---
title: Then Obim and ’Nyambi took an oath that, when they were married, the… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: Then Obim and ’Nyambi took an oath that, when they were married, they would never part from one another, and they would both try to help each other and upset any ju-ju that Chief Oga might make against them, as they knew him to be a most revengeful man. Who acts: Obim, parents, Chief. A sentence of 
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xxiii.--why Edidor Killed Her Husband and Her Lover., sentence 73

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Then Obim and ’Nyambi took an oath that, when they were married, they would never part from one another, and they would both try to help each other and upset any ju-ju that Chief Oga might make against them, as they knew him to be a most revengeful man.

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**Who acts:** Obim, parents, Chief · **What happens:** take, marry, not part, try, help, make · **To what, where:** oath, parents, each, ju ju, chief, revengeful man · **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 (Obim, parents, 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:pg70959:17:73
# text = Then Obim and ’Nyambi took an oath that, when they were married, they would never part from one another, and they would both try to help each other and upset any ju-ju that Chief Oga might make against them, as they knew him to be a most revengeful man.
1	Then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	6	advmod	_	_
2	Obim	Obim	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
3	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	5	cc	_	_
4	’	'	PUNCT	``	_	5	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	Nyambi	Nyambi	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	conj	_	_
6	took	take	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	oath	oath	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	_
9	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	14	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
11	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	14	advmod	_	_
12	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	14	nsubj:pass	_	_
13	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	14	aux:pass	_	_
14	married	marry	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	8	acl:relcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	19	punct	_	_
16	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	19	nsubj	_	_
17	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	19	aux	_	_
18	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	19	advmod	_	_
19	part	part	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	conj	_	_
20	from	from	ADP	IN	_	21	case	_	_
21	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	6	obl	_	_
22	another	another	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	21	fixed	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	28	punct	_	_
24	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	28	cc	_	_
25	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	28	nsubj	_	_
26	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	28	aux	_	_
27	both	both	ADV	RB	_	28	advmod	_	_
28	try	try	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	conj	_	_
29	to	to	PART	TO	_	30	mark	_	_
30	help	help	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	28	xcomp	_	_
31	each	each	DET	DT	ExtPos=PRON|PronType=Rcp	30	obj	_	_
32	other	other	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	31	fixed	_	_
33	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	34	cc	_	_
34	upset	upset	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	32	conj	_	_
35	any	any	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	38	det	_	_
36	ju	ju	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	38	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
37	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	36	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
38	ju	ju	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	30	obj	_	_
39	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	43	obj	_	_
40	Chief	Chief	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	43	nsubj	_	_
41	Oga	Oga	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	40	flat	_	_
42	might	might	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	43	aux	_	_
43	make	make	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	38	acl	_	_
44	against	against	ADP	IN	_	45	case	_	_
45	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	43	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
46	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	49	punct	_	_
47	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	49	mark	_	_
48	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	49	nsubj	_	_
49	knew	know	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	43	parataxis	_	_
50	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	49	obj	_	_
51	to	to	PART	TO	_	56	mark	_	_
52	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	56	cop	_	_
53	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	56	det	_	_
54	most	most	ADV	RBS	Degree=Sup	55	advmod	_	_
55	revengeful	revengeful	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	56	amod	_	_
56	man	man	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	49	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
57	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **take** | past | Obim and Nyambi | a oath |  |  | then | from one | vn bring-11.3 «NP V NP PP.initial\_location»: agent=Agent oath=Theme from one=Initial\_Location |
| 2 | **marry** | past · passive |  | parents *= parent* |  |  |  | a oath *obj* | tree rules |
| 3 | **not** **part** | would | parents *= parent* |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 4 | **try** | would | parents *= parent* |  |  |  |  | both *property* | vn try-61.1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality |
| 5 | **help** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | parents *= parent* *not said here* | each |  |  |  | any ju ju *obj* | tree rules |
| 6 | **make** | might | Chief | any ju ju |  |  |  | against parents *= parent* | vn build-26.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent that=Product |
| 7 | **know** | past | parents *= parent* | chief |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Experiencer he=Stimulus |
| 8 | **is a** | to-infinitive |  | a revengeful man |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

<!-- .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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