--- title: When they were completed, a man was sent to the eight witches with a… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics description: When they were completed, a man was sent to the eight witches with a message from Chief ’Njum, that he would like the people who had been turned out of the town to take part in the big feast he was giving in honour of his dead wife. Who acts: man. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Niger --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/14/48/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [tales](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/) / [Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/) / [Xix.--why the Mist Rises From the Water.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/14/) / 48 # Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xix.--why the Mist Rises From the Water., sentence 48 When they were completed, a man was sent to the eight witches with a message from Chief ’Njum, that he would like the people who had been turned out of the town to take part in the big feast he was giving in honour of his dead wife. **Who acts:** man · **What happens:** complete, send, like, turn out, take, give · **To what, where:** preparations, man, eight witches, people, town, part 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 (man), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree. **Mova's own parse.** This tree may be wrong. ## The tree {#tree} ```conllu # sent_id = book:pg70959:14:48 # text = When they were completed, a man was sent to the eight witches with a message from Chief ’Njum, that he would like the people who had been turned out of the town to take part in the big feast he was giving in honour of his dead wife. 1 When when ADV WRB PronType=Int 4 advmod _ _ 2 they they PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 4 nsubj:pass _ _ 3 were be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 4 aux:pass _ _ 4 completed complete VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 0 root _ SpaceAfter=No 5 , , PUNCT , _ 9 punct _ _ 6 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 7 det _ _ 7 man man NOUN NN Number=Sing 9 nsubj:pass _ _ 8 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 9 aux:pass _ _ 9 sent send VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 4 conj _ _ 10 to to ADP IN _ 13 case _ _ 11 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 13 det _ _ 12 eight eight NUM CD NumForm=Word|NumType=Card 13 nummod _ _ 13 witches witch NOUN NNS Number=Plur 9 obl _ _ 14 with with ADP IN _ 16 case _ _ 15 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 16 det _ _ 16 message message NOUN NN Number=Sing 13 nmod _ _ 17 from from ADP IN _ 20 case _ _ 18 Chief Chief PROPN NNP Number=Sing 20 nmod:poss _ _ 19 ’ 's PART POS _ 18 case _ SpaceAfter=No 20 Njum Njum PROPN NNP Number=Sing 16 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 21 , , PUNCT , _ 25 punct _ _ 22 that that SCONJ IN _ 25 mark _ _ 23 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 25 nsubj _ _ 24 would would AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 25 aux _ _ 25 like like VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 9 advcl _ _ 26 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 27 det _ _ 27 people people NOUN NNS Number=Plur 25 obj _ _ 28 who who PRON WP PronType=Rel 31 nsubj _ _ 29 had have AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 31 aux _ _ 30 been be AUX VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part 31 aux:pass _ _ 31 turned turn VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 27 acl:relcl _ _ 32 out out ADP IN _ 35 case _ _ 33 of of ADP IN _ 35 case _ _ 34 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 35 det _ _ 35 town town NOUN NN Number=Sing 31 obl _ _ 36 to to PART TO _ 37 mark _ _ 37 take take VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 31 advcl _ _ 38 part part NOUN NN Number=Sing 37 obj _ _ 39 in in ADP IN _ 42 case _ _ 40 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 42 det _ _ 41 big big ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 42 amod _ _ 42 feast feast NOUN NN Number=Sing 37 obl _ _ 43 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 45 nsubj _ _ 44 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 45 aux _ _ 45 giving give VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 42 acl:relcl _ _ 46 in in ADP IN _ 47 case _ _ 47 honour honour NOUN NN Number=Sing 45 obl _ _ 48 of of ADP IN _ 51 case _ _ 49 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 51 nmod:poss _ _ 50 dead dead ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 51 amod _ _ 51 wife wife NOUN NN Number=Sing 47 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 52 . . PUNCT . _ 4 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **complete** | past · passive | | preparations *= preparation* | | | | | vn complete-55.2 «NP V NP»: subject=Eventuality | | 2 | **send** | past · passive | | a man | the eight witches with a message from Chief's Njum | | | | vn confine-92-1 «NP V NP PP.destination»: subject=Theme to witch=Destination | | 3 | **like** | would | man | the people | | | | | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Pivot people=Theme | | 4 | **turn out** | past · perfect · passive | | the people | | the town | | | tree rules | | 5 | **take** | to-infinitive | | part | | the big feast | | | vn fit-54.3 «NP V NP PP.location»: agent=Agent part=Value in feast=Location | | 6 | **give** | past · progressive | man | the big feast *not said here* | | honour of Njum's dead wife | | | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent feast=Theme | | 7 | **honour** | | | Njum's dead wife | | | | | nom honour «state transitive»: of=patient | 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. **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. - ← previous: [sentence 47](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/14/47/) - next →: [sentence 49](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/14/49/) - ↑ back to [Xix.--why the Mist Rises From the Water.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/14/)