---
title: The sons and daughters of the witches were sorry to lose their paren… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: The sons and daughters of the witches were sorry to lose their parents, but they were glad that all the witches in the town had been caught and disposed of. Who acts: sons, parents. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Xii.--concerning the Okuni Witches and
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xii.--concerning the Okuni Witches and Cannibalism., sentence 100

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The sons and daughters of the witches were sorry to lose their parents, but they were glad that all the witches in the town had been caught and disposed of.

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**Who acts:** sons, parents · **What happens:** be, lose, catch, dispose · **To what, where:** parents, witches

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This is a sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Xii.--concerning the Okuni Witches and Cannibalism.. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (sons, parents), 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:pg70959:9:100
# text = The sons and daughters of the witches were sorry to lose their parents, but they were glad that all the witches in the town had been caught and disposed of.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	sons	son	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	nsubj	_	_
3	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	4	cc	_	_
4	daughters	daughter	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	conj	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	witches	witch	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nmod	_	_
8	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	9	cop	_	_
9	sorry	sorry	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
10	to	to	PART	TO	_	11	mark	_	_
11	lose	lose	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	9	xcomp	_	_
12	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	13	nmod:poss	_	_
13	parents	parent	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	11	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	18	punct	_	_
15	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	18	cc	_	_
16	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	18	nsubj	_	_
17	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	18	cop	_	_
18	glad	glad	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	parataxis	_	_
19	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	28	mark	_	_
20	all	all	DET	PDT	PronType=Tot	22	det:predet	_	_
21	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	22	det	_	_
22	witches	witch	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	28	nsubj:pass	_	_
23	in	in	ADP	IN	_	25	case	_	_
24	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	25	det	_	_
25	town	town	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	22	nmod	_	_
26	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	28	aux	_	_
27	been	be	AUX	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	28	aux:pass	_	_
28	caught	catch	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	18	advcl	_	_
29	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	30	cc	_	_
30	disposed	dispose	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	28	conj	_	_
31	of	of	ADP	IN	_	30	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
32	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	9	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | the sons of the witches and daughters |  |  |  |  | sorry *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **lose** | to-infinitive | the sons of the witches and daughters *not said here* | daughters's parents |  |  |  |  | vn succeed-74-3-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent parent=Eventuality |
| 3 | **is** | past | parents *= parent* |  |  |  |  | glad *property* | tree rules |
| 4 | **catch** | past · perfect · passive |  | all witches in the town |  |  |  |  | vn get-13.5.1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |
| 5 | **dispose** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn addict-96 «NP V NP PP.Theme»: agent=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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