---
title: It was kept there for three days, and the chiefs sat round the dead… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: It was kept there for three days, and the chiefs sat round the dead body and eat their food, but each mouthful was first offered to the dead man to eat. Who acts: chiefs. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Xii.--concerning the Okuni Witches and Cannibalis
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xii.--concerning the Okuni Witches and Cannibalism., sentence 110

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It was kept there for three days, and the chiefs sat round the dead body and eat their food, but each mouthful was first offered to the dead man to eat.

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**Who acts:** chiefs · **What happens:** keep, sit, eat, offer · **To what, where:** body, food, mouthful, dead man

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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:pg70959:9:110
# text = It was kept there for three days, and the chiefs sat round the dead body and eat their food, but each mouthful was first offered to the dead man to eat.
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	kept	keep	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	there	there	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	3	advmod	_	_
5	for	for	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	three	three	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	7	nummod	_	_
7	days	day	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
9	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	chiefs	chief	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	12	nsubj	_	_
12	sat	sit	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	parataxis	_	_
13	round	round	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
15	dead	dead	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	16	amod	_	_
16	body	body	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obl	_	_
17	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	18	cc	_	_
18	eat	eat	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	12	conj	_	_
19	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	20	nmod:poss	_	_
20	food	food	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	27	punct	_	_
22	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	27	cc	_	_
23	each	each	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	24	det	_	_
24	mouthful	mouthful	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	27	nsubj:pass	_	_
25	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	27	aux:pass	_	_
26	first	first	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord	27	advmod	_	_
27	offered	offer	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	conj	_	_
28	to	to	ADP	IN	_	31	case	_	_
29	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	31	det	_	_
30	dead	dead	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	31	amod	_	_
31	man	man	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	27	obl	_	_
32	to	to	PART	TO	_	33	mark	_	_
33	eat	eat	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	31	acl	_	SpaceAfter=No
34	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **keep** | past · passive |  | body |  | there | day |  | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |
| 2 | **sit** | past | the chiefs |  |  |  |  | round the dead body | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **eat** | present | the chiefs *not said here* | wives's food |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent food=Patient |
| 4 | **offer** | past · passive |  | each mouthful | the dead man |  |  | first *property* | vn future\_having-13.3 «NP V NP PP.goal»: subject=Theme to man=Goal |
| 5 | **eat** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

<!-- .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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