---
title: Then the porcupine returned to the land and reported to the head chi… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: Then the porcupine returned to the land and reported to the head chief all that the water ju-ju had said. Who acts: porcupine, head chief. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Ix.--the Story of the War Between Inkum and Enfitop., with its dependency tree an
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Ix.--the Story of the War Between Inkum and Enfitop., sentence 154

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Then the porcupine returned to the land and reported to the head chief all that the water ju-ju had said.

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**Who acts:** porcupine, head chief · **What happens:** return, report, say · **To what, where:** water · **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 (porcupine, head 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:pg70959:7:154
# text = Then the porcupine returned to the land and reported to the head chief all that the water ju-ju had said.
1	Then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	4	advmod	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	porcupine	porcupine	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	returned	return	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	to	to	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	land	land	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
8	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
9	reported	report	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	conj	_	_
10	to	to	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
12	head	head	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	compound	_	_
13	chief	chief	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	_
14	all	all	ADV	RB	_	22	advmod	_	_
15	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	22	mark	_	_
16	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
17	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	22	nsubj:pass	_	_
18	ju	ju	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	17	appos	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	20	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	ju	ju	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	18	flat	_	_
21	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	22	aux	_	_
22	said	say	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	13	acl:relcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **return** | past | the porcupine |  |  |  | then | to the land *result* | vn convert-26.6.2-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Patient to land=Result |
| 2 | **report** | participle | the porcupine *not said here* |  |  |  |  | to the head chief | vn subordinate-95.2.1 «NP V PP.co-agent»: agent=Agent to chief=Co-Agent |
| 3 | **say** *speech: assert* | past · perfect · passive | the head chief *not said here* | the water |  |  |  | all *property* | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: subject=Topic |

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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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