--- title: The head slave then went to a clever poisoner who lived not far away… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics description: The head slave then went to a clever poisoner who lived not far away, and bought two powerful ju-jus; one would give the person against whom the ju-ju was made the “dry cough” (consumption), and the other would give him paralysis. Who acts: head slave, clever poisoner, two, one. A sentence of «Ikom --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/20/17/) [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/) / [Xxv.--how Two Bendega Young Men Change…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/20/) / 17 # Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xxv.--how Two Bendega Young Men Changed Their Skins., part 3, sentence 17 The head slave then went to a clever poisoner who lived not far away, and bought two powerful ju-jus; one would give the person against whom the ju-ju was made the “dry cough” (consumption), and the other would give him paralysis. **Who acts:** head slave, clever poisoner, two, one, other · **What happens:** go, not live, buy, jus, give, make · **To what, where:** clever poisoner, person, ju ju, paralysis This is a sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Xxv.--how Two Bendega Young Men Changed Their Skins., part 3. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (head slave, clever poisoner, two, one), 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:pg70959:20:17 # text = The head slave then went to a clever poisoner who lived not far away, and bought two powerful ju-jus; one would give the person against whom the ju-ju was made the “dry cough” (consumption), and the other would give him paralysis. 1 The the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 3 det _ _ 2 head head NOUN NN Number=Sing 3 compound _ _ 3 slave slave NOUN NN Number=Sing 5 nsubj _ _ 4 then then ADV RB PronType=Dem 5 advmod _ _ 5 went go VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 6 to to ADP IN _ 9 case _ _ 7 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 9 det _ _ 8 clever clever ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 9 amod _ _ 9 poisoner poisoner NOUN NN Number=Sing 5 obl _ _ 10 who who PRON WP PronType=Rel 11 nsubj _ _ 11 lived live VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 9 acl:relcl _ _ 12 not not PART RB Polarity=Neg 11 advmod _ _ 13 far far ADV RB Degree=Pos 14 advmod _ _ 14 away away ADV RB _ 11 advmod _ SpaceAfter=No 15 , , PUNCT , _ 17 punct _ _ 16 and and CCONJ CC _ 17 cc _ _ 17 bought buy VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 5 conj _ _ 18 two two NUM CD NumForm=Word|NumType=Card 22 nsubj _ _ 19 powerful powerful ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 22 amod _ _ 20 ju ju NOUN NN Number=Sing 22 compound _ SpaceAfter=No 21 - - PUNCT HYPH _ 20 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 22 jus jus NOUN NN Number=Sing 17 ccomp _ SpaceAfter=No 23 ; ; PUNCT , _ 26 punct _ _ 24 one one PRON PRP Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 26 nsubj _ _ 25 would would AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 26 aux _ _ 26 give give VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 5 parataxis _ _ 27 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 28 det _ _ 28 person person NOUN NN Number=Sing 26 obj _ _ 29 against against ADP IN _ 30 case _ _ 30 whom whom PRON WP PronType=Rel 26 obl _ _ 31 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 34 det _ _ 32 ju ju NOUN NN Number=Sing 34 compound _ SpaceAfter=No 33 - - PUNCT HYPH _ 32 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 34 ju ju PROPN NNP Number=Sing 36 nsubj:pass _ _ 35 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 36 aux:pass _ _ 36 made make VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 30 acl:relcl _ _ 37 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 40 det _ _ 38 “ " PUNCT `` _ 40 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 39 dry dry ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 40 amod _ _ 40 cough cough NOUN NN Number=Sing 36 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 41 ” " PUNCT '' _ 40 punct _ _ 42 ( ( PUNCT -LRB- _ 43 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 43 consumption consumption NOUN NN Number=Sing 40 appos _ SpaceAfter=No 44 ) ) PUNCT -RRB- _ 43 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 45 , , PUNCT , _ 50 punct _ _ 46 and and CCONJ CC _ 50 cc _ _ 47 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 48 det _ _ 48 other other ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 50 nsubj _ _ 49 would would AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 50 aux _ _ 50 give give VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 26 conj _ _ 51 him he PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 50 iobj _ _ 52 paralysis paralysis NOUN NN Number=Sing 50 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 53 . . PUNCT . _ 5 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **go** | past | the head slave | | | a clever poisoner | then | | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme to poisoner=Initial\_Location | | 2 | **not** **live** | past | a clever poisoner | | | | | away *property* | vn exist-47.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 3 | **buy** | past | the head slave *not said here* | | | | | | vn accept-77.1 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent | | 4 | **jus** | | two | | | | | | tree rules | | 5 | **give** | would | one | the person | | | | whom *obl* | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent person=Theme | | 6 | **make** | past · passive | | the ju ju | | | | the dry cough *obj* | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP NP»: subject=Beneficiary cough=Product | | 7 | **give** | would | the other | paralysis | person | | | | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP-Dative NP»: agent=Agent he=Recipient paralysis=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 16](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/20/16/) - next →: [sentence 18](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/20/18/) - ↑ back to [Xxv.--how Two Bendega Young Men Changed Their Skins., part 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/20/)