---
title: Chief Elullo replied that he could not help his feelings, and that,… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: Chief Elullo replied that he could not help his feelings, and that, Amoru had seen a man or woman killed every night for a month and a half, and that he had received his share although the people who had been killed and eaten were the dear relations of some of the witches. Who acts: Chief, that, man
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xii.--concerning the Okuni Witches and Cannibalism., sentence 61

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Chief Elullo replied that he could not help his feelings, and that, Amoru had seen a man or woman killed every night for a month and a half, and that he had received his share although the people who had been killed and eaten were the dear relations of some of the witches.

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**Who acts:** Chief, that, man, Amoru, people · **What happens:** reply, not help, see, kill, receive, eat · **To what, where:** feelings, share, people, dear relations

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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 (Chief, that, man, Amoru), 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:pg70959:9:61
# text = Chief Elullo replied that he could not help his feelings, and that, Amoru had seen a man or woman killed every night for a month and a half, and that he had received his share although the people who had been killed and eaten were the dear relations of some of the witches.
1	Chief	Chief	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
2	Elullo	Elullo	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	1	flat	_	_
3	replied	reply	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	8	mark	_	_
5	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	_
6	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	8	aux	_	_
7	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	8	advmod	_	_
8	help	help	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	advcl	_	_
9	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	10	nmod:poss	_	_
10	feelings	feeling	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	17	punct	_	_
12	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	17	cc	_	_
13	that	that	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	17	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
15	Amoru	Amoru	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	17	nsubj	_	_
16	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	17	aux	_	_
17	seen	see	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	22	advcl	_	_
18	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	19	det	_	_
19	man	man	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	22	nsubj	_	_
20	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	21	cc	_	_
21	woman	woman	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	19	conj	_	_
22	killed	kill	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	parataxis	_	_
23	every	every	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	24	det	_	_
24	night	night	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	22	obl:unmarked	_	_
25	for	for	ADP	IN	_	27	case	_	_
26	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	27	det	_	_
27	month	month	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	22	obl	_	_
28	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	30	cc	_	_
29	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	30	det	_	_
30	half	half	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing|NumForm=Word|NumType=Frac	27	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
31	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	36	punct	_	_
32	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	36	cc	_	_
33	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	36	mark	_	_
34	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	36	nsubj	_	_
35	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	36	aux	_	_
36	received	receive	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	3	parataxis	_	_
37	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	38	nmod:poss	_	_
38	share	share	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	36	obj	_	_
39	although	although	SCONJ	IN	_	51	mark	_	_
40	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	41	det	_	_
41	people	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	51	nsubj	_	_
42	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	45	nsubj:pass	_	_
43	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	45	aux	_	_
44	been	be	AUX	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	45	aux:pass	_	_
45	killed	kill	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	41	acl:relcl	_	_
46	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	47	cc	_	_
47	eaten	eat	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	45	conj	_	_
48	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	51	cop	_	_
49	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	51	det	_	_
50	dear	dear	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	51	amod	_	_
51	relations	relation	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	36	advcl	_	_
52	of	of	ADP	IN	_	53	case	_	_
53	some	some	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	51	nmod	_	_
54	of	of	ADP	IN	_	56	case	_	_
55	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	56	det	_	_
56	witches	witch	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	53	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
57	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **reply** *speech: assert* | past | Chief |  |  |  |  |  | vn respond-113 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **not** **help** | could | chief | chief's feelings |  |  |  |  | vn help-72.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent feeling=Beneficiary |
| 3 | **see** | past · perfect | that |  |  |  |  | Amoru *nsubj* | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer |
| 4 | **kill** | past | a man or woman |  |  |  | month; night |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Experiencer |
| 5 | **receive** | past · perfect | Amoru | chief's share |  |  |  |  | vn obtain-13.5.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent share=Theme |
| 6 | **kill** | past · perfect · passive |  | the people |  |  |  |  | vn remove-10.1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |
| 7 | **eat** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 8 | **is a** | past | the people | the dear relations |  |  |  | of some of the witches | tree rules |
| 9 | **share** |  | chief |  |  |  |  |  | nom share «possession transitive»: poss=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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