---
title: Many young men and chiefs tried who were anxious to possess her, but… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: Many young men and chiefs tried who were anxious to possess her, but did not succeed, as she had put a ju-ju on them. Who acts: Many young men, Akoba. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Iv.--how Elili of Inkum Died, and Was Brought Back to Life Again., wi
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Iv.--how Elili of Inkum Died, and Was Brought Back to Life Again., sentence 60

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Many young men and chiefs tried who were anxious to possess her, but did not succeed, as she had put a ju-ju on them.

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**Who acts:** Many young men, Akoba · **What happens:** try, be, possess, not succeed, put · **To what, where:** Akoba, ju ju

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This is a sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Iv.--how Elili of Inkum Died, and Was Brought Back to Life Again.. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (Many young men, Akoba), 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:pg70959:5:60
# text = Many young men and chiefs tried who were anxious to possess her, but did not succeed, as she had put a ju-ju on them.
1	Many	many	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
2	young	young	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	men	man	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nsubj	_	_
4	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	5	cc	_	_
5	chiefs	chief	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	conj	_	_
6	tried	try	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	9	nsubj	_	_
8	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	9	cop	_	_
9	anxious	anxious	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	xcomp	_	_
10	to	to	PART	TO	_	11	mark	_	_
11	possess	possess	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	9	xcomp	_	_
12	her	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	11	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	17	punct	_	_
14	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	17	cc	_	_
15	did	do	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	17	aux	_	_
16	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	17	advmod	_	_
17	succeed	succeed	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	22	punct	_	_
19	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	22	mark	_	_
20	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	22	nsubj	_	_
21	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	22	aux	_	_
22	put	put	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	17	parataxis	_	_
23	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	26	det	_	_
24	ju	ju	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	26	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
25	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	24	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
26	ju	ju	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	22	obj	_	_
27	on	on	ADP	IN	_	28	case	_	_
28	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	22	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
29	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **try** | past | Many young men and chiefs |  |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Experiencer |
| 2 | **is** *not said to happen* | past |  |  |  |  |  | who *nsubj*; anxious *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **possess** | to-infinitive |  | Akoba |  |  |  |  | vn own-100.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot she=Theme |
| 4 | **not** **succeed** | past · do-support | Many young men and chiefs *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn succeed-74-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 5 | **put** | past · perfect | Akoba | a ju ju |  |  |  | on eyes *= eye* | vn put-9.1-2 «NP V PP.destination NP»: agent=Agent ju=Theme on they=Destination |

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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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