---
title: Then the chief called his nine sons together and told them to go dow… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: Then the chief called his nine sons together and told them to go down to the beach one after the other and bring up a bundle of the leaves, and they were then to start making mats to repair the houses, but he told Agberamfe to go last because he was the youngest. Who acts: chief, slaves, mats, croco
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xi.--how a Father Tried to Kill One of His Sons But Failed., sentence 38

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Then the chief called his nine sons together and told them to go down to the beach one after the other and bring up a bundle of the leaves, and they were then to start making mats to repair the houses, but he told Agberamfe to go last because he was the youngest.

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**Who acts:** chief, slaves, mats, crocodile · **What happens:** call, tell, go down, bring up, start, make · **To what, where:** nine sons, slaves, bundle, mats, houses, Agberamfe · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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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 (chief, slaves, mats, crocodile), 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:pg70959:8:38
# text = Then the chief called his nine sons together and told them to go down to the beach one after the other and bring up a bundle of the leaves, and they were then to start making mats to repair the houses, but he told Agberamfe to go last because he was the youngest.
1	Then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	4	advmod	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	chief	chief	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	called	call	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	7	nmod:poss	_	_
6	nine	nine	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	7	nummod	_	_
7	sons	son	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obj	_	_
8	together	together	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
9	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc	_	_
10	told	tell	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	conj	_	_
11	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	iobj	_	_
12	to	to	PART	TO	_	13	mark	_	_
13	go	go	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	10	xcomp	_	_
14	down	down	ADV	RB	_	13	advmod	_	_
15	to	to	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
16	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
17	beach	beach	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obl	_	_
18	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	17	flat	_	_
19	after	after	ADP	IN	_	21	case	_	_
20	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	21	det	_	_
21	other	other	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	13	obl	_	_
22	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	23	cc	_	_
23	bring	bring	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	13	conj	_	_
24	up	up	ADP	RP	_	23	compound:prt	_	_
25	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	26	det	_	_
26	bundle	bundle	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	23	obj	_	_
27	of	of	ADP	IN	_	29	case	_	_
28	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	29	det	_	_
29	leaves	leaf	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	26	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
30	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	36	punct	_	_
31	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	36	cc	_	_
32	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	36	nsubj	_	_
33	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	36	aux	_	_
34	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	36	advmod	_	_
35	to	to	PART	TO	_	36	mark	_	_
36	start	start	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	conj	_	_
37	making	make	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	36	xcomp	_	_
38	mats	mat	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	37	obj	_	_
39	to	to	PART	TO	_	40	mark	_	_
40	repair	repair	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	37	xcomp	_	_
41	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	42	det	_	_
42	houses	house	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	40	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
43	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	46	punct	_	_
44	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	46	cc	_	_
45	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	46	nsubj	_	_
46	told	tell	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	conj	_	_
47	Agberamfe	Agberamfe	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	46	iobj	_	_
48	to	to	PART	TO	_	49	mark	_	_
49	go	go	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	46	xcomp	_	_
50	last	last	ADV	RB	_	49	advmod	_	_
51	because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	55	mark	_	_
52	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	55	nsubj	_	_
53	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	55	cop	_	_
54	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	55	det	_	_
55	youngest	young	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	49	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
56	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **call** | past | the chief |  | crocodile's nine sons |  | then | together *property* | vn initiate\_communication-37.4.2-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent son=Recipient |
| 2 | **tell** *speech: assert* | past | the chief *not said here* |  | slaves *= slave* |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Agent they=Recipient clause=Topic |
| 3 | **go down** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | the chief *not said here* |  |  |  | after the other | to the beach; down *property* | vn calibratable\_cos-45.6.1-1 «NP.attribute V»: agent=Attribute |
| 4 | **bring up** | present | the chief *not said here* | a bundle of the leaves |  |  |  |  | vn remedy-45.7 «NP V NP.patient»: agent=Agent bundle=Patient |
| 5 | **start** | past | slaves *= slave* |  |  |  | then |  | vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality |
| 6 | **make** | gerund | slaves *= slave* *not said here* | mats |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 7 | **repair** | to-infinitive | mats *not said here* | the houses |  |  |  |  | vn remedy-45.7 «NP V NP.patient»: agent=Agent house=Patient |
| 8 | **tell** *speech: assert* | past | crocodile |  | Agberamfe |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Agent agberamfe=Recipient clause=Topic |
| 9 | **go** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | crocodile *not said here* |  |  |  |  | last *property* | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 10 | **is** | past | crocodile |  |  |  |  | young *property* | tree rules |

<!-- .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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