---
title: There is, however, an old custom existing between several towns that… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: There is, however, an old custom existing between several towns that no damages can be claimed for adultery. Who acts: old custom. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Opening, with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of every clause.
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Opening, sentence 24

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There is, however, an old custom existing between several towns that no damages can be claimed for adultery.

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**Who acts:** old custom · **What happens:** be, exist, claim · **To what, where:** several towns, damages

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This is a sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Opening. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (old custom), 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:pg70959:1:24
# text = There is, however, an old custom existing between several towns that no damages can be claimed for adultery.
1	There	there	PRON	EX	PronType=Dem	2	expl	_	_
2	is	be	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	2	punct	_	_
4	however	however	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
6	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	custom	custom	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	parataxis	_	_
9	existing	exist	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	8	acl	_	_
10	between	between	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	several	several	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	amod	_	_
12	towns	town	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	obl	_	_
13	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	18	obj	_	_
14	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	15	det	_	_
15	damages	damage	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	18	nsubj:pass	_	_
16	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	18	aux	_	_
17	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	18	aux:pass	_	_
18	claimed	claim	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	12	acl:relcl	_	_
19	for	for	ADP	IN	_	20	case	_	_
20	adultery	adultery	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **be** | present |  |  |  | there |  | a old custom *parataxis*; however *property* | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **exist** | gerund | a old custom *not said here* |  |  | several towns |  |  | vn exist-47.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme between town=Location |
| 3 | **claim** *speech: other* | can · passive |  | no damages |  |  |  | for adultery; several towns *obj* | tree rules |

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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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