---
title: It must seem incredible to people at home that a man can die because… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: It must seem incredible to people at home that a man can die because a ju-ju has been made against him--for example, two sticks crossed on the path with, say, a rotten egg and a fowl stuck on a stick, the man’s name having been “called.” Who acts: It, man, name. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories from
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Opening, sentence 72

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It must seem incredible to people at home that a man can die because a ju-ju has been made against him--for example, two sticks crossed on the path with, say, a rotten egg and a fowl stuck on a stick, the man’s name having been “called.”

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**Who acts:** It, man, name · **What happens:** seem, die, make, cross, say, stick · **To what, where:** that, ju ju, two sticks, path, rotten egg, fowl · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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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 (It, man, name), 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:pg70959:1:72
# text = It must seem incredible to people at home that a man can die because a ju-ju has been made against him--for example, two sticks crossed on the path with, say, a rotten egg and a fowl stuck on a stick, the man’s name having been “called.”
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	must	must	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	seem	seem	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	incredible	incredible	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	xcomp	_	_
5	to	to	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	people	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	13	obl	_	_
7	at	at	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	home	home	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	_
9	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	13	obj	_	_
10	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	man	man	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	nsubj	_	_
12	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	13	aux	_	_
13	die	die	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	conj	_	_
14	because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	21	mark	_	_
15	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
16	ju	ju	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	16	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	ju	ju	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	21	nsubj:pass	_	_
19	has	have	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	21	aux	_	_
20	been	be	AUX	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	21	aux:pass	_	_
21	made	make	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	13	advcl	_	_
22	against	against	ADP	IN	_	23	case	_	_
23	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	21	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
24	--	--	PUNCT	,	_	26	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
25	for	for	ADP	IN	_	26	case	_	_
26	example	example	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	21	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
27	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	29	punct	_	_
28	two	two	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	29	nummod	_	_
29	sticks	stick	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	21	obl	_	_
30	crossed	cross	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	29	acl	_	_
31	on	on	ADP	IN	_	33	case	_	_
32	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	33	det	_	_
33	path	path	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	30	obl	_	_
34	with	with	ADP	IN	_	30	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
35	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	36	punct	_	_
36	say	say	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	13	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
37	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	40	punct	_	_
38	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	40	det	_	_
39	rotten	rotten	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	40	amod	_	_
40	egg	egg	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	36	obj	_	_
41	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	43	cc	_	_
42	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	43	det	_	_
43	fowl	fowl	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	40	conj	_	_
44	stuck	stick	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	43	acl	_	_
45	on	on	ADP	IN	_	47	case	_	_
46	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	47	det	_	_
47	stick	stick	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	44	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
48	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	52	punct	_	_
49	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	50	det	_	_
50	man	man	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	52	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
51	’s	's	PART	POS	_	50	case	_	_
52	name	name	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	40	conj	_	_
53	having	have	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	52	acl	_	_
54	been	be	AUX	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	56	aux:pass	_	_
55	“	"	PUNCT	``	_	56	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
56	called	call	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	53	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
57	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
58	”	"	PUNCT	''	_	3	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **seem** | must | It |  |  |  |  | incredible *property* | vn seem-109-1-1-1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **die** | can | a man | that |  |  |  | to people at home | tree rules |
| 3 | **make** | present · perfect · passive |  | a ju ju |  |  |  | against man; for example; two sticks *obl* | vn build-26.1-1 «NP V NP P.asset»: subject=Product for example=Asset |
| 4 | **cross** | participle |  | two sticks *not said here* |  | the path |  |  | vn contiguous\_location-47.8-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 5 | **say** *speech: assert* | infinitive | a man *not said here* | a rotten egg and a fowl and the man's name |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: agent=Agent egg=Topic |
| 6 | **stick** | participle |  | a fowl *not said here* |  | a stick |  |  | vn spray-9.7-1 «NP V PP.destination»: agent=Theme on stick=Destination |
| 7 | **have** | gerund | the man's name *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 8 | **call** *in a quote* | participle · passive | the man's name *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn initiate\_communication-37.4.2-1 «NP V» |
| 9 | **name** |  | the man |  |  |  |  |  | nom name «communication transitive»: poss=agent |

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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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