--- title: The ju-ju man also said that if it had not been for the small ju-ju… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics description: The ju-ju man also said that if it had not been for the small ju-ju in the middle of Chief Erim’s compound, who had been fighting the witches for him, he would have been dead long before. Who acts: ju man, life, compound, Chief. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/20/35/) [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/) / 35 # Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xxv.--how Two Bendega Young Men Changed Their Skins., part 3, sentence 35 The ju-ju man also said that if it had not been for the small ju-ju in the middle of Chief Erim’s compound, who had been fighting the witches for him, he would have been dead long before. **Who acts:** ju man, life, compound, Chief · **What happens:** say, have, not be, fight, be, compound · **To what, where:** middle, witches · **Speech:** someone speaks here 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 (ju man, life, compound, Chief), 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:pg70959:20:35 # text = The ju-ju man also said that if it had not been for the small ju-ju in the middle of Chief Erim’s compound, who had been fighting the witches for him, he would have been dead long before. 1 The the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 5 det _ _ 2 ju ju NOUN NN Number=Sing 4 compound _ SpaceAfter=No 3 - - PUNCT HYPH _ 2 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 4 ju ju NOUN NN Number=Sing 5 compound _ _ 5 man man NOUN NN Number=Sing 7 nsubj _ _ 6 also also ADV RB _ 7 advmod _ _ 7 said say VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 8 that that SCONJ IN _ 11 mark _ _ 9 if if SCONJ IN _ 11 mark _ _ 10 it it PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 11 nsubj _ _ 11 had have VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 7 ccomp _ _ 12 not not PART RB Polarity=Neg 19 advmod _ _ 13 been be AUX VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part 19 cop _ _ 14 for for ADP IN _ 19 case _ _ 15 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 19 det _ _ 16 small small ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 19 amod _ _ 17 ju ju NOUN NN Number=Sing 19 compound _ SpaceAfter=No 18 - - PUNCT HYPH _ 17 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 19 ju ju NOUN NN Number=Sing 11 obl _ _ 20 in in ADP IN _ 22 case _ _ 21 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 22 det _ _ 22 middle middle NOUN NN Number=Sing 19 nmod _ _ 23 of of ADP IN _ 27 case _ _ 24 Chief Chief PROPN NNP Number=Sing 27 nmod:poss _ _ 25 Erim Erim PROPN NNP Number=Sing 24 flat _ SpaceAfter=No 26 ’s 's PART POS _ 24 case _ _ 27 compound compound NOUN NN Number=Sing 22 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 28 , , PUNCT , _ 32 punct _ _ 29 who who PRON WP PronType=Rel 32 nsubj _ _ 30 had have AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 32 aux _ _ 31 been be AUX VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part 32 aux _ _ 32 fighting fight VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 27 acl:relcl _ _ 33 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 34 det _ _ 34 witches witch NOUN NNS Number=Plur 32 obj _ _ 35 for for ADP IN _ 36 case _ _ 36 him he PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 34 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 37 , , PUNCT , _ 42 punct _ _ 38 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 42 nsubj _ _ 39 would would AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 42 aux _ _ 40 have have AUX VB VerbForm=Inf 42 aux _ _ 41 been be AUX VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part 42 cop _ _ 42 dead dead ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 34 parataxis _ _ 43 long long ADV RB Degree=Pos 44 advmod _ _ 44 before before ADV RB _ 42 advmod _ SpaceAfter=No 45 . . PUNCT . _ 7 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | the ju man | | | | | | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic | | 2 | **have** *a condition, not said to happen* | past | life | | | | | | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent | | 3 | **not** **is** | participle | | | | the middle of Chief's compound | | for the small ju ju | tree rules | | 4 | **fight** | past · perfect · progressive | Chief's compound | the witches | | | | for Chief | vn battle-36.4-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent witch=Co-Agent | | 5 | **is** | would · perfect | Chief | | | | | before, dead *property* | tree rules | | 6 | **compound** | | Chief | | | | | | nom compound «cognition transitive»: poss=agent | 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 34](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/20/34/) - next →: [sentence 36](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/20/36/) - ↑ back to [Xxv.--how Two Bendega Young Men Changed Their Skins., part 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/20/)