--- title: The head chief then said that all the eight boys were guilty of tryi… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics description: The head chief then said that all the eight boys were guilty of trying to drown their companion, and that they should all be taken to the beach and killed as a warning to other boys not to kill one another. Who acts: head chief, eight boys. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/7/144/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [tales](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/) / [Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/) / [Ix.--the Story of the War Between Inku…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/7/) / 144 # Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Ix.--the Story of the War Between Inkum and Enfitop., sentence 144 The head chief then said that all the eight boys were guilty of trying to drown their companion, and that they should all be taken to the beach and killed as a warning to other boys not to kill one another. **Who acts:** head chief, eight boys · **What happens:** say, be, try, drown, take, kill · **To what, where:** companion, boys, beach, one · **Speech:** someone speaks here This is a sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Ix.--the Story of the War Between Inkum and Enfitop.. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (head chief, eight boys), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree. **Mova's own parse.** This tree may be wrong. ## The tree {#tree} ```conllu # sent_id = book:pg70959:7:144 # text = The head chief then said that all the eight boys were guilty of trying to drown their companion, and that they should all be taken to the beach and killed as a warning to other boys not to kill one another. 1 The the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 3 det _ _ 2 head head NOUN NN Number=Sing 3 compound _ _ 3 chief chief NOUN NN Number=Sing 5 nsubj _ _ 4 then then ADV RB PronType=Dem 5 advmod _ _ 5 said say VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 6 that that SCONJ IN _ 12 mark _ _ 7 all all DET PDT PronType=Tot 10 det:predet _ _ 8 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 10 det _ _ 9 eight eight NUM CD NumForm=Word|NumType=Card 10 nummod _ _ 10 boys boy NOUN NNS Number=Plur 12 nsubj _ _ 11 were be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 12 cop _ _ 12 guilty guilty ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 5 ccomp _ _ 13 of of SCONJ IN _ 14 mark _ _ 14 trying try VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 12 advcl _ _ 15 to to PART TO _ 16 mark _ _ 16 drown drown VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 14 xcomp _ _ 17 their their PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 18 nmod:poss _ _ 18 companion companion NOUN NN Number=Sing 16 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 19 , , PUNCT , _ 26 punct _ _ 20 and and CCONJ CC _ 26 cc _ _ 21 that that SCONJ IN _ 26 mark _ _ 22 they they PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 26 nsubj _ _ 23 should should AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 26 aux _ _ 24 all all ADV RB _ 26 advmod _ _ 25 be be AUX VB VerbForm=Inf 26 aux:pass _ _ 26 taken take VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 5 conj _ _ 27 to to ADP IN _ 29 case _ _ 28 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 29 det _ _ 29 beach beach NOUN NN Number=Sing 26 obl _ _ 30 and and CCONJ CC _ 31 cc _ _ 31 killed kill VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 26 conj _ _ 32 as as ADP IN _ 34 case _ _ 33 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 34 det _ _ 34 warning warning NOUN NN Number=Sing 31 obl _ _ 35 to to ADP IN _ 37 case _ _ 36 other other ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 37 amod _ _ 37 boys boy NOUN NNS Number=Plur 34 nmod _ _ 38 not not PART RB Polarity=Neg 40 advmod _ _ 39 to to PART TO _ 40 mark _ _ 40 kill kill VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 31 advcl _ _ 41 one one NUM CD NumForm=Word|NumType=Card 40 obj _ _ 42 another another DET DT PronType=Ind 41 fixed _ SpaceAfter=No 43 . . PUNCT . _ 5 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | the head chief | | | | then | | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent | | 2 | **is** | past | all eight boys | | | | | guilty *property* | tree rules | | 3 | **try** | gerund | all eight boys *not said here* | | | | | | vn try-61.1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality | | 4 | **drown** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | all eight boys *not said here* | boys's companion | | | | | vn poison-42.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent companion=Patient | | 5 | **take** | should · passive | | boys *= boy* | | the beach | | all *property* | vn bring-11.3 «NP V NP PP.destination»: subject=Theme to beach=Destination | | 6 | **kill** | participle | | | | | | as a warning to other boys | vn spend\_time-104 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Agent as warning=Attribute | | 7 | **not** **kill** | to-infinitive | | one | | | | | vn remove-10.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent one=Theme | 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. **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. - ← previous: [sentence 143](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/7/143/) - next →: [sentence 145](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/7/145/) - ↑ back to [Ix.--the Story of the War Between Inkum and Enfitop.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/7/)