--- title: When he heard what had happened, he went to the porcupine and asked… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics description: When he heard what had happened, he went to the porcupine and asked him to go to the water ju-ju, and offer him two slaves if he would return his son. Who acts: ju. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Ix.--the Story of the War Between Inkum and Enfitop., w --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/7/159/) [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/) / 159 # Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Ix.--the Story of the War Between Inkum and Enfitop., sentence 159 When he heard what had happened, he went to the porcupine and asked him to go to the water ju-ju, and offer him two slaves if he would return his son. **Who acts:** ju · **What happens:** hear, happen, go, ask, offer, return · **To what, where:** ju, water ju ju, two slaves, son · **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 (ju), 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:pg70959:7:159 # text = When he heard what had happened, he went to the porcupine and asked him to go to the water ju-ju, and offer him two slaves if he would return his son. 1 When when ADV WRB PronType=Int 3 advmod _ _ 2 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 3 nsubj _ _ 3 heard hear VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 9 advcl _ _ 4 what what PRON WP PronType=Int 6 nsubj _ _ 5 had have AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 6 aux _ _ 6 happened happen VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part 3 ccomp _ SpaceAfter=No 7 , , PUNCT , _ 3 punct _ _ 8 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 9 nsubj _ _ 9 went go VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 10 to to ADP IN _ 12 case _ _ 11 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 12 det _ _ 12 porcupine porcupine NOUN NN Number=Sing 9 obl _ _ 13 and and CCONJ CC _ 14 cc _ _ 14 asked ask VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 9 conj _ _ 15 him he PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 14 iobj _ _ 16 to to PART TO _ 17 mark _ _ 17 go go VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 14 xcomp _ _ 18 to to ADP IN _ 23 case _ _ 19 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 23 det _ _ 20 water water NOUN NN Number=Sing 23 compound _ _ 21 ju ju NOUN NN Number=Sing 23 compound _ SpaceAfter=No 22 - - PUNCT HYPH _ 21 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 23 ju ju NOUN NN Number=Sing 17 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 24 , , PUNCT , _ 26 punct _ _ 25 and and CCONJ CC _ 26 cc _ _ 26 offer offer VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 17 conj _ _ 27 him he PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 26 obj _ _ 28 two two NUM CD NumForm=Word|NumType=Card 29 nummod _ _ 29 slaves slave NOUN NNS Number=Plur 26 obj _ _ 30 if if SCONJ IN _ 33 mark _ _ 31 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 33 nsubj _ _ 32 would would AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 33 aux _ _ 33 return return VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 26 advcl _ _ 34 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 35 nmod:poss _ _ 35 son son NOUN NN Number=Sing 33 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 36 . . PUNCT . _ 9 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **hear** | past | ju | | | | | | vn see-30.1-1-1 «NP V how S»: agent=Experiencer clause=Stimulus | | 2 | **happen** | past · perfect | | | | | | what *nsubj* | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 3 | **go** | past | ju | | | | | to the porcupine | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme to porcupine=Initial\_Location | | 4 | **ask** *speech: ask* | past | ju *not said here* | | ju | | | | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V NP whether S\_INF»: agent=Agent he=Recipient clause=Topic | | 5 | **go** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | ju *not said here* | | | the water ju ju | | | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme to ju=Initial\_Location | | 6 | **offer** | infinitive | ju *not said here* | two slaves | ju | | | | vn future\_having-13.3 «NP V NP.goal NP»: agent=Agent he=Goal slave=Theme | | 7 | **return** *a condition, not said to happen* | would | ju | ju's son | | | | | vn send-11.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent son=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 158](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/7/158/) - next →: [sentence 160](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/7/160/) - ↑ back to [Ix.--the Story of the War Between Inkum and Enfitop.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/7/)