---
title: When they returned they ordered the witches to be tied up to trees a… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: When they returned they ordered the witches to be tied up to trees and burnt alive, but Chief Elullo, being the leader was tortured and kept alive for some time. Who acts: people. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Xii.--concerning the Okuni Witches and C
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xii.--concerning the Okuni Witches and Cannibalism., sentence 94

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When they returned they ordered the witches to be tied up to trees and burnt alive, but Chief Elullo, being the leader was tortured and kept alive for some time.

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**Who acts:** people · **What happens:** return, order, tie up, be, torture, keep · **To what, where:** witches, leader, Chief

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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), 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:pg70959:9:94
# text = When they returned they ordered the witches to be tied up to trees and burnt alive, but Chief Elullo, being the leader was tortured and kept alive for some time.
1	When	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	3	advmod	_	_
2	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
3	returned	return	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	advcl	_	_
4	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
5	ordered	order	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	witches	witch	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obj	_	_
8	to	to	PART	TO	_	10	mark	_	_
9	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	10	aux:pass	_	_
10	tied	tie	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	7	acl	_	_
11	up	up	ADP	RP	_	10	compound:prt	_	_
12	to	to	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
13	trees	tree	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	obl	_	_
14	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	16	cc	_	_
15	burnt	burnt	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	16	amod	_	_
16	alive	alive	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	13	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	26	punct	_	_
18	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	26	cc	_	_
19	Chief	Chief	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	26	nsubj	_	_
20	Elullo	Elullo	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	19	flat	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	24	punct	_	_
22	being	be	AUX	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	24	cop	_	_
23	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	24	det	_	_
24	leader	leader	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	26	nsubj:pass	_	_
25	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	26	aux:pass	_	_
26	tortured	torture	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	5	conj	_	_
27	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	28	cc	_	_
28	kept	keep	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	26	conj	_	_
29	alive	alive	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	28	xcomp	_	_
30	for	for	ADP	IN	_	32	case	_	_
31	some	some	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	32	det	_	_
32	time	time	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	28	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
33	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **return** | past | people |  |  |  |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **order** | past | people |  | the witches |  |  |  | vn get-13.5.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent witch=Theme |
| 3 | **tie up** | to-infinitive · passive | people *not said here* |  |  |  |  | to trees | vn mix-22.1-2 «NP V ADVP-Middle PP»: to tree=Co-Patient |
| 4 | **is a** | gerund |  | the leader |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 5 | **torture** | past · passive |  | Chief |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: subject=Experiencer |
| 6 | **keep** | participle |  |  |  |  | time | alive *property* | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: 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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