---
title: But the chiefs also added, that the man who was caught committing ad… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: But the chiefs also added, that the man who was caught committing adultery might defend himself as well as he could, and would not be punished for so doing. Who acts: chiefs, man. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Xxiii.--why Edidor Killed Her Husband an
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xxiii.--why Edidor Killed Her Husband and Her Lover., sentence 157

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But the chiefs also added, that the man who was caught committing adultery might defend himself as well as he could, and would not be punished for so doing.

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**Who acts:** chiefs, man · **What happens:** add, catch, commit, defend, not punish, do · **To what, where:** man, adultery, chief

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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 (chiefs, man), 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:pg70959:17:157
# text = But the chiefs also added, that the man who was caught committing adultery might defend himself as well as he could, and would not be punished for so doing.
1	But	but	CCONJ	CC	_	5	cc	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	chiefs	chief	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
4	also	also	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	added	add	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	16	punct	_	_
7	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	16	mark	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	man	man	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	nsubj	_	_
10	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	12	nsubj:pass	_	_
11	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	12	aux:pass	_	_
12	caught	catch	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	9	acl:relcl	_	_
13	committing	commit	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	12	xcomp	_	_
14	adultery	adultery	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obj	_	_
15	might	might	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	16	aux	_	_
16	defend	defend	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	conj	_	_
17	himself	himself	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes	16	obj	_	_
18	as	as	ADV	RB	ExtPos=ADV	16	advmod	_	_
19	well	well	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	18	fixed	_	_
20	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	22	mark	_	_
21	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	22	nsubj	_	_
22	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	16	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	28	punct	_	_
24	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	28	cc	_	_
25	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	28	aux	_	_
26	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	28	advmod	_	_
27	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	28	aux:pass	_	_
28	punished	punish	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	5	conj	_	_
29	for	for	SCONJ	IN	_	31	mark	_	_
30	so	so	ADV	RB	_	31	advmod	_	_
31	doing	do	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	28	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
32	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **add** *speech: assert* | past | the chiefs |  |  |  |  |  | vn mix-22.1-2 «NP V ADVP-Middle»: agent=Patient |
| 2 | **catch** | past · passive |  | the man |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **commit** | gerund |  | adultery |  |  |  |  | vn confine-92-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent adultery=Theme |
| 4 | **defend** | might | the man | chief |  |  |  |  | vn defend-72.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent himself=Beneficiary |
| 5 | **not** **punish** | would · passive | the chiefs *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn prosecute-33.2-1 «NP V NP» |
| 6 | **do** | gerund | the chiefs *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

<!-- .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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