---
title: The chiefs then said that for the future, whenever a man had a poiso… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: The chiefs then said that for the future, whenever a man had a poison ju-ju or other powerful medicine, he should not tell any of his wives or any other women, because if they wished to run away from their husbands they would first of all break their ju-jus and then poison them. Who acts: chiefs, ma
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xxiii.--why Edidor Killed Her Husband and Her Lover., sentence 61

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The chiefs then said that for the future, whenever a man had a poison ju-ju or other powerful medicine, he should not tell any of his wives or any other women, because if they wished to run away from their husbands they would first of all break their ju-jus and then poison them.

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**Who acts:** chiefs, man, poison, chief, men · **What happens:** say, have, ju, not tell, wish, run away · **To what, where:** any, ju jus, men · **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 (chiefs, man, poison, 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:pg70959:17:61
# text = The chiefs then said that for the future, whenever a man had a poison ju-ju or other powerful medicine, he should not tell any of his wives or any other women, because if they wished to run away from their husbands they would first of all break their ju-jus and then poison them.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	chiefs	chief	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
3	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	4	advmod	_	_
4	said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	8	mark	_	_
6	for	for	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	future	future	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
10	whenever	whenever	ADV	WRB	PronType=Rel	13	advmod	_	_
11	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	man	man	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	nsubj	_	_
13	had	have	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	conj	_	_
14	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
15	poison	poison	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	nsubj	_	_
16	ju	ju	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	18	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	ju	ju	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obj	_	_
19	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	22	cc	_	_
20	other	other	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	22	amod	_	_
21	powerful	powerful	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	22	amod	_	_
22	medicine	medicine	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	27	punct	_	_
24	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	27	nsubj	_	_
25	should	should	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	27	aux	_	_
26	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	27	advmod	_	_
27	tell	tell	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	13	conj	_	_
28	any	any	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	27	obj	_	_
29	of	of	ADP	IN	_	31	case	_	_
30	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	31	nmod:poss	_	_
31	wives	wife	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	28	nmod	_	_
32	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	35	cc	_	_
33	any	any	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	35	det	_	_
34	other	other	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	35	amod	_	_
35	women	woman	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	31	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
36	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	40	punct	_	_
37	because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	40	mark	_	_
38	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	40	mark	_	_
39	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	40	nsubj	_	_
40	wished	wish	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	27	conj	_	_
41	to	to	PART	TO	_	42	mark	_	_
42	run	run	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	40	xcomp	_	_
43	away	away	ADV	RB	_	42	advmod	_	_
44	from	from	ADP	IN	_	46	case	_	_
45	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	46	nmod:poss	_	_
46	husbands	husband	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	42	obl	_	_
47	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	52	nsubj	_	_
48	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	52	aux	_	_
49	first	first	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord	52	advmod	_	_
50	of	of	SCONJ	IN	_	52	mark	_	_
51	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	52	advmod	_	_
52	break	break	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	46	acl:relcl	_	_
53	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	56	nmod:poss	_	_
54	ju	ju	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	56	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
55	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	54	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
56	jus	jus	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	52	obj	_	_
57	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	59	cc	_	_
58	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	59	advmod	_	_
59	poison	poison	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	52	conj	_	_
60	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	59	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
61	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | the chiefs |  |  |  | then | the future *ccomp* | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **have** | past | a man |  |  |  |  | whenever *property* | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **ju** |  | poison |  |  |  |  | other powerful medicine *conj* | tree rules |
| 4 | **not** **tell** *speech: assert* | should | chief | any of chief's wives or any other women |  |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent any=Recipient |
| 5 | **wish** | past | men *= man* |  |  |  |  |  | vn wish-62 «NP V for NP S\_INF»: agent=Pivot clause=Theme |
| 6 | **run away** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | men *= man* *not said here* |  |  |  |  | from men's husbands; away *property* | vn run-51.3.2-2-1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme from husband=Trajectory |
| 7 | **break** | would | men *= man* | men's ju jus |  |  |  | first *property* | vn hurt-40.8.3-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer jus=Patient |
| 8 | **poison** | infinitive | men *= man* *not said here* | men *= man* |  |  | then |  | vn poison-42.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent they=Patient |

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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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