---
title: He then asked some of the people what had become of her, and they to… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: He then asked some of the people what had become of her, and they told him that the previous day she had been seen talking to a very powerful ju-ju man, and that if he were wise he would leave his wife alone and go home at once, as his life was probably in danger. Who acts: Ode, people, Inde, life. 
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xxiii.--why Edidor Killed Her Husband and Her Lover., sentence 25

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He then asked some of the people what had become of her, and they told him that the previous day she had been seen talking to a very powerful ju-ju man, and that if he were wise he would leave his wife alone and go home at once, as his life was probably in danger.

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**Who acts:** Ode, people, Inde, life · **What happens:** ask, become, tell, see, talk, be · **To what, where:** some, Ode, Inde, wife · **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 (Ode, people, Inde, life), 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:pg70959:17:25
# text = He then asked some of the people what had become of her, and they told him that the previous day she had been seen talking to a very powerful ju-ju man, and that if he were wise he would leave his wife alone and go home at once, as his life was probably in danger.
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	3	advmod	_	_
3	asked	ask	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	some	some	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	3	obj	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	people	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nmod	_	_
8	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	10	nsubj	_	_
9	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	10	aux	_	_
10	become	become	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	7	acl:relcl	_	_
11	of	of	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
12	her	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	16	punct	_	_
14	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	16	cc	_	_
15	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	16	nsubj	_	_
16	told	tell	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
17	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	16	iobj	_	_
18	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	25	mark	_	_
19	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	21	det	_	_
20	previous	previous	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	21	amod	_	_
21	day	day	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	25	obl:unmarked	_	_
22	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	25	nsubj	_	_
23	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	25	aux	_	_
24	been	be	AUX	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	25	aux:pass	_	_
25	seen	see	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	16	ccomp	_	_
26	talking	talk	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	25	xcomp	_	_
27	to	to	ADP	IN	_	34	case	_	_
28	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	34	det	_	_
29	very	very	ADV	RB	_	30	advmod	_	_
30	powerful	powerful	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	34	amod	_	_
31	ju	ju	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	33	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
32	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	31	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
33	ju	ju	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	34	compound	_	_
34	man	man	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	26	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
35	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	44	punct	_	_
36	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	44	cc	_	_
37	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	41	mark	_	_
38	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	41	mark	_	_
39	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	41	nsubj	_	_
40	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	41	cop	_	_
41	wise	wise	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	44	advcl	_	_
42	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	44	nsubj	_	_
43	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	44	aux	_	_
44	leave	leave	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	ccomp	_	_
45	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	46	nmod:poss	_	_
46	wife	wife	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	44	obj	_	_
47	alone	alone	ADV	RB	_	44	advmod	_	_
48	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	49	cc	_	_
49	go	go	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	44	conj	_	_
50	home	home	ADV	RB	_	49	advmod	_	_
51	at	at	ADP	IN	_	52	case	_	_
52	once	once	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Mult	49	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
53	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	60	punct	_	_
54	as	as	ADP	IN	_	60	case	_	_
55	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	56	nmod:poss	_	_
56	life	life	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	60	nsubj	_	_
57	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	60	cop	_	_
58	probably	probably	ADV	RB	_	60	advmod	_	_
59	in	in	ADP	IN	_	60	case	_	_
60	danger	danger	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	49	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
61	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ask** *speech: ask* | past | Ode | some of the people |  |  | then |  | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V NP whether S»: agent=Agent some=Recipient clause=Topic |
| 2 | **become** | past · perfect | the people |  |  |  |  | of Inde | vn become-109.1-1-1 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Patient |
| 3 | **tell** *speech: assert* | past | people |  | Ode |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Agent he=Recipient clause=Topic |
| 4 | **see** | past · perfect · passive |  | Inde |  |  | day |  | tree rules |
| 5 | **talk** | gerund | Inde *not said here* |  |  |  |  | to a powerful ju man | vn talk-37.5 «NP V PP.co-agent»: agent=Agent to man=Co-Agent |
| 6 | **is** *a condition, not said to happen* | past | Ode |  |  |  |  | wise *property* | tree rules |
| 7 | **leave** | would | Ode | Ode's wife |  |  |  | alone *property* | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent wife=Theme |
| 8 | **go** | infinitive | Ode *not said here* |  |  |  |  | home *property* | vn occur-48.3-2 «NP V PP»: agent=Theme at once=Location |
| 9 | **is** | past | Ode's life |  |  |  |  | as danger; probably *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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