---
title: Ewa Abagi then sent word back to the chief that she could not marry… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: Ewa Abagi then sent word back to the chief that she could not marry him just then as she was expecting to bear a son, but that, some time after the child was born, she would go up the river to Insofan and marry him as she had heard that he was rich and was a good man. Who acts: Ewa, chief. A sentenc
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Vii.--how Two Friends Fell Out: the Spider and the Grasshopper., sentence 73

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Ewa Abagi then sent word back to the chief that she could not marry him just then as she was expecting to bear a son, but that, some time after the child was born, she would go up the river to Insofan and marry him as she had heard that he was rich and was a good man.

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**Who acts:** Ewa, chief · **What happens:** send back, not marry, expect, bear, go up, marry · **To what, where:** word, chief, son, that, river, Insofan · **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 (Ewa, 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:pg70959:6:73
# text = Ewa Abagi then sent word back to the chief that she could not marry him just then as she was expecting to bear a son, but that, some time after the child was born, she would go up the river to Insofan and marry him as she had heard that he was rich and was a good man.
1	Ewa	Ewa	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
2	Abagi	Abagi	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	1	flat	_	_
3	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	4	advmod	_	_
4	sent	send	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	word	word	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
6	back	back	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
7	to	to	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	chief	chief	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
10	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	14	mark	_	_
11	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	14	nsubj	_	_
12	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	14	aux	_	_
13	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	14	advmod	_	_
14	marry	marry	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	advcl	_	_
15	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	14	obj	_	_
16	just	just	ADV	RB	_	17	advmod	_	_
17	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	14	advmod	_	_
18	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	21	mark	_	_
19	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	21	nsubj	_	_
20	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	21	aux	_	_
21	expecting	expect	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	17	advcl	_	_
22	to	to	PART	TO	_	23	mark	_	_
23	bear	bear	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	21	xcomp	_	_
24	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	25	det	_	_
25	son	son	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	23	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
26	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	36	punct	_	_
27	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	36	cc	_	_
28	that	that	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	36	nsubj:pass	_	SpaceAfter=No
29	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	36	punct	_	_
30	some	some	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	31	det	_	_
31	time	time	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	36	nsubj:pass	_	_
32	after	after	ADP	IN	_	34	case	_	_
33	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	34	det	_	_
34	child	child	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	31	nmod	_	_
35	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	36	aux:pass	_	_
36	born	bear	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	parataxis	_	SpaceAfter=No
37	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	40	punct	_	_
38	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	40	nsubj	_	_
39	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	40	aux	_	_
40	go	go	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	36	conj	_	_
41	up	up	ADP	RP	_	40	compound:prt	_	_
42	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	43	det	_	_
43	river	river	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	40	obj	_	_
44	to	to	ADP	IN	_	45	case	_	_
45	Insofan	Insofan	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	40	obl	_	_
46	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	47	cc	_	_
47	marry	marry	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	40	conj	_	_
48	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	47	obj	_	_
49	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	52	mark	_	_
50	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	52	nsubj	_	_
51	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	52	aux	_	_
52	heard	hear	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	47	advcl	_	_
53	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	56	mark	_	_
54	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	56	nsubj	_	_
55	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	56	cop	_	_
56	rich	rich	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	52	ccomp	_	_
57	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	61	cc	_	_
58	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	61	cop	_	_
59	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	61	det	_	_
60	good	good	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	61	amod	_	_
61	man	man	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	52	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
62	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **send back** | past | Ewa | word |  | the chief | then |  | vn confine-92-1 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent word=Theme to chief=Destination |
| 2 | **not** **marry** | could | EWA | chief |  |  | then |  | vn amalgamate-22.2-3-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent he=Patient |
| 3 | **expect** | past · progressive | EWA |  |  |  |  |  | vn wish-62 «NP V for NP S\_INF»: agent=Pivot clause=Theme |
| 4 | **bear** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | EWA *not said here* | a son |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent son=Patient |
| 5 | **bear** | past · passive |  | that |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Patient |
| 6 | **go up** | would | EWA | the river | Insofan |  |  |  | vn calibratable\_cos-45.6.1-1 «NP.patient V NP.extent PP.source PP.goal»: agent=Patient river=Extent to insofan=Result |
| 7 | **marry** | infinitive | EWA *not said here* | chief |  |  |  |  | vn amalgamate-22.2-3-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent he=Patient |
| 8 | **hear** | past · perfect | EWA |  |  |  |  |  | vn see-30.1-1-1 «NP V PP.stimulus»: agent=Experiencer |
| 9 | **is** | past | chief |  |  |  |  | rich *property* | tree rules |
| 10 | **is a** | past | EWA *not said here* | a good man |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

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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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