---
title: If you have any complaint to make or wish to be paid, you had better… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: If you have any complaint to make or wish to be paid, you had better settle with the dead body.” Who acts: you. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Xxi.--why the Head of the Male Goat Smells So Strong., with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of every 
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xxi.--why the Head of the Male Goat Smells So Strong., sentence 44

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If you have any complaint to make or wish to be paid, you had better settle with the dead body.”

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**Who acts:** you · **What happens:** have, make, wish, pay · **To what, where:** complaint, better settle

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This is a sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Xxi.--why the Head of the Male Goat Smells So Strong.. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (you), 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:pg70959:15:44
# text = If you have any complaint to make or wish to be paid, you had better settle with the dead body.”
1	If	if	SCONJ	IN	_	3	mark	_	_
2	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
3	have	have	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	15	advcl	_	_
4	any	any	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	5	det	_	_
5	complaint	complaint	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
7	make	make	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	acl	_	_
8	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
9	wish	wish	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	conj	_	_
10	to	to	PART	TO	_	12	mark	_	_
11	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	12	aux:pass	_	_
12	paid	pay	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	9	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	3	punct	_	_
14	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	15	nsubj	_	_
15	had	have	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
16	better	good	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	17	amod	_	_
17	settle	settle	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	obj	_	_
18	with	with	ADP	IN	_	21	case	_	_
19	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	21	det	_	_
20	dead	dead	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	21	amod	_	_
21	body	body	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	15	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	”	"	PUNCT	''	_	15	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **have** *a condition, not said to happen* | present | you | any complaint |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent complaint=Patient |
| 2 | **make** | to-infinitive | you *not said here* | any complaint *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset |
| 3 | **wish** | infinitive | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn wish-62 «NP V for NP S\_INF»: agent=Pivot |
| 4 | **pay** | to-infinitive · passive | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn pay-68-1 «NP V NP» |
| 5 | **have** | past | you | better settle |  |  |  | with the dead body | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent settle=Patient |

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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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