--- title: If Chief Erim wanted to get better, he should at once send the wife… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics description: If Chief Erim wanted to get better, he should at once send the wife and her son to Okuni, as they were both witches, and that in three months’ time he would be quite well again. Who acts: Chief, wives. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Xxv.--how Two Bend --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/20/34/) [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/) / [Xxv.--how Two Bendega Young Men Change…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/20/) / 34 # Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xxv.--how Two Bendega Young Men Changed Their Skins., part 3, sentence 34 If Chief Erim wanted to get better, he should at once send the wife and her son to Okuni, as they were both witches, and that in three months’ time he would be quite well again. **Who acts:** Chief, wives · **What happens:** want, get, send, be · **To what, where:** wife, Okuni, time This is a sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Xxv.--how Two Bendega Young Men Changed Their Skins., part 3. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (Chief, wives), 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:pg70959:20:34 # text = If Chief Erim wanted to get better, he should at once send the wife and her son to Okuni, as they were both witches, and that in three months’ time he would be quite well again. 1 If if SCONJ IN _ 4 mark _ _ 2 Chief Chief PROPN NNP Number=Sing 4 nsubj _ _ 3 Erim Erim PROPN NNP Number=Sing 2 flat _ _ 4 wanted want VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 13 advcl _ _ 5 to to PART TO _ 6 mark _ _ 6 get get VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 4 xcomp _ _ 7 better good ADJ JJR Degree=Cmp 6 xcomp _ SpaceAfter=No 8 , , PUNCT , _ 4 punct _ _ 9 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 13 nsubj _ _ 10 should should AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 13 aux _ _ 11 at at ADP IN _ 12 case _ _ 12 once once ADV RB NumForm=Word|NumType=Mult 13 advmod _ _ 13 send send VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 0 root _ _ 14 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 15 det _ _ 15 wife wife NOUN NN Number=Sing 13 obj _ _ 16 and and CCONJ CC _ 18 cc _ _ 17 her her PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 18 nmod:poss _ _ 18 son son NOUN NN Number=Sing 15 conj _ _ 19 to to ADP IN _ 20 case _ _ 20 Okuni Okuni PROPN NNP Number=Sing 13 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 21 , , PUNCT , _ 26 punct _ _ 22 as as ADP IN _ 26 case _ _ 23 they they PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 26 nsubj _ _ 24 were be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 26 cop _ _ 25 both both DET DT PronType=Tot 26 det _ _ 26 witches witch NOUN NNS Number=Plur 13 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 27 , , PUNCT , _ 29 punct _ _ 28 and and CCONJ CC _ 29 cc _ _ 29 that that PRON DT Number=Sing|PronType=Dem 26 conj _ _ 30 in in ADP IN _ 32 case _ _ 31 three three NUM CD NumForm=Word|NumType=Card 32 nummod _ _ 32 months month NOUN NNS Number=Plur 34 nmod:poss _ SpaceAfter=No 33 ’ 's PART POS _ 32 case _ _ 34 time time NOUN NN Number=Sing 29 nmod _ _ 35 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 40 nsubj _ _ 36 would would AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 40 aux _ _ 37 be be AUX VB VerbForm=Inf 40 cop _ _ 38 quite quite ADV RB _ 40 advmod _ _ 39 well well ADV RB Degree=Pos 40 advmod _ _ 40 again again ADV RB _ 34 acl:relcl _ SpaceAfter=No 41 . . PUNCT . _ 13 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **want** *a condition, not said to happen* | past | Chief | | | | | | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Pivot clause=Theme | | 2 | **get** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | Chief *not said here* | | | | | good *property* | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Experiencer | | 3 | **send** | should | Chief | the wife and poisoner's son | Okuni | | | once *property* | vn confine-92-1 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent wife=Theme to okuni=Destination | | 4 | **is** | past | wives *= wife* | | | | | as both witches; that three months's time *conj* | tree rules | | 5 | **is** | would | Chief | three months's time *not said here* | | | | again, well *property* | tree rules | 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 33](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/20/33/) - next →: [sentence 35](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/20/35/) - ↑ back to [Xxv.--how Two Bendega Young Men Changed Their Skins., part 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/20/)