---
title: When the parents of the children who had been stolen returned from t… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: When the parents of the children who had been stolen returned from their farms they missed their little ones, and so they went and complained to the head chief. Who acts: children. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Ix.--the Story of the War Between Inkum
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Ix.--the Story of the War Between Inkum and Enfitop., sentence 32

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When the parents of the children who had been stolen returned from their farms they missed their little ones, and so they went and complained to the head chief.

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**Who acts:** children · **What happens:** steal, return, miss, go, complain · **To what, where:** parents, farms, little ones, head 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 (children), 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:pg70959:7:32
# text = When the parents of the children who had been stolen returned from their farms they missed their little ones, and so they went and complained to the head chief.
1	When	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	10	advmod	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	parents	parent	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	nsubj:pass	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	children	child	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nmod	_	_
7	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	10	nsubj:pass	_	_
8	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	10	aux	_	_
9	been	be	AUX	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	10	aux:pass	_	_
10	stolen	steal	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
11	returned	return	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	10	xcomp	_	_
12	from	from	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	14	nmod:poss	_	_
14	farms	farm	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	11	obl	_	_
15	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	16	nsubj	_	_
16	missed	miss	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	14	acl:relcl	_	_
17	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	19	nmod:poss	_	_
18	little	little	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	19	amod	_	_
19	ones	one	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	16	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	24	punct	_	_
21	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	24	cc	_	_
22	so	so	ADV	RB	_	24	advmod	_	_
23	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	24	nsubj	_	_
24	went	go	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	10	parataxis	_	_
25	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	26	cc	_	_
26	complained	complain	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	24	conj	_	_
27	to	to	ADP	IN	_	30	case	_	_
28	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	30	det	_	_
29	head	head	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	30	compound	_	_
30	chief	chief	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	26	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
31	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	10	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **steal** | past · perfect · passive |  | the parents of the children |  |  |  | who *nsubj:pass* | tree rules |
| 2 | **return** | participle |  |  |  | children's farms |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme from farm=Initial\_Location |
| 3 | **miss** | past | children *= child* | children's little ones |  |  |  |  | vn admire-31.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer one=Stimulus |
| 4 | **go** | past | children *= child* |  |  |  |  |  | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 5 | **complain** *speech: other* | past | children *= child* *not said here* |  | the head chief |  |  |  | vn complain-37.8 «NP V PP.recipient»: agent=Agent to chief=Recipient |

<!-- .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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