--- title: He was to arm himself with a matchet, and when he heard the witches… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics description: He was to arm himself with a matchet, and when he heard the witches coming he was to stand at the head of his bed with the matchet in his hand and his arm raised ready to strike. Who acts: Amoru, witches, arm. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Xii.--conc --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/9/71/) [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/) / [Xii.--concerning the Okuni Witches and…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/9/) / 71 # Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xii.--concerning the Okuni Witches and Cannibalism., sentence 71 He was to arm himself with a matchet, and when he heard the witches coming he was to stand at the head of his bed with the matchet in his hand and his arm raised ready to strike. **Who acts:** Amoru, witches, arm · **What happens:** be, hear, come, raise, strike · **To what, where:** arm, witches, head This is a sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Xii.--concerning the Okuni Witches and Cannibalism.. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (Amoru, witches, arm), 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:pg70959:9:71 # text = He was to arm himself with a matchet, and when he heard the witches coming he was to stand at the head of his bed with the matchet in his hand and his arm raised ready to strike. 1 He he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 4 nsubj _ _ 2 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 4 cop _ _ 3 to to PART TO _ 4 mark _ _ 4 arm arm NOUN NN Number=Sing 0 root _ _ 5 himself himself PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Emp|Reflex=Yes 4 nmod:unmarked _ _ 6 with with ADP IN _ 8 case _ _ 7 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 8 det _ _ 8 matchet matchet NOUN NN Number=Sing 4 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 9 , , PUNCT , _ 13 punct _ _ 10 and and CCONJ CC _ 13 cc _ _ 11 when when ADV WRB PronType=Int 13 advmod _ _ 12 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 13 nsubj _ _ 13 heard hear VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 4 conj _ _ 14 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 15 det _ _ 15 witches witch NOUN NNS Number=Plur 13 obj _ _ 16 coming come VERB VBG VerbForm=Ger 13 xcomp _ _ 17 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 20 nsubj _ _ 18 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 20 cop _ _ 19 to to PART TO _ 20 mark _ _ 20 stand stand VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 16 ccomp _ _ 21 at at ADP IN _ 23 case _ _ 22 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 23 det _ _ 23 head head NOUN NN Number=Sing 20 obl _ _ 24 of of ADP IN _ 26 case _ _ 25 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 26 nmod:poss _ _ 26 bed bed NOUN NN Number=Sing 23 nmod _ _ 27 with with ADP IN _ 29 case _ _ 28 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 29 det _ _ 29 matchet matchet NOUN NN Number=Sing 20 obl _ _ 30 in in ADP IN _ 32 case _ _ 31 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 32 nmod:poss _ _ 32 hand hand NOUN NN Number=Sing 20 obl _ _ 33 and and CCONJ CC _ 36 cc _ _ 34 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 35 nmod:poss _ _ 35 arm arm NOUN NN Number=Sing 36 nsubj _ _ 36 raised raise VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 20 conj _ _ 37 ready ready ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 36 xcomp _ _ 38 to to PART TO _ 39 mark _ _ 39 strike strike VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 37 xcomp _ SpaceAfter=No 40 . . PUNCT . _ 4 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **is a** | past | Amoru | arm | | | | with a matchet; Amoru *nmod:unmarked* | tree rules | | 2 | **hear** | past | Amoru | the witches | | | | | tree rules | | 3 | **come** | gerund | the witches *not said here* | | | | | | tree rules | | 4 | **is** | past | Amoru | | | the head of Amoru's bed | | with the matchet; in Amoru's hand; stand *property* | tree rules | | 5 | **raise** | past | Amoru's arm | | | | | ready *property* | vn put\_direction-9.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent | | 6 | **strike** | to-infinitive | Amoru's arm *not said here* | | | | | | vn sound\_emission-43.2 «NP V»: agent=Theme | 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 70](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/9/70/) - next →: [sentence 72](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/9/72/) - ↑ back to [Xii.--concerning the Okuni Witches and Cannibalism.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/9/)