---
title: The chiefs then went outside to consult as they were afraid to talk… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: The chiefs then went outside to consult as they were afraid to talk in front of the witches. Who acts: chiefs, people. 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 e
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xii.--concerning the Okuni Witches and Cannibalism., sentence 93

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The chiefs then went outside to consult as they were afraid to talk in front of the witches.

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**Who acts:** chiefs, people · **What happens:** go, consult, be, talk · **To what, where:** front

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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, 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:pg70959:9:93
# text = The chiefs then went outside to consult as they were afraid to talk in front of the witches.
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	went	go	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	outside	outside	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
7	consult	consult	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	xcomp	_	_
8	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	11	mark	_	_
9	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	11	nsubj	_	_
10	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	11	cop	_	_
11	afraid	afraid	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	advcl	_	_
12	to	to	PART	TO	_	13	mark	_	_
13	talk	talk	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	11	xcomp	_	_
14	in	in	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
15	front	front	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obl	_	_
16	of	of	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
17	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
18	witches	witch	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	15	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **go** | past | the chiefs |  |  |  | then | outside *property* | vn say-37.7 «NP V S-Quote»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **consult** | to-infinitive | the chiefs *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **is** | past | people |  |  |  |  | afraid *property* | tree rules |
| 4 | **talk** | to-infinitive | people *not said here* |  |  | front of the witches |  |  | vn talk-37.5 «NP V»: agent=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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