--- title: She said she thought there must be something wrong about what had ha… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics description: She said she thought there must be something wrong about what had happened the night before as it was not usual for a snake to try and swallow a man, she therefore advised Oghabi’s wife to consult a ju-ju man upon the matter. Who acts: wife, something, it. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories from South --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/12/29/) [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/) / [Xv.--what Happened At Okuni When Anyon…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/12/) / 29 # Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xv.--what Happened At Okuni When Anyone Was Killed By Accident., sentence 29 She said she thought there must be something wrong about what had happened the night before as it was not usual for a snake to try and swallow a man, she therefore advised Oghabi’s wife to consult a ju-ju man upon the matter. **Who acts:** wife, something, it · **What happens:** say, think, be, happen, not be, try · **To what, where:** man, wife, ju man · **Speech:** someone speaks here This is a sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Xv.--what Happened At Okuni When Anyone Was Killed By Accident.. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (wife, something, it), 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:pg70959:12:29 # text = She said she thought there must be something wrong about what had happened the night before as it was not usual for a snake to try and swallow a man, she therefore advised Oghabi’s wife to consult a ju-ju man upon the matter. 1 She she PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 2 nsubj _ _ 2 said say VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 3 she she PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 4 nsubj _ _ 4 thought think VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 2 ccomp _ _ 5 there there PRON EX PronType=Dem 7 expl _ _ 6 must must AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 7 aux _ _ 7 be be VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 4 ccomp _ _ 8 something something PRON NN Number=Sing|PronType=Ind 7 nsubj _ _ 9 wrong wrong ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 8 amod _ _ 10 about about SCONJ IN _ 13 mark _ _ 11 what what PRON WP PronType=Int 13 nsubj _ _ 12 had have AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 13 aux _ _ 13 happened happen VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part 9 advcl _ _ 14 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 15 det _ _ 15 night night NOUN NN Number=Sing 13 obl:unmarked _ _ 16 before before ADV RB _ 21 advmod _ _ 17 as as SCONJ IN _ 21 mark _ _ 18 it it PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|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 not not PART RB Polarity=Neg 21 advmod _ _ 21 usual usual ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 13 advcl _ _ 22 for for ADP IN _ 24 case _ _ 23 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 24 det _ _ 24 snake snake NOUN NN Number=Sing 21 obl _ _ 25 to to PART TO _ 26 mark _ _ 26 try try VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 21 csubj _ _ 27 and and CCONJ CC _ 28 cc _ _ 28 swallow swallow VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 26 conj _ _ 29 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 30 det _ _ 30 man man NOUN NN Number=Sing 28 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 31 , , PUNCT , _ 34 punct _ _ 32 she she PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 34 nsubj _ _ 33 therefore therefore ADV RB _ 34 advmod _ _ 34 advised advise VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 28 advcl _ _ 35 Oghabi Oghabi PROPN NNP Number=Sing 37 nmod:poss _ SpaceAfter=No 36 ’s 's PART POS _ 35 case _ _ 37 wife wife NOUN NN Number=Sing 34 obj _ _ 38 to to PART TO _ 39 mark _ _ 39 consult consult VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 34 ccomp _ _ 40 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 44 det _ _ 41 ju ju NOUN NN Number=Sing 43 compound _ SpaceAfter=No 42 - - PUNCT HYPH _ 41 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 43 ju ju NOUN NN Number=Sing 44 compound _ _ 44 man man NOUN NN Number=Sing 39 obj _ _ 45 upon upon ADP IN _ 47 case _ _ 46 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 47 det _ _ 47 matter matter NOUN NN Number=Sing 44 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 48 . . PUNCT . _ 2 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | wife | | | | | | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic | | 2 | **think** *speech: other* | past | wife | | | | | | vn consider-29.9-2 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent clause=Theme | | 3 | **be** | must | something | | | there | | | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 4 | **happen** | past · perfect | | | | | night | what *nsubj* | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 5 | **not** **is** | past | it | | | | | for a snake; before, usual *property* | tree rules | | 6 | **try** | to-infinitive | | | | | | | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Experiencer | | 7 | **swallow** | infinitive | | a man | | | | | vn gobble-39.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent man=Patient | | 8 | **advise** *speech: other* | past | wife | Oghabi's wife | | | | therefore *property* | vn advise-37.9-1 «NP V NP how S\_INF»: agent=Agent wife=Recipient clause=Topic | | 9 | **consult** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | | a ju man | | | | upon the matter | vn assessment-34.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent man=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 28](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/12/28/) - next →: [sentence 30](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/12/30/) - ↑ back to [Xv.--what Happened At Okuni When Anyone Was Killed By Accident.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/12/)