--- title: Agbor, however, had taken care to place her son in the place where t… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics description: Agbor, however, had taken care to place her son in the place where the white ants were, and he started off cutting right and left with his piece of iron and everything fell before him so that he very soon reached his father before the other boys had got so far as half way. Who acts: white ants, Agbo --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/8/29/) [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/) / [Xi.--how a Father Tried to Kill One of…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/8/) / 29 # Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xi.--how a Father Tried to Kill One of His Sons But Failed., sentence 29 Agbor, however, had taken care to place her son in the place where the white ants were, and he started off cutting right and left with his piece of iron and everything fell before him so that he very soon reached his father before the other boys had got so far as half way. **Who acts:** white ants, Agbor, everything, other boys · **What happens:** take, be, start off, cut, leave, fall · **To what, where:** Agbor, place, father This is a sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Xi.--how a Father Tried to Kill One of His Sons But Failed.. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (white ants, Agbor, everything, other boys), 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:pg70959:8:29 # text = Agbor, however, had taken care to place her son in the place where the white ants were, and he started off cutting right and left with his piece of iron and everything fell before him so that he very soon reached his father before the other boys had got so far as half way. 1 Agbor Agbor PROPN NNP Number=Sing 6 nsubj:pass _ SpaceAfter=No 2 , , PUNCT , _ 1 punct _ _ 3 however however ADV RB _ 6 advmod _ SpaceAfter=No 4 , , PUNCT , _ 3 punct _ _ 5 had have AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 6 aux _ _ 6 taken take VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 0 root _ _ 7 care care NOUN NN Number=Sing 6 obj _ _ 8 to to PART TO _ 9 mark _ _ 9 place place NOUN NN Number=Sing 6 advcl _ _ 10 her her PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 11 nmod:poss _ _ 11 son son NOUN NN Number=Sing 6 obj _ _ 12 in in ADP IN _ 14 case _ _ 13 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 14 det _ _ 14 place place NOUN NN Number=Sing 6 obl _ _ 15 where where ADV WRB PronType=Rel 19 advmod _ _ 16 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 18 det _ _ 17 white white ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 18 amod _ _ 18 ants ant NOUN NNS Number=Plur 19 nsubj _ _ 19 were be VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 14 acl _ SpaceAfter=No 20 , , PUNCT , _ 23 punct _ _ 21 and and CCONJ CC _ 23 cc _ _ 22 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 23 nsubj _ _ 23 started start VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 6 parataxis _ _ 24 off off ADP RP _ 23 compound:prt _ _ 25 cutting cut VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 23 advcl _ _ 26 right right ADV RB _ 25 advmod _ _ 27 and and CCONJ CC _ 28 cc _ _ 28 left leave VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 23 conj _ _ 29 with with ADP IN _ 31 case _ _ 30 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 31 nmod:poss _ _ 31 piece piece NOUN NN Number=Sing 28 obl _ _ 32 of of ADP IN _ 33 case _ _ 33 iron iron NOUN NN Number=Sing 31 nmod _ _ 34 and and CCONJ CC _ 36 cc _ _ 35 everything everything PRON NN Number=Sing|PronType=Tot 36 nsubj _ _ 36 fell fall VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 23 conj _ _ 37 before before ADP IN _ 38 case _ _ 38 him he PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 36 obl _ _ 39 so so SCONJ IN ExtPos=SCONJ 44 mark _ _ 40 that that SCONJ IN _ 39 fixed _ _ 41 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 44 nsubj _ _ 42 very very ADV RB _ 43 advmod _ _ 43 soon soon ADV RB Degree=Pos 44 advmod _ _ 44 reached reach VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 36 advcl _ _ 45 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 46 nmod:poss _ _ 46 father father NOUN NN Number=Sing 44 obj _ _ 47 before before SCONJ IN _ 52 mark _ _ 48 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 50 det _ _ 49 other other ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 50 amod _ _ 50 boys boy NOUN NNS Number=Plur 52 nsubj _ _ 51 had have AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 52 aux _ _ 52 got get VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part 44 advcl _ _ 53 so so ADV RB _ 54 advmod _ _ 54 far far ADV RB Degree=Pos 52 advmod _ _ 55 as as ADP IN _ 57 case _ _ 56 half half ADJ JJ Degree=Pos|NumForm=Word|NumType=Frac 57 amod _ _ 57 way way NOUN NN Number=Sing 54 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 58 . . PUNCT . _ 6 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **take** | past · perfect · passive | | Agbor | | the place | | care *obj*; chief's son *obj*; however *property* | tree rules | | 2 | **be** | past | the white ants | | | | | | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 3 | **start off** | past | Agbor | | | | | | vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP.eventuality V»: agent=Eventuality | | 4 | **cut** | gerund | Agbor *not said here* | | | | | right *property* | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Experiencer | | 5 | **leave** | past | Agbor *not said here* | | | | | with Agbor's piece of iron | vn fulfilling-13.4.1 «NP V NP-Fulfilling PP.theme»: agent=Agent with piece=Theme | | 6 | **fall** | past | everything | | | | before Agbor | | vn occur-48.3 «NP V PP»: agent=Theme before he=Location | | 7 | **reach** | past | Agbor | Agbor's father | | | | soon *property* | vn body\_motion-49.2-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Agent father=Theme | | 8 | **get** | past · perfect | the other boys | | | | | far *property* | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Experiencer | 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 28](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/8/28/) - next →: [sentence 30](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/8/30/) - ↑ back to [Xi.--how a Father Tried to Kill One of His Sons But Failed.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/8/)