--- title: Shortly after this the tortoise came down to see what was the matter… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics description: Shortly after this the tortoise came down to see what was the matter, and he found the ju-ju man preparing to cut the baby’s head off, and Achi weeping and imploring him to spare her new-born baby. Who acts: tortoise, matter, ju ju man. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elph --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/10/32/) [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/) / [Xiii.--of Chief Amaza, His Wife Achi a…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/10/) / 32 # Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xiii.--of Chief Amaza, His Wife Achi and the Tortoise., sentence 32 Shortly after this the tortoise came down to see what was the matter, and he found the ju-ju man preparing to cut the baby’s head off, and Achi weeping and imploring him to spare her new-born baby. **Who acts:** tortoise, matter, ju ju man · **What happens:** come down, see, find, prepare, cut off, implore · **To what, where:** ju ju man, head, man, born baby This is a sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Xiii.--of Chief Amaza, His Wife Achi and the Tortoise.. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (tortoise, matter, ju ju man), 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:pg70959:10:32 # text = Shortly after this the tortoise came down to see what was the matter, and he found the ju-ju man preparing to cut the baby’s head off, and Achi weeping and imploring him to spare her new-born baby. 1 Shortly shortly ADV RB _ 6 advmod _ _ 2 after after ADP IN _ 3 case _ _ 3 this this PRON DT Number=Sing|PronType=Dem 1 obl _ _ 4 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 5 det _ _ 5 tortoise tortoise NOUN NN Number=Sing 6 nsubj _ _ 6 came come VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 7 down down ADV RB _ 6 advmod _ _ 8 to to PART TO _ 9 mark _ _ 9 see see VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 6 advcl _ _ 10 what what PRON WP PronType=Int 9 obj _ _ 11 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 10 acl:relcl _ _ 12 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 13 det _ _ 13 matter matter NOUN NN Number=Sing 11 nsubj _ SpaceAfter=No 14 , , PUNCT , _ 17 punct _ _ 15 and and CCONJ CC _ 17 cc _ _ 16 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 17 nsubj _ _ 17 found find VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 6 conj _ _ 18 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 22 det _ _ 19 ju ju NOUN NN Number=Sing 22 compound _ SpaceAfter=No 20 - - PUNCT HYPH _ 19 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 21 ju ju NOUN NN Number=Sing 22 compound _ _ 22 man man NOUN NN Number=Sing 17 obj _ _ 23 preparing prepare VERB VBG VerbForm=Ger 22 acl _ _ 24 to to PART TO _ 25 mark _ _ 25 cut cut VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 23 xcomp _ _ 26 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 27 det _ _ 27 baby baby NOUN NN Number=Sing 29 nmod:poss _ SpaceAfter=No 28 ’s 's PART POS _ 27 case _ _ 29 head head NOUN NN Number=Sing 25 obj _ _ 30 off off ADP RP _ 25 compound:prt _ SpaceAfter=No 31 , , PUNCT , _ 34 punct _ _ 32 and and CCONJ CC _ 34 cc _ _ 33 Achi Achi PROPN NNP Number=Sing 34 compound _ _ 34 weeping weeping NOUN NN Number=Sing 17 obl _ _ 35 and and CCONJ CC _ 36 cc _ _ 36 imploring implore VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 34 conj _ _ 37 him he PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 36 obj _ _ 38 to to PART TO _ 39 mark _ _ 39 spare spare VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 36 advcl _ _ 40 her her PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 44 nmod:poss _ _ 41 new new ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 43 amod _ SpaceAfter=No 42 - - PUNCT HYPH _ 41 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 43 born bear VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 44 amod _ _ 44 baby baby NOUN NN Number=Sing 39 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 45 . . PUNCT . _ 6 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **come down** | past | the tortoise | | | | | down, shortly *property* | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 2 | **see** | to-infinitive | the tortoise *not said here* | | | | | what *obj* | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer what=Stimulus | | 3 | **find** | past | matter | the ju ju man | | | | Achi weeping *obl* | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent man=Topic | | 4 | **prepare** | gerund | the ju ju man *not said here* | | | | | | vn hire-13.5.3 «NP V NP to be NP»: agent=Agent clause=Attribute | | 5 | **cut off** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | the ju ju man *not said here* | the baby's head | | | | | vn stop-55.4-1 «NP V NP.eventuality»: agent=Affector head=Eventuality | | 6 | **implore** | gerund | matter *not said here* | | man | | | | vn urge-58.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent he=Recipient | | 7 | **spare** | to-infinitive | matter *not said here* | head's born baby | | | | | vn bill-54.5 «NP V NP NP.asset»: agent=Agent baby=Asset | | 8 | **bear** | participle | | | | | | | vn admire-31.2 «NP V that S»: agent=Experiencer | 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 31](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/10/31/) - next →: [sentence 33](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/10/33/) - ↑ back to [Xiii.--of Chief Amaza, His Wife Achi and the Tortoise.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/10/)