--- title: Nkanyan also told the chiefs and people how the witches had come to… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics description: Nkanyan also told the chiefs and people how the witches had come to kill him, but he had broken their ju-ju calabash and turned the night into day, when all the naked witches were caught. Who acts: Nkanyan, witches. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Xii. --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/9/92/) [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/) / 92 # Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xii.--concerning the Okuni Witches and Cannibalism., sentence 92 Nkanyan also told the chiefs and people how the witches had come to kill him, but he had broken their ju-ju calabash and turned the night into day, when all the naked witches were caught. **Who acts:** Nkanyan, witches · **What happens:** tell, come, kill, break, turn, catch · **To what, where:** chiefs, chief, ju calabash, naked witches · **Speech:** someone speaks here 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 (Nkanyan, witches), 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:pg70959:9:92 # text = Nkanyan also told the chiefs and people how the witches had come to kill him, but he had broken their ju-ju calabash and turned the night into day, when all the naked witches were caught. 1 Nkanyan Nkanyan PROPN NNP Number=Sing 3 nsubj _ _ 2 also also ADV RB _ 3 advmod _ _ 3 told tell VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 4 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 5 det _ _ 5 chiefs chief NOUN NNS Number=Plur 3 iobj _ _ 6 and and CCONJ CC _ 7 cc _ _ 7 people people NOUN NNS Number=Plur 5 conj _ _ 8 how how ADV WRB PronType=Int 12 advmod _ _ 9 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 10 det _ _ 10 witches witch NOUN NNS Number=Plur 12 nsubj _ _ 11 had have AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 12 aux _ _ 12 come come VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part 3 ccomp _ _ 13 to to PART TO _ 14 mark _ _ 14 kill kill VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 12 xcomp _ _ 15 him he PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 14 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 16 , , PUNCT , _ 20 punct _ _ 17 but but CCONJ CC _ 20 cc _ _ 18 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 20 nsubj _ _ 19 had have AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 20 aux _ _ 20 broken break VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part 3 parataxis _ _ 21 their their PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 25 nmod:poss _ _ 22 ju ju NOUN NN Number=Sing 24 compound _ SpaceAfter=No 23 - - PUNCT HYPH _ 22 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 24 ju ju NOUN NN Number=Sing 25 compound _ _ 25 calabash calabash NOUN NN Number=Sing 20 obj _ _ 26 and and CCONJ CC _ 27 cc _ _ 27 turned turn VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 20 conj _ _ 28 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 29 det _ _ 29 night night NOUN NN Number=Sing 27 obl:unmarked _ _ 30 into into ADP IN _ 31 case _ _ 31 day day NOUN NN Number=Sing 27 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 32 , , PUNCT , _ 39 punct _ _ 33 when when SCONJ WRB _ 39 mark _ _ 34 all all DET PDT PronType=Tot 37 det:predet _ _ 35 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 37 det _ _ 36 naked naked ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 37 amod _ _ 37 witches witch NOUN NNS Number=Plur 39 nsubj:pass _ _ 38 were be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 39 aux:pass _ _ 39 caught catch VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 20 conj _ SpaceAfter=No 40 . . PUNCT . _ 3 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **tell** *speech: assert* | past | Nkanyan | | the chiefs and people | | | | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP what S»: agent=Agent chief=Recipient clause=Topic | | 2 | **come** | past · perfect | the witches | | | | | | tree rules | | 3 | **kill** | to-infinitive | the witches *not said here* | chief | | | | | vn remove-10.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent he=Theme | | 4 | **break** | past · perfect | Nkanyan | people's ju calabash | | | | | vn hurt-40.8.3-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer calabash=Patient | | 5 | **turn** | past | Nkanyan *not said here* | | | | day; night | | vn roll-51.3.1 «NP.theme V»: agent=Theme | | 6 | **catch** | past · passive | | all naked witches | | | | | vn get-13.5.1 «NP V NP»: subject=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 91](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/9/91/) - next →: [sentence 93](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/9/93/) - ↑ back to [Xii.--concerning the Okuni Witches and Cannibalism.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/9/)