---
title: Not knowing what this omen might mean, he stopped at Okanja, which i… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: Not knowing what this omen might mean, he stopped at Okanja, which is only a little way lower down the river on the same side as Okuni, and went to see a friend of his who was known to be clever at reading signs, and told him that the kingfisher had made a noise on his right-hand as he was going dow
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xxiii.--why Edidor Killed Her Husband and Her Lover., sentence 15

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Not knowing what this omen might mean, he stopped at Okanja, which is only a little way lower down the river on the same side as Okuni, and went to see a friend of his who was known to be clever at reading signs, and told him that the kingfisher had made a noise on his right-hand as he was going down the river.

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**Who acts:** Ode, omen, Okanja · **What happens:** not know, mean, stop, be, go, see · **To what, where:** Okanja, little way, friend, reading signs, Ode, kingfisher · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
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 (Ode, omen, Okanja), 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:pg70959:17:15
# text = Not knowing what this omen might mean, he stopped at Okanja, which is only a little way lower down the river on the same side as Okuni, and went to see a friend of his who was known to be clever at reading signs, and told him that the kingfisher had made a noise on his right-hand as he was going down the river.
1	Not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	2	advmod	_	_
2	knowing	know	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	10	advcl	_	_
3	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	7	obj	_	_
4	this	this	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	5	det	_	_
5	omen	omen	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
6	might	might	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	7	aux	_	_
7	mean	mean	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	2	punct	_	_
9	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	nsubj	_	_
10	stopped	stop	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
11	at	at	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
12	Okanja	Okanja	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	10	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	19	punct	_	_
14	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	19	nsubj	_	_
15	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	19	cop	_	_
16	only	only	ADV	RB	_	19	advmod	_	_
17	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	19	det	_	_
18	little	little	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	19	amod	_	_
19	way	way	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	appos	_	_
20	lower	low	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	19	amod	_	_
21	down	down	ADP	IN	_	23	case	_	_
22	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	23	det	_	_
23	river	river	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	20	obl	_	_
24	on	on	ADP	IN	_	27	case	_	_
25	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	27	det	_	_
26	same	same	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	27	amod	_	_
27	side	side	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	23	nmod	_	_
28	as	as	ADP	IN	_	29	case	_	_
29	Okuni	Okuni	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	27	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
30	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	32	punct	_	_
31	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	32	cc	_	_
32	went	go	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	10	conj	_	_
33	to	to	PART	TO	_	34	mark	_	_
34	see	see	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	32	xcomp	_	_
35	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	36	det	_	_
36	friend	friend	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	34	obj	_	_
37	of	of	ADP	IN	_	38	case	_	_
38	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	36	acl:relcl	_	_
39	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	41	nsubj:pass	_	_
40	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	41	aux:pass	_	_
41	known	know	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	38	parataxis	_	_
42	to	to	PART	TO	_	44	mark	_	_
43	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	44	cop	_	_
44	clever	clever	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	41	xcomp	_	_
45	at	at	ADP	IN	_	47	case	_	_
46	reading	reading	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	47	compound	_	_
47	signs	sign	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	44	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
48	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	50	punct	_	_
49	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	50	cc	_	_
50	told	tell	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	10	conj	_	_
51	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	50	iobj	_	_
52	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	56	mark	_	_
53	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	54	det	_	_
54	kingfisher	kingfisher	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	56	nsubj:pass	_	_
55	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	56	aux	_	_
56	made	make	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	50	ccomp	_	_
57	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	58	det	_	_
58	noise	noise	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	56	obj	_	_
59	on	on	ADP	IN	_	63	case	_	_
60	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	63	nmod:poss	_	_
61	right	right	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	63	amod	_	SpaceAfter=No
62	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	61	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
63	hand	hand	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	56	obl	_	_
64	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	67	mark	_	_
65	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	67	nsubj	_	_
66	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	67	aux	_	_
67	going	go	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	56	advcl	_	_
68	down	down	ADP	IN	_	70	case	_	_
69	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	70	det	_	_
70	river	river	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	67	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
71	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	10	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **know** | gerund | Ode *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V how S\_INF»: agent=Experiencer clause=Stimulus |
| 2 | **mean** | might | this omen |  |  |  |  | what *obj* | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent what=Topic |
| 3 | **stop** | past | Ode |  |  | Okanja |  |  | vn lodge-46 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme at okanja=Location |
| 4 | **is a** | present | Okanja | a little way |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 5 | **go** | past | Ode *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7 «NP V S-Quote»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 6 | **see** | to-infinitive | Ode *not said here* | a friend of Ode |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer friend=Stimulus |
| 7 | **know** | past · passive |  |  |  |  |  | who *nsubj:pass* | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: subject=Stimulus |
| 8 | **is** | to-infinitive |  |  |  | reading signs |  | clever *property* | tree rules |
| 9 | **tell** *speech: assert* | past | Ode *not said here* |  | Ode |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Agent he=Recipient clause=Topic |
| 10 | **make** | past · perfect · passive |  | the kingfisher |  | Ode's right hand |  | a noise *obj* | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP NP»: subject=Beneficiary noise=Product |
| 11 | **go down** | past · progressive | Ode | the river |  |  |  |  | vn calibratable\_cos-45.6.1-1 «NP.patient V NP.extent PP.source PP.goal»: agent=Patient river=Extent |

<!-- .note -->
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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