relcl	_	_
27	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	29	cc	_	_
28	to	to	PART	TO	_	29	mark	_	_
29	try	try	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	26	conj	_	_
30	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	31	cc	_	_
31	get	get	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	29	conj	_	_
32	her	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	31	obj	_	_
33	out	out	ADP	IN	_	36	case	_	_
34	of	of	ADP	IN	_	36	case	_	_
35	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	36	det	_	_
36	river	river	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	31	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
37	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **tell** *speech: assert* | past | the chief |  | all young men of the town |  | then |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Agent man=Recipient clause=Topic |
| 2 | **go** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive |  |  |  | the place | morning | early *property* | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme to place=Initial\_Location |
| 3 | **see** | past · perfect · passive |  | Ewa |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Stimulus |
| 4 | **try** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Experiencer |
| 5 | **get** | infinitive |  | EWA |  | the river |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer she=Stimulus |

<!-- .note -->
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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