---
title: The poison was then placed in Oga Erim’s food and a few hours after… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: The poison was then placed in Oga Erim’s food and a few hours after he had eaten it he began to vomit and spit blood; so when the sun was going down he called for the head slave and asked him to get him some medicine to cure him. Who acts: Oga, sun. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nig
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xxv.--how Two Bendega Young Men Changed Their Skins., part 3, sentence 52

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The poison was then placed in Oga Erim’s food and a few hours after he had eaten it he began to vomit and spit blood; so when the sun was going down he called for the head slave and asked him to get him some medicine to cure him.

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**Who acts:** Oga, sun · **What happens:** place, eat, begin, vomit, spit, go down · **To what, where:** poison, food, blood, Oga, medicine · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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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 (Oga, sun), 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:pg70959:20:52
# text = The poison was then placed in Oga Erim’s food and a few hours after he had eaten it he began to vomit and spit blood; so when the sun was going down he called for the head slave and asked him to get him some medicine to cure him.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	poison	poison	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
3	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux:pass	_	_
4	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	5	advmod	_	_
5	placed	place	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
6	in	in	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
7	Oga	Oga	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	10	nmod:poss	_	_
8	Erim	Erim	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	7	flat	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	’s	's	PART	POS	_	7	case	_	_
10	food	food	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
11	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	14	cc	_	_
12	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
13	few	few	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	14	amod	_	_
14	hours	hour	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	conj	_	_
15	after	after	SCONJ	IN	_	18	mark	_	_
16	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	18	nsubj	_	_
17	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	18	aux	_	_
18	eaten	eat	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	5	advcl	_	_
19	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	18	obj	_	_
20	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	21	nsubj	_	_
21	began	begin	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	18	conj	_	_
22	to	to	PART	TO	_	23	mark	_	_
23	vomit	vomit	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	21	xcomp	_	_
24	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	25	cc	_	_
25	spit	spit	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	23	conj	_	_
26	blood	blood	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	25	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
27	;	;	PUNCT	,	_	36	punct	_	_
28	so	so	ADV	RB	_	36	advmod	_	_
29	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	33	advmod	_	_
30	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	31	det	_	_
31	sun	sun	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	33	nsubj	_	_
32	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	33	aux	_	_
33	going	go	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	36	advcl	_	_
34	down	down	ADV	RB	_	33	advmod	_	_
35	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	36	nsubj	_	_
36	called	call	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	parataxis	_	_
37	for	for	ADP	IN	_	40	case	_	_
38	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	40	det	_	_
39	head	head	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	40	compound	_	_
40	slave	slave	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	36	obl	_	_
41	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	42	cc	_	_
42	asked	ask	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	36	conj	_	_
43	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	42	iobj	_	_
44	to	to	PART	TO	_	45	mark	_	_
45	get	get	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	42	xcomp	_	_
46	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	45	obj	_	_
47	some	some	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	48	det	_	_
48	medicine	medicine	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	45	obj	_	_
49	to	to	PART	TO	_	50	mark	_	_
50	cure	cure	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	45	advcl	_	_
51	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	50	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
52	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **place** | past · passive |  | the poison |  | Oga's food and a few hours | then |  | vn put-9.1-2 «NP V NP PP.destination»: subject=Theme in food=Destination |
| 2 | **eat** | past · perfect | Oga | poison |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Patient |
| 3 | **begin** | past | Oga |  |  |  |  |  | vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality |
| 4 | **vomit** | to-infinitive | Oga *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn breathe-40.1.2 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 5 | **spit** | infinitive | Oga *not said here* | blood |  |  |  |  | vn breathe-40.1.2 «NP V NP.theme»: agent=Agent blood=Theme |
| 6 | **go down** | past · progressive | the sun |  |  |  |  | down *property* | vn calibratable\_cos-45.6.1-1 «NP.attribute V»: agent=Attribute |
| 7 | **call** | past | Oga |  |  |  |  | for the head slave | vn manner\_speaking-37.3 «NP V PP.recipient S\_INF»: agent=Agent for slave=Recipient |
| 8 | **ask** *speech: ask* | past | Oga *not said here* |  | Oga |  |  |  | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V NP whether S\_INF»: agent=Agent he=Recipient clause=Topic |
| 9 | **get** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | Oga *not said here* | some medicine | Oga |  |  |  | vn get-13.5.1-1 «NP V NP.beneficiary NP»: agent=Agent he=Beneficiary medicine=Theme |
| 10 | **cure** | to-infinitive | Oga *not said here* | Oga |  |  |  |  | vn free-10.6.3-1-1 «NP V NP PP.theme»: agent=Causer he=Source |

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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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