---
title: His wives were very much surprised when they saw what had been done… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: His wives were very much surprised when they saw what had been done to their late husband, as, during his lifetime, he had been quite all right. Who acts: wives, chief. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Xxiii.--why Edidor Killed Her Husband and Her Lover
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xxiii.--why Edidor Killed Her Husband and Her Lover., sentence 132

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His wives were very much surprised when they saw what had been done to their late husband, as, during his lifetime, he had been quite all right.

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**Who acts:** wives, chief · **What happens:** be, see, do · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is a sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Xxiii.--why Edidor Killed Her Husband and Her Lover.. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (wives, chief), 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:pg70959:17:132
# text = His wives were very much surprised when they saw what had been done to their late husband, as, during his lifetime, he had been quite all right.
1	His	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	wives	wife	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nsubj	_	_
3	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
4	very	very	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	much	much	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
6	surprised	surprised	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
7	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	9	advmod	_	_
8	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	nsubj	_	_
9	saw	see	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	advcl	_	_
10	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	13	obj	_	_
11	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	13	aux	_	_
12	been	be	AUX	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	13	aux:pass	_	_
13	done	do	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	9	ccomp	_	_
14	to	to	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
15	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	17	nmod:poss	_	_
16	late	late	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	17	amod	_	_
17	husband	husband	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	23	punct	_	_
19	as	as	ADP	IN	_	23	case	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	23	punct	_	_
21	during	during	ADP	IN	_	23	case	_	_
22	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	23	nmod:poss	_	_
23	lifetime	lifetime	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
24	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	30	punct	_	_
25	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	30	nsubj	_	_
26	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	30	aux	_	_
27	been	be	AUX	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	30	cop	_	_
28	quite	quite	ADV	RB	_	30	advmod	_	_
29	all	all	ADV	RB	_	30	advmod	_	_
30	right	right	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
31	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | chief's wives |  |  |  |  | surprised *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **see** | past | wives *= wife* |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V how S\_INF»: agent=Experiencer clause=Stimulus |
| 3 | **do** | past · perfect · passive |  |  |  |  |  | to wives's late husband; as chief's lifetime; what *obj* | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: what=Eventuality |
| 4 | **is** | past · perfect | chief |  |  |  |  | all, right *property* | 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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