---
title: The singing and dancing then began, and the tombo was passed round,… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: The singing and dancing then began, and the tombo was passed round, but when it came to the turn of the man sitting on the rock, just at the moment when he began to drink, one of the Inkum boys, who had been instructed by the chief what to do, seized him by the ankles and pushed him over backwards, 
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Ix.--the Story of the War Between Inkum and Enfitop., sentence 15

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The singing and dancing then began, and the tombo was passed round, but when it came to the turn of the man sitting on the rock, just at the moment when he began to drink, one of the Inkum boys, who had been instructed by the chief what to do, seized him by the ankles and pushed him over backwards, so that he fell into the pit on the sharp stakes and was killed at once.

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**Who acts:** singing, tombo, man, chief · **What happens:** begin, pass round, come, sit, drink, instruct · **To what, where:** tombo, one, turn, rock, Inkum boys, chief

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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 (singing, tombo, man, chief), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree.

<!-- .note-en -->
**Mova's own parse.** This tree may be wrong.

## The tree {#tree}

```conllu
# sent_id = book:pg70959:7:15
# text = The singing and dancing then began, and the tombo was passed round, but when it came to the turn of the man sitting on the rock, just at the moment when he began to drink, one of the Inkum boys, who had been instructed by the chief what to do, seized him by the ankles and pushed him over backwards, so that he fell into the pit on the sharp stakes and was killed at once.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	singing	singing	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
3	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	4	cc	_	_
4	dancing	dancing	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	conj	_	_
5	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	6	advmod	_	_
6	began	begin	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
8	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	tombo	tombo	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nsubj:pass	_	_
11	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	12	aux:pass	_	_
12	passed	pass	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	6	conj	_	_
13	round	round	ADV	RB	_	12	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	18	punct	_	_
15	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	18	cc	_	_
16	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	18	advmod	_	_
17	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	18	nsubj	_	_
18	came	come	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	parataxis	_	_
19	to	to	ADP	IN	_	21	case	_	_
20	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	21	det	_	_
21	turn	turn	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	obl	_	_
22	of	of	ADP	IN	_	24	case	_	_
23	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	24	det	_	_
24	man	man	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	21	nmod	_	_
25	sitting	sit	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	24	acl	_	_
26	on	on	ADP	IN	_	28	case	_	_
27	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	28	det	_	_
28	rock	rock	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	25	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
29	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	33	punct	_	_
30	just	just	ADV	RB	_	33	advmod	_	_
31	at	at	ADP	IN	_	33	case	_	_
32	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	33	det	_	_
33	moment	moment	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	25	obl	_	_
34	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	36	advmod	_	_
35	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	36	nsubj	_	_
36	began	begin	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	25	advcl	_	_
37	to	to	PART	TO	_	38	mark	_	_
38	drink	drink	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	36	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
39	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	40	punct	_	_
40	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	18	obl	_	_
41	of	of	ADP	IN	_	44	case	_	_
42	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	44	det	_	_
43	Inkum	Inkum	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	44	compound	_	_
44	boys	boy	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	40	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
45	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	49	punct	_	_
46	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	49	nsubj:pass	_	_
47	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	49	aux	_	_
48	been	be	AUX	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	49	aux:pass	_	_
49	instructed	instruct	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	44	acl:relcl	_	_
50	by	by	ADP	IN	_	52	case	_	_
51	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	52	det	_	_
52	chief	chief	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	49	obl	_	_
53	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	55	obj	_	_
54	to	to	PART	TO	_	55	mark	_	_
55	do	do	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	52	acl:relcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
56	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	57	punct	_	_
57	seized	seize	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	18	conj	_	_
58	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	57	obj	_	_
59	by	by	ADP	IN	_	61	case	_	_
60	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	61	det	_	_
61	ankles	ankle	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	57	obl	_	_
62	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	63	cc	_	_
63	pushed	push	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	57	conj	_	_
64	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	63	obj	_	_
65	over	over	ADP	IN	_	66	case	_	_
66	backwards	backwards	ADV	RB	_	63	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
67	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	71	punct	_	_
68	so	so	SCONJ	IN	ExtPos=SCONJ	71	mark	_	_
69	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	68	fixed	_	_
70	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	71	nsubj	_	_
71	fell	fall	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	57	parataxis	_	_
72	into	into	ADP	IN	_	74	case	_	_
73	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	74	det	_	_
74	pit	pit	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	71	obl	_	_
75	on	on	ADP	IN	_	78	case	_	_
76	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	78	det	_	_
77	sharp	sharp	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	78	amod	_	_
78	stakes	stake	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	71	obl	_	_
79	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	81	cc	_	_
80	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	81	aux:pass	_	_
81	killed	kill	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	71	conj	_	_
82	at	at	ADP	IN	_	83	case	_	_
83	once	once	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Mult	81	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
84	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **begin** | past | the singing and dancing |  |  |  | then |  | vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP.eventuality V»: agent=Eventuality |
| 2 | **pass round** | past · passive |  | the tombo |  |  |  | round *property* | vn escape-51.1-1-3 «NP V NP»: subject=Trajectory |
| 3 | **come** | past | tombo | one of the Inkum boys |  | the turn of the man |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme to turn=Initial\_Location |
| 4 | **sit** | gerund | the man *not said here* |  |  | the rock | moment |  | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent on rock=Location |
| 5 | **begin** | past | man |  |  |  |  |  | vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality |
| 6 | **drink** | to-infinitive | man *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 7 | **instruct** *speech: other* | past · perfect · passive | the chief | the Inkum boys |  |  |  |  | vn advise-37.9-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent subject=Recipient |
| 8 | **do** | to-infinitive | the chief *not said here* | the chief |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent what=Eventuality |
| 9 | **seize** | past | tombo *not said here* | Chief |  |  |  | by the ankles | vn obtain-13.5.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent he=Theme |
| 10 | **push** | past | tombo *not said here* | Chief |  |  |  |  | vn funnel-9.3-1-1 «NP V NP PP.trajectory»: agent=Agent he=Theme over backwards=Trajectory |
| 11 | **fall** | past | Chief |  |  | the pit |  | on the sharp stakes | vn occur-48.3 «NP V PP»: agent=Theme on stake=Location |
| 12 | **kill** | past · passive | Chief *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V ADV-Middle» |

<!-- .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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