---
title: However, he frequently sent messengers to Obim, asking her to sleep… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: However, he frequently sent messengers to Obim, asking her to sleep with him, but she always refused. Who acts: NYAMBI, OBIM. 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 pragmat
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xxiii.--why Edidor Killed Her Husband and Her Lover., sentence 90

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However, he frequently sent messengers to Obim, asking her to sleep with him, but she always refused.

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**Who acts:** NYAMBI, OBIM · **What happens:** send, ask, sleep, refuse · **To what, where:** messengers, Obim

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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 (NYAMBI, OBIM), 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:pg70959:17:90
# text = However, he frequently sent messengers to Obim, asking her to sleep with him, but she always refused.
1	However	however	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
4	frequently	frequently	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	sent	send	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	messengers	messenger	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obj	_	_
7	to	to	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	Obim	Obim	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
10	asking	ask	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	5	advcl	_	_
11	her	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	obj	_	_
12	to	to	PART	TO	_	13	mark	_	_
13	sleep	sleep	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	10	xcomp	_	_
14	with	with	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
15	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	13	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	20	punct	_	_
17	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	20	cc	_	_
18	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	20	nsubj	_	_
19	always	always	ADV	RB	PronType=Tot	20	advmod	_	_
20	refused	refuse	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **send** | past | NYAMBI | messengers | Obim |  |  | frequently, however *property* | vn confine-92-1 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent messenger=Theme to obim=Destination |
| 2 | **ask** *speech: ask* | gerund | NYAMBI *not said here* |  | OBIM |  |  |  | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V NP whether S\_INF»: agent=Agent she=Recipient clause=Topic |
| 3 | **sleep** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | NYAMBI *not said here* |  |  |  |  | with NYAMBI | vn snooze-40.4-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 4 | **refuse** | past | OBIM |  |  |  |  | always *property* | vn reject-77.2 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Agent |

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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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