---
title: When all the people had assembled, it was noticed that there were ve… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: When all the people had assembled, it was noticed that there were very few chiefs present as most of them and the head men had joined the witches’ society. Who acts: people, few chiefs, most. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Xii.--concerning the Okuni W
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xii.--concerning the Okuni Witches and Cannibalism., sentence 88

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When all the people had assembled, it was noticed that there were very few chiefs present as most of them and the head men had joined the witches’ society.

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**Who acts:** people, few chiefs, most · **What happens:** assemble, notice, be, present, join · **To what, where:** drum, society

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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 (people, few chiefs, most), 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:pg70959:9:88
# text = When all the people had assembled, it was noticed that there were very few chiefs present as most of them and the head men had joined the witches’ society.
1	When	when	SCONJ	WRB	_	6	mark	_	_
2	all	all	DET	PDT	PronType=Tot	4	det:predet	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	people	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nsubj	_	_
5	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
6	assembled	assemble	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	10	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	6	punct	_	_
8	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	nsubj:pass	_	_
9	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	10	aux:pass	_	_
10	noticed	notice	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
11	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	13	mark	_	_
12	there	there	PRON	EX	PronType=Dem	13	expl	_	_
13	were	be	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	17	advcl	_	_
14	very	very	ADV	RB	_	15	advmod	_	_
15	few	few	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	16	amod	_	_
16	chiefs	chief	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	17	nsubj	_	_
17	present	present	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	10	parataxis	_	_
18	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	27	mark	_	_
19	most	most	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	27	nsubj	_	_
20	of	of	ADP	IN	_	21	case	_	_
21	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	19	nmod	_	_
22	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	27	cc	_	_
23	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	25	det	_	_
24	head	head	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	25	compound	_	_
25	men	man	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	27	nsubj	_	_
26	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	27	aux	_	_
27	joined	join	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	17	ccomp	_	_
28	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	29	det	_	_
29	witches	witch	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	31	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
30	’	's	PART	POS	_	29	case	_	_
31	society	society	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	27	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
32	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	10	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **assemble** | past · perfect | all people |  |  |  |  |  | vn herd-47.5.2 «NP V NP.theme»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **notice** | past · passive |  | drum |  |  |  |  | vn see-30.1-1 «NP V S»: subject=Stimulus |
| 3 | **be** | past | few chiefs *not said here* |  |  | there |  |  | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 4 | **present** | present | few chiefs |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 5 | **join** | past · perfect | most of people | the witches's society |  |  |  | the head men *nsubj* | vn mix-22.1-2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent society=Patient |

<!-- .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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