---
title: But still the boy refused, saying that he was much too fond of his p… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: But still the boy refused, saying that he was much too fond of his people to have them killed for the witches’ food. Who acts: boy, people. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Xii.--concerning the Okuni Witches and Cannibalism., with its dependency tree an
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xii.--concerning the Okuni Witches and Cannibalism., sentence 60

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But still the boy refused, saying that he was much too fond of his people to have them killed for the witches’ food.

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**Who acts:** boy, people · **What happens:** refuse, say, be, have, kill · **To what, where:** people · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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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 (boy, people), 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:pg70959:9:60
# text = But still the boy refused, saying that he was much too fond of his people to have them killed for the witches’ food.
1	But	but	CCONJ	CC	_	5	cc	_	_
2	still	still	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	boy	boy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
5	refused	refuse	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
7	saying	say	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	5	advcl	_	_
8	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	13	mark	_	_
9	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	13	nsubj	_	_
10	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	13	cop	_	_
11	much	much	ADV	RB	_	13	advmod	_	_
12	too	too	ADV	RB	_	13	advmod	_	_
13	fond	fond	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	ccomp	_	_
14	of	of	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
15	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	16	nmod:poss	_	_
16	people	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	13	obl	_	_
17	to	to	PART	TO	_	18	mark	_	_
18	have	have	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	advcl	_	_
19	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	18	obj	_	_
20	killed	kill	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	18	xcomp	_	_
21	for	for	ADP	IN	_	25	case	_	_
22	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	23	det	_	_
23	witches	witch	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	25	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
24	’	's	PART	POS	_	23	case	_	_
25	food	food	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	20	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
26	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **refuse** | past | the boy |  |  |  | still |  | vn reject-77.2 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **say** *speech: assert* | gerund | the boy *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **is** | past | boy |  |  |  |  | of boy's people; fond *property* | tree rules |
| 4 | **have** | to-infinitive | the boy *not said here* | people |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 5 | **kill** | participle | people *not said here* |  |  |  |  | for the witches's food | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Experiencer |

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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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