--- title: So, when it was dark, he went to Obim and told her that if she came… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics description: So, when it was dark, he went to Obim and told her that if she came to him he would make her very happy, as he had plenty of slaves who would do all the hard work and she would not have to toil in the sun. Obim, however, would not listen to him, so in the end the chief went away more vexed than befo --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/17/77/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [tales](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/) / [Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/) / [Xxiii.--why Edidor Killed Her Husband…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/17/) / 77 # Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xxiii.--why Edidor Killed Her Husband and Her Lover., sentence 77 So, when it was dark, he went to Obim and told her that if she came to him he would make her very happy, as he had plenty of slaves who would do all the hard work and she would not have to toil in the sun. Obim, however, would not listen to him, so in the end the chief went away more vexed than before and more determined than ever to get hold of Obim, somehow or other. **Who acts:** gun, NYAMBI, OBIM, slaves, chief · **What happens:** be, go, tell, come, make, have · **To what, where:** Obim, NYAMBI, plenty, hard work, sun. Obim, end · **Speech:** someone speaks here 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 (gun, NYAMBI, OBIM, slaves), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree. **Mova's own parse.** This tree may be wrong. ## The tree {#tree} ```conllu # sent_id = book:pg70959:17:77 # text = So, when it was dark, he went to Obim and told her that if she came to him he would make her very happy, as he had plenty of slaves who would do all the hard work and she would not have to toil in the sun. Obim, however, would not listen to him, so in the end the chief went away more vexed than before and more determined than ever to get hold of Obim, somehow or other. 1 So so ADV RB _ 6 advmod _ SpaceAfter=No 2 , , PUNCT , _ 6 punct _ _ 3 when when SCONJ WRB _ 6 mark _ _ 4 it it PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 6 nsubj _ _ 5 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 6 cop _ _ 6 dark dark ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 0 root _ SpaceAfter=No 7 , , PUNCT , _ 9 punct _ _ 8 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 9 nsubj _ _ 9 went go VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 6 parataxis _ _ 10 to to ADP IN _ 11 case _ _ 11 Obim Obim PROPN NNP Number=Sing 9 obl _ _ 12 and and CCONJ CC _ 13 cc _ _ 13 told tell VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 9 conj _ _ 14 her she PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 13 iobj _ _ 15 that that SCONJ IN _ 18 mark _ _ 16 if if SCONJ IN _ 18 mark _ _ 17 she she PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 18 nsubj _ _ 18 came come VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 23 advcl _ _ 19 to to ADP IN _ 20 case _ _ 20 him he PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 18 obl _ _ 21 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 23 nsubj _ _ 22 would would AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 23 aux _ _ 23 make make VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 13 ccomp _ _ 24 her she PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 23 obj _ _ 25 very very ADV RB _ 26 advmod _ _ 26 happy happy ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 23 xcomp _ SpaceAfter=No 27 , , PUNCT , _ 30 punct _ _ 28 as as SCONJ IN _ 30 mark _ _ 29 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 30 nsubj _ _ 30 had have VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 23 parataxis _ _ 31 plenty plenty NOUN NN Number=Sing 30 obj _ _ 32 of of ADP IN _ 33 case _ _ 33 slaves slave NOUN NNS Number=Plur 31 nmod _ _ 34 who who PRON WP PronType=Rel 36 nsubj _ _ 35 would would AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 36 aux _ _ 36 do do VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 33 acl:relcl _ _ 37 all all DET PDT PronType=Tot 40 det:predet _ _ 38 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 40 det _ _ 39 hard hard ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 40 amod _ _ 40 work work NOUN NN Number=Sing 36 obj _ _ 41 and and CCONJ CC _ 45 cc _ _ 42 she she PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 45 nsubj _ _ 43 would would AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 45 aux _ _ 44 not not PART RB Polarity=Neg 45 advmod _ _ 45 have have VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 30 conj _ _ 46 to to PART TO _ 47 mark _ _ 47 toil toil VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 45 xcomp _ _ 48 in in ADP IN _ 51 case _ _ 49 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 51 det _ _ 50 sun. Sunday PROPN NNP Number=Sing 51 compound _ _ 51 Obim Obim PROPN NNP Number=Sing 47 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 52 , , PUNCT , _ 57 punct _ _ 53 however however ADV RB _ 57 advmod _ SpaceAfter=No 54 , , PUNCT , _ 53 punct _ _ 55 would would AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 57 aux _ _ 56 not not PART RB Polarity=Neg 57 advmod _ _ 57 listen listen VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 23 conj _ _ 58 to to ADP IN _ 59 case _ _ 59 him he PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 57 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 60 , , PUNCT , _ 67 punct _ _ 61 so so ADV RB _ 67 advmod _ _ 62 in in ADP IN _ 64 case _ _ 63 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 64 det _ _ 64 end end NOUN NN Number=Sing 67 obl _ _ 65 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 66 det _ _ 66 chief chief NOUN NN Number=Sing 67 nsubj _ _ 67 went go VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 6 advcl _ _ 68 away away ADV RB _ 70 advmod _ _ 69 more more ADV RBR Degree=Cmp 70 advmod _ _ 70 vexed vexed ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 67 xcomp _ _ 71 than than ADP IN _ 72 case _ _ 72 before before ADV RB _ 70 obl _ _ 73 and and CCONJ CC _ 75 cc _ _ 74 more more ADV RBR Degree=Cmp 75 advmod _ _ 75 determined determined ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 67 conj _ _ 76 than than SCONJ IN _ 79 mark _ _ 77 ever ever ADV RB PronType=Ind 79 advmod _ _ 78 to to PART TO _ 79 mark _ _ 79 get get VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 75 ccomp _ _ 80 hold hold NOUN NN Number=Sing 79 obj _ _ 81 of of ADP IN _ 82 case _ _ 82 Obim Obim PROPN NNP Number=Sing 80 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 83 , , PUNCT , _ 84 punct _ _ 84 somehow somehow ADV RB _ 79 advmod _ _ 85 or or CCONJ CC _ 86 cc _ _ 86 other other ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 84 conj _ SpaceAfter=No 87 . . PUNCT . _ 6 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **is** | past | gun | | | | | dark *property* | tree rules | | 2 | **go** | past | NYAMBI | | | Obim | | | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme to obim=Initial\_Location | | 3 | **tell** *speech: assert* | past | NYAMBI *not said here* | | OBIM | | | | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Agent she=Recipient clause=Topic | | 4 | **come** *a condition, not said to happen* | past | OBIM | | NYAMBI | | | | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme to he=Initial\_Location | | 5 | **make** | would | NYAMBI | OBIM | | | | happy *property* | vn build-26.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent she=Product | | 6 | **have** | past | NYAMBI | plenty of slaves | | | | | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent plenty=Patient | | 7 | **do** | would | slaves | all hard work | | | | | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent work=Eventuality | | 8 | **not** **have** | would | OBIM | | | | | | tree rules | | 9 | **toil** | to-infinitive | OBIM *not said here* | | | the sun. Obim | | | vn run-51.3.2 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme in obim=Trajectory | | 10 | **not** **listen** | would | NYAMBI *not said here* | | NYAMBI | | | however *property* | vn peer-30.3 «NP V PP.theme»: agent=Agent to he=Theme | | 11 | **go** | past | the chief | | | | in the end | vexed *property* | vn occur-48.3-2 «NP V PP»: agent=Theme in end=Location | | 12 | **get** | to-infinitive | the chief *not said here* | hold of Obim | | | ever | somehow *property* | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer hold=Stimulus | | 13 | **hold** | | | Obim | | | | | nom hold «act transitive»: of=patient | 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. **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. - ← previous: [sentence 76](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/17/76/) - next →: [sentence 78](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/17/78/) - ↑ back to [Xxiii.--why Edidor Killed Her Husband and Her Lover.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/17/)