--- title: The boys, thinking their father was about to die, began to dispute a… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics description: The boys, thinking their father was about to die, began to dispute amongst themselves as to what share of their father’s property each should take. Who acts: boys, father, each. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Xi.--how a Father Tried to Kill One of His --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/8/73/) [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/) / 73 # Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xi.--how a Father Tried to Kill One of His Sons But Failed., sentence 73 The boys, thinking their father was about to die, began to dispute amongst themselves as to what share of their father’s property each should take. **Who acts:** boys, father, each · **What happens:** think, be, die, begin, dispute, take · **To what, where:** property · **Speech:** someone speaks here 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 (boys, father, each), 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:pg70959:8:73 # text = The boys, thinking their father was about to die, began to dispute amongst themselves as to what share of their father’s property each should take. 1 The the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 2 det _ _ 2 boys boy NOUN NNS Number=Plur 12 nsubj _ SpaceAfter=No 3 , , PUNCT , _ 4 punct _ _ 4 thinking think VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 2 conj _ _ 5 their their PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 6 nmod:poss _ _ 6 father father NOUN NN Number=Sing 8 nsubj _ _ 7 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 8 cop _ _ 8 about about ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 4 ccomp _ _ 9 to to PART TO _ 10 mark _ _ 10 die die VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 8 xcomp _ SpaceAfter=No 11 , , PUNCT , _ 2 punct _ _ 12 began begin VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 13 to to PART TO _ 14 mark _ _ 14 dispute dispute VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 12 xcomp _ _ 15 amongst amongst ADP IN _ 16 case _ _ 16 themselves themselves PRON PRP Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes 14 obl _ _ 17 as as ADP IN ExtPos=ADP 20 case _ _ 18 to to ADP IN _ 17 fixed _ _ 19 what what DET WDT PronType=Int 20 det _ _ 20 share share NOUN NN Number=Sing 14 obl _ _ 21 of of ADP IN _ 25 case _ _ 22 their their PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 23 nmod:poss _ _ 23 father father NOUN NN Number=Sing 25 nmod:poss _ SpaceAfter=No 24 ’s 's PART POS _ 23 case _ _ 25 property property NOUN NN Number=Sing 20 nmod _ _ 26 each each DET DT PronType=Tot 28 nsubj _ _ 27 should should AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 28 aux _ _ 28 take take VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 25 acl:relcl _ SpaceAfter=No 29 . . PUNCT . _ 12 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **think** *speech: other* | gerund | the boys *not said here* | | | | | | vn focus-87.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent | | 2 | **is** | past | eyes's father | | | | | about *property* | tree rules | | 3 | **die** | to-infinitive | eyes's father *not said here* | | | | | | vn calibratable\_cos-45.6.1 «NP.attribute V»: agent=Attribute | | 4 | **begin** | past | the boys | | | | | | vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality | | 5 | **dispute** | to-infinitive | the boys *not said here* | | | | | amongst eyes *= eye*; as what share of eyes's father's property | vn battle-36.4 «NP V»: agent=Agent | | 6 | **take** | should | each | eyes's father's property *not said here* | | | | | vn bring-11.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent property=Theme | | 7 | **share** | | | eyes's father's property | | | | | nom share «possession transitive»: of=patient | 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 72](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/8/72/) - next →: [sentence 74](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/8/74/) - ↑ 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/)