---
title: Directly the chief heard that ’Nyambi had gone, he sent a messenger… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: Directly the chief heard that ’Nyambi had gone, he sent a messenger to Obim, asking her to sleep with him that night. Who acts: chief, Nyambi. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Xxiii.--why Edidor Killed Her Husband and Her Lover., with its dependency tre
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xxiii.--why Edidor Killed Her Husband and Her Lover., sentence 96

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Directly the chief heard that ’Nyambi had gone, he sent a messenger to Obim, asking her to sleep with him that night.

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**Who acts:** chief, Nyambi · **What happens:** hear, go, send, ask, sleep · **To what, where:** messenger, 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 (chief, Nyambi), 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:pg70959:17:96
# text = Directly the chief heard that ’Nyambi had gone, he sent a messenger to Obim, asking her to sleep with him that night.
1	Directly	directly	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	chief	chief	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	heard	hear	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	9	mark	_	_
6	’	'	PUNCT	``	_	9	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	Nyambi	Nyambi	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	_
8	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	9	aux	_	_
9	gone	go	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	4	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
11	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	12	nsubj	_	_
12	sent	send	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	conj	_	_
13	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	messenger	messenger	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obj	_	_
15	to	to	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
16	Obim	Obim	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	12	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	18	punct	_	_
18	asking	ask	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	12	advcl	_	_
19	her	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	18	obj	_	_
20	to	to	PART	TO	_	21	mark	_	_
21	sleep	sleep	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	18	xcomp	_	_
22	with	with	ADP	IN	_	23	case	_	_
23	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	21	obl	_	_
24	that	that	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	25	det	_	_
25	night	night	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	21	obl:unmarked	_	SpaceAfter=No
26	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **hear** | past | the chief |  |  |  |  | directly *property* | vn see-30.1-1-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Experiencer clause=Stimulus |
| 2 | **go** | past · perfect | Nyambi |  |  |  |  |  | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 3 | **send** | past | NYAMBI | a messenger | Obim |  |  |  | vn confine-92-1 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent messenger=Theme to obim=Destination |
| 4 | **ask** *speech: ask* | gerund | NYAMBI *not said here* |  | messenger |  |  |  | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V NP whether S\_INF»: agent=Agent she=Recipient clause=Topic |
| 5 | **sleep** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | NYAMBI *not said here* |  |  |  | night | with NYAMBI | vn snooze-40.4-1 «NP V»: 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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