---
title: It was one of the rules of the society that anyone wishing to join m… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: It was one of the rules of the society that anyone wishing to join must pay fifty rods, one goat, and five pots of tombo, which would be divided amongst the members. Who acts: name, anyone, society. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Ix.--the Story of the
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Ix.--the Story of the War Between Inkum and Enfitop., sentence 5

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It was one of the rules of the society that anyone wishing to join must pay fifty rods, one goat, and five pots of tombo, which would be divided amongst the members.

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**Who acts:** name, anyone, society · **What happens:** be, wish, join, pay, divide, rule · **To what, where:** one, society, five pots

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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 (name, anyone, society), 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:pg70959:7:5
# text = It was one of the rules of the society that anyone wishing to join must pay fifty rods, one goat, and five pots of tombo, which would be divided amongst the members.
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	0	root	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	rules	rule	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nmod	_	_
7	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	society	society	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	_
10	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	16	obj	_	_
11	anyone	anyone	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	16	nsubj	_	_
12	wishing	wish	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	11	acl	_	_
13	to	to	PART	TO	_	14	mark	_	_
14	join	join	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	12	xcomp	_	_
15	must	must	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	16	aux	_	_
16	pay	pay	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	9	acl:relcl	_	_
17	fifty	fifty	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	18	nummod	_	_
18	rods	rod	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	16	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	21	punct	_	_
20	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	21	nummod	_	_
21	goat	goat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	25	punct	_	_
23	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	25	cc	_	_
24	five	five	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	25	nummod	_	_
25	pots	pot	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	parataxis	_	_
26	of	of	ADP	IN	_	27	case	_	_
27	tombo	tombo	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	25	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
28	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	32	punct	_	_
29	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	32	nsubj:pass	_	_
30	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	32	aux	_	_
31	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	32	aux:pass	_	_
32	divided	divide	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	25	acl	_	_
33	amongst	amongst	ADP	IN	_	35	case	_	_
34	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	35	det	_	_
35	members	member	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	32	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
36	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | past | name | one |  |  |  | of the rules of the society; five pots of tombo *parataxis* | tree rules |
| 2 | **wish** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn wish-62 «NP V for NP S\_INF»: agent=Pivot clause=Theme |
| 3 | **join** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn mix-22.1-2-1 «NP V»: agent=Patient |
| 4 | **pay** | must | anyone | the society |  |  |  | fifty rods and one goat *obj* | vn pay-68-1 «NP V NP NP»: agent=Agent that=Recipient rod=Asset |
| 5 | **divide** | would · passive |  | five pots of tombo |  |  |  | amongst the members | vn multiply-108-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |
| 6 | **rule** |  | the society |  |  |  |  |  | nom rule «cognition intransitive»: of=agent |

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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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