---
title: The young men, who had gone to the place before it was light, and wh… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: The young men, who had gone to the place before it was light, and who had lined both banks of the Abum river, by the chief’s orders, were all hidden out of sight, and, when Ewa Abagi came out of the water, they immediately surrounded her and caught her before she could get back to the river. Who act
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Vii.--how Two Friends Fell Out: the Spider and the Grasshopper., sentence 108

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The young men, who had gone to the place before it was light, and who had lined both banks of the Abum river, by the chief’s orders, were all hidden out of sight, and, when Ewa Abagi came out of the water, they immediately surrounded her and caught her before she could get back to the river.

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**Who acts:** young men, place, orders, Ewa, chief · **What happens:** go, be, line, hide out, come out, surround · **To what, where:** place, banks, young men, sight, water, MEN

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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 (young men, place, orders, Ewa), 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:pg70959:6:108
# text = The young men, who had gone to the place before it was light, and who had lined both banks of the Abum river, by the chief’s orders, were all hidden out of sight, and, when Ewa Abagi came out of the water, they immediately surrounded her and caught her before she could get back to the river.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	young	young	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	men	man	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	35	nsubj:pass	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
5	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	7	nsubj	_	_
6	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	aux	_	_
7	gone	go	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	3	acl:relcl	_	_
8	to	to	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	place	place	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	_
11	before	before	SCONJ	IN	_	14	mark	_	_
12	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	14	nsubj	_	_
13	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	14	cop	_	_
14	light	light	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	19	punct	_	_
16	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	19	cc	_	_
17	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	19	nsubj:pass	_	_
18	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	19	aux	_	_
19	lined	line	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	14	conj	_	_
20	both	both	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	21	det	_	_
21	banks	bank	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	19	obj	_	_
22	of	of	ADP	IN	_	25	case	_	_
23	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	25	det	_	_
24	Abum	Abum	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	25	compound	_	_
25	river	river	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	21	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
26	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	31	punct	_	_
27	by	by	ADP	IN	_	31	case	_	_
28	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	29	det	_	_
29	chief	chief	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	31	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
30	’s	's	PART	POS	_	29	case	_	_
31	orders	order	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	19	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
32	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	3	punct	_	_
33	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	35	aux:pass	_	_
34	all	all	ADV	RB	_	35	advmod	_	_
35	hidden	hide	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
36	out	out	ADP	IN	_	38	case	_	_
37	of	of	ADP	IN	_	38	case	_	_
38	sight	sight	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	35	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
39	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	45	punct	_	_
40	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	45	cc	_	SpaceAfter=No
41	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	45	punct	_	_
42	when	when	SCONJ	WRB	_	45	mark	_	_
43	Ewa	Ewa	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	45	nsubj	_	_
44	Abagi	Abagi	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	43	flat	_	_
45	came	come	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	35	conj	_	_
46	out	out	ADP	IN	_	49	case	_	_
47	of	of	ADP	IN	_	49	case	_	_
48	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	49	det	_	_
49	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	45	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
50	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	53	punct	_	_
51	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	53	nsubj:pass	_	_
52	immediately	immediately	ADV	RB	_	53	advmod	_	_
53	surrounded	surround	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	35	conj	_	_
54	her	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	53	obj	_	_
55	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	56	cc	_	_
56	caught	catch	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	35	conj	_	_
57	her	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	56	obj	_	_
58	before	before	SCONJ	IN	_	61	mark	_	_
59	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	61	nsubj	_	_
60	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	61	aux	_	_
61	get	get	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	56	advcl	_	_
62	back	back	ADV	RB	_	61	advmod	_	_
63	to	to	ADP	IN	_	65	case	_	_
64	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	65	det	_	_
65	river	river	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	62	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
66	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	35	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **go** | past · perfect | the young men |  |  | the place |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme to place=Initial\_Location |
| 2 | **is** | past | place |  |  |  |  | light *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **line** | past · perfect · passive | the chief's orders | both banks of the Abum river |  |  |  | who *nsubj:pass* | tree rules |
| 4 | **hide out** | past · passive |  | the young men |  | sight |  | all *property* | tree rules |
| 5 | **come out** | past | Ewa | the water |  |  |  |  | vn become-109.1 «NP V ADJ»: agent=Patient water=Result |
| 6 | **surround** | participle · passive |  | MEN *= man* |  |  |  | EWA *obj*; immediately *property* | tree rules |
| 7 | **catch** | past |  | EWA |  |  |  |  | vn get-13.5.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent she=Theme |
| 8 | **get back** | could | EWA |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Experiencer |
| 9 | **order** |  | the chief |  |  |  |  |  | nom order «communication transitive»: poss=agent |

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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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