--- title: Although I have made a special study of witchcraft, ju-ju, and poiso… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics description: Although I have made a special study of witchcraft, ju-ju, and poison, and the various societies in this district for over nine years, I must confess that I understand and _know_ for certain very little about ju-ju. Who acts: I. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/1/70/) [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/) / [Opening](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/1/) / 70 # Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Opening, sentence 70 Although I have made a special study of witchcraft, ju-ju, and poison, and the various societies in this district for over nine years, I must confess that I understand and \_know\_ for certain very little about ju-ju. **Who acts:** I · **What happens:** make, confess, understand, know, study · **To what, where:** special study, witchcraft This is a sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Opening. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (I), 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:pg70959:1:70 # text = Although I have made a special study of witchcraft, ju-ju, and poison, and the various societies in this district for over nine years, I must confess that I understand and _know_ for certain very little about ju-ju. 1 Although although SCONJ IN _ 4 mark _ _ 2 I I PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs 4 nsubj _ _ 3 have have AUX VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 4 aux _ _ 4 made make VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part 32 advcl _ _ 5 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 7 det _ _ 6 special special ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 7 amod _ _ 7 study study NOUN NN Number=Sing 4 obj _ _ 8 of of ADP IN _ 9 case _ _ 9 witchcraft witchcraft NOUN NN Number=Sing 7 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 10 , , PUNCT , _ 13 punct _ _ 11 ju ju NOUN NN Number=Sing 13 compound _ SpaceAfter=No 12 - - PUNCT HYPH _ 11 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 13 ju ju NOUN NN Number=Sing 7 conj _ SpaceAfter=No 14 , , PUNCT , _ 16 punct _ _ 15 and and CCONJ CC _ 16 cc _ _ 16 poison poison NOUN NN Number=Sing 4 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 17 , , PUNCT , _ 21 punct _ _ 18 and and CCONJ CC _ 21 cc _ _ 19 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 21 det _ _ 20 various various ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 21 amod _ _ 21 societies society NOUN NNS Number=Plur 4 obl _ _ 22 in in ADP IN _ 24 case _ _ 23 this this DET DT Number=Sing|PronType=Dem 24 det _ _ 24 district district NOUN NN Number=Sing 21 nmod _ _ 25 for for ADP IN _ 28 case _ _ 26 over over ADV RB _ 27 advmod _ _ 27 nine nine NUM CD NumForm=Word|NumType=Card 28 nummod _ _ 28 years year NOUN NNS Number=Plur 24 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 29 , , PUNCT , _ 4 punct _ _ 30 I I PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs 32 nsubj _ _ 31 must must AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 32 aux _ _ 32 confess confess VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 0 root _ _ 33 that that SCONJ IN _ 35 mark _ _ 34 I I PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs 35 nsubj _ _ 35 understand understand VERB VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 32 ccomp _ _ 36 and and CCONJ CC _ 38 cc _ _ 37 _ _ PUNCT NFP _ 38 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 38 know know VERB VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 35 conj _ SpaceAfter=No 39 _ _ PUNCT NFP _ 38 discourse _ _ 40 for for ADP IN _ 41 case _ _ 41 certain certain ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 38 xcomp _ _ 42 very very ADV RB _ 43 advmod _ _ 43 little little ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 41 obl:unmarked _ _ 44 about about ADP IN _ 47 case _ _ 45 ju ju NOUN NN Number=Sing 47 compound _ SpaceAfter=No 46 - - PUNCT HYPH _ 45 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 47 ju ju NOUN NN Number=Sing 43 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 48 . . PUNCT . _ 32 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **make** | present · perfect | I | a special study of witchcraft and ju ju | | | | poison *obl*; the various societies in this district for nine years *obl* | vn build-26.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent study=Product | | 2 | **confess** | must | I | | | | | | vn confess-37.10 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic | | 3 | **understand** | present | I | | | | | | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer | | 4 | **know** | present | I *not said here* | | | | | certain *property* | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer | | 5 | **study** | | | witchcraft | | | | | nom study «act transitive»: of=patient | 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 69](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/1/69/) - next →: [sentence 71](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/1/71/) - ↑ back to [Opening](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/1/)