---
title: The chiefs then ordered two cows to be killed to make a feast, and a… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: The chiefs then ordered two cows to be killed to make a feast, and a big play was held. Who acts: chiefs. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Xii.--concerning the Okuni Witches and Cannibalism., with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of every clause.
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xii.--concerning the Okuni Witches and Cannibalism., sentence 107

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The chiefs then ordered two cows to be killed to make a feast, and a big play was held.

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**Who acts:** chiefs · **What happens:** order, kill, make, hold · **To what, where:** two cows, feast, big play

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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 (chiefs), 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:pg70959:9:107
# text = The chiefs then ordered two cows to be killed to make a feast, and a big play was held.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	chiefs	chief	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
3	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	4	advmod	_	_
4	ordered	order	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	two	two	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	6	nummod	_	_
6	cows	cow	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obj	_	_
7	to	to	PART	TO	_	9	mark	_	_
8	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	9	aux:pass	_	_
9	killed	kill	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	xcomp	_	_
10	to	to	PART	TO	_	11	mark	_	_
11	make	make	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	9	advcl	_	_
12	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	feast	feast	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	20	punct	_	_
15	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	20	cc	_	_
16	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
17	big	big	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	18	amod	_	_
18	play	play	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	20	nsubj:pass	_	_
19	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	20	aux:pass	_	_
20	held	hold	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **order** | past | the chiefs |  | two cows |  | then |  | vn order-58.3-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent cow=Recipient clause=Topic |
| 2 | **kill** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive · passive | the chiefs *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V ADV-Middle» |
| 3 | **make** | to-infinitive | the chiefs *not said here* | a feast |  |  |  |  | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset feast=Product |
| 4 | **hold** | past · passive |  | a big play |  |  |  |  | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |

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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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