---
title: Then, for four nights running, the same thing was done, and the boy… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: Then, for four nights running, the same thing was done, and the boy who had been killed the previous night was divided up and eaten by the Inkum members of the society on the following day. Who acts: four nights. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Ix.--th
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Ix.--the Story of the War Between Inkum and Enfitop., sentence 21

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Then, for four nights running, the same thing was done, and the boy who had been killed the previous night was divided up and eaten by the Inkum members of the society on the following day.

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**Who acts:** four nights · **What happens:** run, do, kill, divide up, eat, follow · **To what, where:** same thing, boy

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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 (four nights), 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:pg70959:7:21
# text = Then, for four nights running, the same thing was done, and the boy who had been killed the previous night was divided up and eaten by the Inkum members of the society on the following day.
1	Then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	12	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	for	for	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	four	four	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	5	nummod	_	_
5	nights	night	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	12	obl	_	_
6	running	run	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	5	acl	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	5	punct	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
9	same	same	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	thing	thing	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	done	do	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	25	punct	_	_
14	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	25	cc	_	_
15	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
16	boy	boy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	25	nsubj:pass	_	_
17	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	20	nsubj:pass	_	_
18	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	20	aux	_	_
19	been	be	AUX	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	20	aux:pass	_	_
20	killed	kill	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	16	acl:relcl	_	_
21	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	23	det	_	_
22	previous	previous	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	23	amod	_	_
23	night	night	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	20	obl:unmarked	_	_
24	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	25	aux:pass	_	_
25	divided	divide	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	12	parataxis	_	_
26	up	up	ADP	RP	_	25	compound:prt	_	_
27	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	28	cc	_	_
28	eaten	eat	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	25	conj	_	_
29	by	by	ADP	IN	_	32	case	_	_
30	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	32	det	_	_
31	Inkum	Inkum	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	32	compound	_	_
32	members	member	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	28	obl:agent	_	_
33	of	of	ADP	IN	_	35	case	_	_
34	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	35	det	_	_
35	society	society	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	32	nmod	_	_
36	on	on	ADP	IN	_	39	case	_	_
37	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	39	det	_	_
38	following	follow	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	39	amod	_	_
39	day	day	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	35	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
40	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	12	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **run** | gerund | four nights *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn run-51.3.2-2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **do** | past · passive |  | the same thing |  |  | then; night |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Eventuality |
| 3 | **kill** | past · perfect · passive |  | the boy |  |  | night |  | vn remove-10.1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |
| 4 | **divide up** | past · passive |  | the boy |  |  |  |  | vn multiply-108-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |
| 5 | **eat** | participle |  |  |  |  |  | the Inkum members of the society on the following day *obl:agent* | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 6 | **follow** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

<!-- .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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