---
title: The parents, however, were unwilling, and told ’Nyambi that they had… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: The parents, however, were unwilling, and told ’Nyambi that they had already promised Obim as a wife to Chief Oga. Who acts: parents. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Xxiii.--why Edidor Killed Her Husband and Her Lover., with its dependency tree and the
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xxiii.--why Edidor Killed Her Husband and Her Lover., sentence 69

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The parents, however, were unwilling, and told ’Nyambi that they had already promised Obim as a wife to Chief Oga.

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**Who acts:** parents · **What happens:** be, tell, promise · **To what, where:** Nyambi, parents, Obim · **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 (parents), 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:pg70959:17:69
# text = The parents, however, were unwilling, and told ’Nyambi that they had already promised Obim as a wife to Chief Oga.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	parents	parent	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	2	punct	_	_
4	however	however	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	4	punct	_	_
6	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
7	unwilling	unwilling	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
9	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc	_	_
10	told	tell	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	parataxis	_	_
11	’	'	PUNCT	``	_	12	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	Nyambi	Nyambi	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	10	iobj	_	_
13	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	17	mark	_	_
14	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	17	nsubj:pass	_	_
15	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	17	aux	_	_
16	already	already	ADV	RB	_	17	advmod	_	_
17	promised	promise	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	10	ccomp	_	_
18	Obim	Obim	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	17	obj	_	_
19	as	as	ADP	IN	_	21	case	_	_
20	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	21	det	_	_
21	wife	wife	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	obl	_	_
22	to	to	ADP	IN	_	23	case	_	_
23	Chief	Chief	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	21	nmod	_	_
24	Oga	Oga	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	23	flat	_	SpaceAfter=No
25	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | the parents |  |  |  |  | however, unwilling *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **tell** *speech: assert* | past |  |  | Nyambi |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Agent nyambi=Recipient clause=Topic |
| 3 | **promise** *speech: promise* | past · perfect · passive |  | parents *= parent* | Obim |  |  | as a wife to Chief | vn future\_having-13.3 «NP V NP.goal NP»: subject=Goal obim=Theme |

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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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