--- title: The tortoise told Achi that, the next time the ju-ju man danced away… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics description: The tortoise told Achi that, the next time the ju-ju man danced away, she was to pick up her baby and cover it with her cloth, and then run by the nearest path, which he pointed out to her, to a farm which was not far off, and where he thought her husband had gone to. Who acts: tortoise, ju man, chi --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/10/41/) [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/) / 41 # Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xiii.--of Chief Amaza, His Wife Achi and the Tortoise., sentence 41 The tortoise told Achi that, the next time the ju-ju man danced away, she was to pick up her baby and cover it with her cloth, and then run by the nearest path, which he pointed out to her, to a farm which was not far off, and where he thought her husband had gone to. **Who acts:** tortoise, ju man, child, man, farm, husband · **What happens:** tell, dance away, be, cover, run, point out · **To what, where:** that, Achi, baby, nearest path, child · **Speech:** someone speaks here 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, ju man, child, 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:pg70959:10:41 # text = The tortoise told Achi that, the next time the ju-ju man danced away, she was to pick up her baby and cover it with her cloth, and then run by the nearest path, which he pointed out to her, to a farm which was not far off, and where he thought her husband had gone to. 1 The the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 2 det _ _ 2 tortoise tortoise NOUN NN Number=Sing 3 nsubj _ _ 3 told tell VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 4 Achi Achi PROPN NNP Number=Sing 3 iobj _ _ 5 that that PRON DT Number=Sing|PronType=Dem 3 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 6 , , PUNCT , _ 15 punct _ _ 7 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 9 det _ _ 8 next next ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 9 amod _ _ 9 time time NOUN NN Number=Sing 15 obl:unmarked _ _ 10 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 14 det _ _ 11 ju ju PROPN NNP Number=Sing 13 compound _ SpaceAfter=No 12 - - PUNCT HYPH _ 11 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 13 ju ju PROPN NNP Number=Sing 14 compound _ _ 14 man man NOUN NN Number=Sing 15 nsubj _ _ 15 danced dance VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 3 conj _ _ 16 away away ADV RB _ 15 advmod _ SpaceAfter=No 17 , , PUNCT , _ 21 punct _ _ 18 she she PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 21 nsubj _ _ 19 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 21 cop _ _ 20 to to PART TO _ 21 mark _ _ 21 pick pick VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 15 parataxis _ _ 22 up up ADP RP _ 21 compound:prt _ _ 23 her her PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 24 nmod:poss _ _ 24 baby baby NOUN NN Number=Sing 21 obj _ _ 25 and and CCONJ CC _ 26 cc _ _ 26 cover cover VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 21 conj _ _ 27 it it PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 26 obj _ _ 28 with with ADP IN _ 30 case _ _ 29 her her PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 30 nmod:poss _ _ 30 cloth cloth NOUN NN Number=Sing 26 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 31 , , PUNCT , _ 34 punct _ _ 32 and and CCONJ CC _ 34 cc _ _ 33 then then ADV RB PronType=Dem 34 advmod _ _ 34 run run VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 26 conj _ _ 35 by by ADP IN _ 38 case _ _ 36 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 38 det _ _ 37 nearest near ADJ JJS Degree=Sup 38 amod _ _ 38 path path NOUN NN Number=Sing 34 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 39 , , PUNCT , _ 42 punct _ _ 40 which which PRON WDT PronType=Rel 42 obj _ _ 41 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 42 nsubj _ _ 42 pointed point VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 38 acl:relcl _ _ 43 out out ADP RP _ 42 compound:prt _ _ 44 to to ADP IN _ 45 case _ _ 45 her she PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 42 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 46 , , PUNCT , _ 49 punct _ _ 47 to to ADP IN _ 49 case _ _ 48 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 49 det _ _ 49 farm farm NOUN NN Number=Sing 34 obl _ _ 50 which which PRON WDT PronType=Rel 54 nsubj _ _ 51 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 54 cop _ _ 52 not not PART RB Polarity=Neg 54 advmod _ _ 53 far far ADV RB Degree=Pos 54 advmod _ _ 54 off off ADV RB _ 49 acl:relcl _ SpaceAfter=No 55 , , PUNCT , _ 63 punct _ _ 56 and and CCONJ CC _ 63 cc _ _ 57 where where ADV WRB PronType=Rel 59 advmod _ _ 58 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 59 nsubj _ _ 59 thought think VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 63 advcl _ _ 60 her her PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 61 nmod:poss _ _ 61 husband husband NOUN NN Number=Sing 63 nsubj _ _ 62 had have AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 63 aux _ _ 63 gone go VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part 34 advcl _ _ 64 to to PART TO _ 63 xcomp _ SpaceAfter=No 65 . . PUNCT . _ 3 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **tell** *speech: assert* | past | the tortoise | that | Achi | | | | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP-Dative NP»: agent=Agent achi=Recipient that=Topic | | 2 | **dance away** | past | the ju man | | | | time | away *property* | vn modes\_of\_being\_with\_motion-47.3 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 3 | **is** | past | child | | | | | child's baby *obj*; pick *property* | tree rules | | 4 | **cover** | infinitive | child *not said here* | baby | | | | with child's cloth | vn fill-9.8-1 «NP V NP PP.theme»: agent=Agent it=Destination with cloth=Theme | | 5 | **run** | infinitive | child *not said here* | | | | then | by the nearest path; to a farm *result* | vn run-51.3.2-2-1 «NP V PP.result»: agent=Theme to farm=Result | | 6 | **point out** | past | man | the nearest path | child | | | | vn wink-40.3.1 «NP V NP PP.recipient»: agent=Agent which=Theme to she=Recipient | | 7 | **not** **is** | past | a farm | | | | | far, off *property* | tree rules | | 8 | **think** *speech: other* | past | man | | | | | | vn focus-87.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent | | 9 | **go** | past · perfect | child's husband | | | | | | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «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 40](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/10/40/) - next →: [sentence 42](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/10/42/) - ↑ back to [Xiii.--of Chief Amaza, His Wife Achi and the Tortoise.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/10/)