---
title: Some of them were witches and others were poisoners, but one of them… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: Some of them were witches and others were poisoners, but one of them was a cripple, and could only scramble along on his hands and knees. Who acts: Some, witches, one. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Xix.--why the Mist Rises From the Water., with its d
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xix.--why the Mist Rises From the Water., sentence 10

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Some of them were witches and others were poisoners, but one of them was a cripple, and could only scramble along on his hands and knees.

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**Who acts:** Some, witches, one · **What happens:** be, scramble · **To what, where:** witches, poisoners, cripple, hands

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This is a sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Xix.--why the Mist Rises From the Water.. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (Some, witches, one), 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:pg70959:14:10
# text = Some of them were witches and others were poisoners, but one of them was a cripple, and could only scramble along on his hands and knees.
1	Some	some	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	5	nsubj	_	_
2	of	of	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
3	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	1	nmod	_	_
4	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
5	witches	witch	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	nsubj	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
7	others	other	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	conj	_	_
8	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	9	cop	_	_
9	poisoners	poisoner	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	17	punct	_	_
11	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	17	cc	_	_
12	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	17	nsubj	_	_
13	of	of	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
14	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	12	nmod	_	_
15	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	17	cop	_	_
16	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
17	cripple	cripple	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	22	punct	_	_
19	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	22	cc	_	_
20	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	22	aux	_	_
21	only	only	ADV	RB	_	22	advmod	_	_
22	scramble	scramble	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	9	conj	_	_
23	along	along	ADV	RB	_	22	advmod	_	_
24	on	on	ADP	IN	_	26	case	_	_
25	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	26	nmod:poss	_	_
26	hands	hand	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	22	obl	_	_
27	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	28	cc	_	_
28	knees	knee	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	26	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
29	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	9	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | past | Some of people | witches and others |  |  |  | others *conj* | tree rules |
| 2 | **is a** | past | witches and others | poisoners but a cripple |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **is a** | past | one of people | a cripple |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 4 | **scramble** | could | witches and others *not said here* |  |  | Ogbaja's hands and knees |  | along *property* | vn run-51.3.2 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme on hand=Trajectory |

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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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