---
title: [4] The “night” calabash was used by the witches when they were goin… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: [4] The “night” calabash was used by the witches when they were going to kill anyone for their feasts, as it prolonged the night, and the Okuni people still believe when the nights are unusually long that the witches are out with the “night” calabash and are killing people. Who acts: witches, yams, 
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Fig. 2.--chief Indoma’s Compound., sentence 22

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\[4\] The “night” calabash was used by the witches when they were going to kill anyone for their feasts, as it prolonged the night, and the Okuni people still believe when the nights are unusually long that the witches are out with the “night” calabash and are killing people.

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**Who acts:** witches, yams, calabash, Okuni people, nights · **What happens:** use, go, kill, prolong, believe, be · **To what, where:** 4, anyone, people · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is a sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Fig. 2.--chief Indoma’s Compound.. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (witches, yams, calabash, Okuni people), 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:pg70959:29:22
# text = [4] The “night” calabash was used by the witches when they were going to kill anyone for their feasts, as it prolonged the night, and the Okuni people still believe when the nights are unusually long that the witches are out with the “night” calabash and are killing people.
1	[	[	PUNCT	-LRB-	_	2	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	4	4	NUM	CD	NumForm=Digit|NumType=Card	10	nsubj:pass	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	]	]	PUNCT	-RRB-	_	2	punct	_	_
4	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
5	“	"	PUNCT	``	_	6	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	night	night	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	”	"	PUNCT	''	_	6	punct	_	_
8	calabash	calabash	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nsubj:pass	_	_
9	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	10	aux:pass	_	_
10	used	use	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
11	by	by	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	witches	witch	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	obl	_	_
14	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	17	advmod	_	_
15	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	17	nsubj	_	_
16	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	17	aux	_	_
17	going	go	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	10	conj	_	_
18	to	to	PART	TO	_	19	mark	_	_
19	kill	kill	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	17	xcomp	_	_
20	anyone	anyone	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	19	obj	_	_
21	for	for	ADP	IN	_	23	case	_	_
22	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	23	nmod:poss	_	_
23	feasts	feast	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	19	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
24	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	27	punct	_	_
25	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	27	mark	_	_
26	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	27	nsubj	_	_
27	prolonged	prolong	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	17	parataxis	_	_
28	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	29	det	_	_
29	night	night	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	27	obl:unmarked	_	SpaceAfter=No
30	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	36	punct	_	_
31	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	36	cc	_	_
32	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	34	det	_	_
33	Okuni	Okuni	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	34	compound	_	_
34	people	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	36	nsubj	_	_
35	still	still	ADV	RB	_	36	advmod	_	_
36	believe	believe	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	10	parataxis	_	_
37	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	42	advmod	_	_
38	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	39	det	_	_
39	nights	night	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	42	nsubj	_	_
40	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	42	cop	_	_
41	unusually	unusually	ADV	RB	_	42	advmod	_	_
42	long	long	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	36	ccomp	_	_
43	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	47	mark	_	_
44	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	45	det	_	_
45	witches	witch	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	47	nsubj	_	_
46	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	47	cop	_	_
47	out	out	ADV	RB	_	42	advcl	_	_
48	with	with	ADP	IN	_	53	case	_	_
49	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	53	det	_	_
50	“	"	PUNCT	``	_	51	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
51	night	night	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	53	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
52	”	"	PUNCT	''	_	51	punct	_	_
53	calabash	calabash	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	47	obl	_	_
54	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	56	cc	_	_
55	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	56	aux	_	_
56	killing	kill	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	36	conj	_	_
57	people	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	56	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
58	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	10	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **use** | past · passive | the witches | 4 |  |  |  | the night calabash *nsubj:pass* | vn eat-39.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=Patient |
| 2 | **go** | past · progressive | yams *= yam* |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7 «NP V S-Quote»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 3 | **kill** | to-infinitive | yams *= yam* *not said here* | anyone |  |  |  | for yams's feasts | vn remove-10.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent anyone=Theme |
| 4 | **prolong** | past | calabash |  |  |  | night |  | vn sustain-55.6 «NP V NP PP.instrument»: agent=Agent |
| 5 | **believe** | present | the Okuni people |  |  |  | still |  | vn admire-31.2 «NP V that S»: agent=Experiencer |
| 6 | **is** | present | the nights |  |  |  |  | long, unusually *property* | tree rules |
| 7 | **is** | present | the witches |  |  |  |  | with the night calabash; out *property* | tree rules |
| 8 | **kill** | present · progressive | the Okuni people *not said here* | people |  |  |  |  | vn remove-10.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent people=Theme |

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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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