---
title: The head chief then called the porcupine to him, and told him to go… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: The head chief then called the porcupine to him, and told him to go to the water ju-ju and tell him that the seven boys had been killed, but that Chief Eka had refused to allow his son to be killed, and had defied the water ju-ju to do his worst. Who acts: head chief, Chief. A sentence of «Ikom folk
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Ix.--the Story of the War Between Inkum and Enfitop., sentence 150

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The head chief then called the porcupine to him, and told him to go to the water ju-ju and tell him that the seven boys had been killed, but that Chief Eka had refused to allow his son to be killed, and had defied the water ju-ju to do his worst.

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**Who acts:** head chief, Chief · **What happens:** call, tell, go, kill, refuse, not allow · **To what, where:** porcupine, Chief, water ju ju, seven boys, son, worst · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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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 (head chief, 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:pg70959:7:150
# text = The head chief then called the porcupine to him, and told him to go to the water ju-ju and tell him that the seven boys had been killed, but that Chief Eka had refused to allow his son to be killed, and had defied the water ju-ju to do his worst.
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	called	call	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	porcupine	porcupine	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
8	to	to	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
11	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
12	told	tell	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	parataxis	_	_
13	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	12	iobj	_	_
14	to	to	PART	TO	_	15	mark	_	_
15	go	go	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	12	xcomp	_	_
16	to	to	ADP	IN	_	21	case	_	_
17	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	21	det	_	_
18	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	21	compound	_	_
19	ju	ju	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	21	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	19	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	ju	ju	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	obl	_	_
22	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	23	cc	_	_
23	tell	tell	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	15	conj	_	_
24	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	23	iobj	_	_
25	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	31	mark	_	_
26	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	28	det	_	_
27	seven	seven	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	28	nummod	_	_
28	boys	boy	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	31	nsubj:pass	_	_
29	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	31	aux	_	_
30	been	be	AUX	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	31	aux:pass	_	_
31	killed	kill	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	23	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
32	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	38	punct	_	_
33	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	38	cc	_	_
34	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	38	mark	_	_
35	Chief	Chief	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	38	nsubj	_	_
36	Eka	Eka	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	35	flat	_	_
37	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	38	aux	_	_
38	refused	refuse	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	12	conj	_	_
39	to	to	PART	TO	_	40	mark	_	_
40	allow	allow	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	38	xcomp	_	_
41	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	42	nmod:poss	_	_
42	son	son	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	40	iobj	_	_
43	to	to	PART	TO	_	45	mark	_	_
44	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	45	aux:pass	_	_
45	killed	kill	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	40	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
46	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	49	punct	_	_
47	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	49	cc	_	_
48	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	49	aux	_	_
49	defied	defy	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	5	conj	_	_
50	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	54	det	_	_
51	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	54	compound	_	_
52	ju	ju	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	54	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
53	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	52	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
54	ju	ju	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	49	obj	_	_
55	to	to	PART	TO	_	56	mark	_	_
56	do	do	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	49	advcl	_	_
57	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	58	nmod:poss	_	_
58	worst	bad	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	56	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
59	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **call** *speech: assert* | past | the head chief | the porcupine | porcupine |  | then |  | vn manner\_speaking-37.3 «NP V NP PP.recipient»: agent=Agent porcupine=Topic to he=Recipient |
| 2 | **tell** *speech: assert* | past |  |  | Chief |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Agent he=Recipient clause=Topic |
| 3 | **go** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive |  |  |  | the water ju ju |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme to ju=Initial\_Location |
| 4 | **tell** *speech: assert* | infinitive |  |  | Chief |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent he=Recipient |
| 5 | **kill** | past · perfect · passive |  | the seven boys |  |  |  |  | vn remove-10.1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |
| 6 | **refuse** | past · perfect | Chief |  |  |  |  |  | vn reject-77.2 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Agent clause=Theme |
| 7 | **not** **allow** | to-infinitive | Chief *not said here* |  | Chief's son |  |  |  | vn allow-64.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent son=Beneficiary |
| 8 | **kill** | to-infinitive · passive | Chief *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V ADV-Middle» |
| 9 | **defy** | past · perfect | the head chief *not said here* | the water ju ju |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 10 | **do** | to-infinitive | the head chief *not said here* | Chief's worst |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent bad=Eventuality |

<!-- .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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