---
title: He then asked the ju-ju man to poison ’Nyambi so that he might get h… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: He then asked the ju-ju man to poison ’Nyambi so that he might get hold of his wife, and when he had given him another big present, he went home. Who acts: chief. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Xxiii.--why Edidor Killed Her Husband and Her Lover., wit
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xxiii.--why Edidor Killed Her Husband and Her Lover., sentence 86

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He then asked the ju-ju man to poison ’Nyambi so that he might get hold of his wife, and when he had given him another big present, he went home.

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**Who acts:** chief · **What happens:** ask, get, give, go, hold · **To what, where:** ju man, hold, chief, wife

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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 (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:pg70959:17:86
# text = He then asked the ju-ju man to poison ’Nyambi so that he might get hold of his wife, and when he had given him another big present, he went home.
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	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
5	ju	ju	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	5	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	ju	ju	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	compound	_	_
8	man	man	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
9	to	to	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	poison	poison	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nmod	_	_
11	’	'	PUNCT	``	_	12	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	Nyambi	Nyambi	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	10	appos	_	_
13	so	so	SCONJ	IN	ExtPos=SCONJ	17	mark	_	_
14	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	13	fixed	_	_
15	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	17	nsubj	_	_
16	might	might	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	17	aux	_	_
17	get	get	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	ccomp	_	_
18	hold	hold	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	obj	_	_
19	of	of	ADP	IN	_	21	case	_	_
20	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	21	nmod:poss	_	_
21	wife	wife	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	27	punct	_	_
23	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	27	cc	_	_
24	when	when	SCONJ	WRB	_	27	mark	_	_
25	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	27	nsubj:pass	_	_
26	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	27	aux	_	_
27	given	give	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	parataxis	_	_
28	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	27	obj	_	_
29	another	another	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	31	det	_	_
30	big	big	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	31	amod	_	_
31	present	present	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	27	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
32	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	34	punct	_	_
33	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	34	nsubj	_	_
34	went	go	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	parataxis	_	_
35	home	home	ADV	RB	_	34	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
36	.	.	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 | chief |  | the ju man |  | then |  | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V NP whether S»: agent=Agent man=Recipient clause=Topic |
| 2 | **get** | might | chief | hold of chief's wife |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer hold=Stimulus |
| 3 | **give** | past · perfect · passive |  | chief |  |  |  | NYAMBI *obj*; another big present *obj* | tree rules |
| 4 | **go** | past | chief |  |  |  |  | home *property* | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 5 | **hold** |  |  | chief's wife |  |  |  |  | nom hold «act transitive»: of=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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