--- title: The people who were bathing at the time, when they saw the boy disap… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics description: The people who were bathing at the time, when they saw the boy disappear at once, guessed that it must be the water ju-ju who had taken him, so they went and told Chief Eka what they had seen. Who acts: people, boy, sun, water ju ju. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphins --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/7/158/) [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/) / [Ix.--the Story of the War Between Inku…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/7/) / 158 # Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Ix.--the Story of the War Between Inkum and Enfitop., sentence 158 The people who were bathing at the time, when they saw the boy disappear at once, guessed that it must be the water ju-ju who had taken him, so they went and told Chief Eka what they had seen. **Who acts:** people, boy, sun, water ju ju, boys · **What happens:** bath, see, disappear, guess, be, take · **To what, where:** water ju ju, ju, Chief Eka · **Speech:** someone speaks here This is a sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Ix.--the Story of the War Between Inkum and Enfitop.. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (people, boy, sun, water ju ju), 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:pg70959:7:158 # text = The people who were bathing at the time, when they saw the boy disappear at once, guessed that it must be the water ju-ju who had taken him, so they went and told Chief Eka what they had seen. 1 The the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 2 det _ _ 2 people people NOUN NNS Number=Plur 12 nsubj _ _ 3 who who PRON WP PronType=Rel 5 nsubj _ _ 4 were be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 5 aux _ _ 5 bathing bath VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 2 acl:relcl _ _ 6 at at ADP IN _ 8 case _ _ 7 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 8 det _ _ 8 time time NOUN NN Number=Sing 5 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 9 , , PUNCT , _ 12 punct _ _ 10 when when ADV WRB PronType=Int 12 advmod _ _ 11 they they PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 12 nsubj _ _ 12 saw see VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 13 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 14 det _ _ 14 boy boy NOUN NN Number=Sing 15 nsubj _ _ 15 disappear disappear VERB VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 12 parataxis _ _ 16 at at ADP IN _ 17 case _ _ 17 once once ADV RB NumForm=Word|NumType=Mult 15 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 18 , , PUNCT , _ 19 punct _ _ 19 guessed guess VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 12 conj _ _ 20 that that SCONJ IN _ 28 mark _ _ 21 it it PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 28 nsubj _ _ 22 must must AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 28 aux _ _ 23 be be AUX VB VerbForm=Inf 28 cop _ _ 24 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 28 det _ _ 25 water water NOUN NN Number=Sing 28 compound _ _ 26 ju ju NOUN NN Number=Sing 28 compound _ SpaceAfter=No 27 - - PUNCT HYPH _ 26 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 28 ju ju NOUN NN Number=Sing 19 ccomp _ _ 29 who who PRON WP PronType=Rel 31 nsubj _ _ 30 had have AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 31 aux _ _ 31 taken take VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part 28 acl _ _ 32 him he PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 31 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 33 , , PUNCT , _ 36 punct _ _ 34 so so ADV RB _ 36 advmod _ _ 35 they they PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 36 nsubj _ _ 36 went go VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 12 parataxis _ _ 37 and and CCONJ CC _ 38 cc _ _ 38 told tell VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 36 conj _ _ 39 Chief Chief PROPN NNP Number=Sing 40 compound _ _ 40 Eka Eka PROPN NNP Number=Sing 38 iobj _ _ 41 what what PRON WP PronType=Int 44 obj _ _ 42 they they PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 44 nsubj _ _ 43 had have AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 44 aux _ _ 44 seen see VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part 38 ccomp _ SpaceAfter=No 45 . . PUNCT . _ 12 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **bath** | past · progressive | the people | | | | time | | tree rules | | 2 | **see** | past | the people | | | | | | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer | | 3 | **disappear** | present | the boy | | | | | | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 4 | **guess** | past | the people *not said here* | | | | | | vn conjecture-29.5-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent | | 5 | **is a** | must | sun | the water ju ju | | | | | tree rules | | 6 | **take** | past · perfect | the water ju ju | | ju | | | | vn bring-11.3 «NP V NP ADVP»: agent=Instrument he=Destination | | 7 | **go** | past | boys *= boy* | | | | | | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 8 | **tell** *speech: assert* | past | boys *= boy* *not said here* | | Chief Eka | | | | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP what S»: agent=Agent eka=Recipient clause=Topic | | 9 | **see** | past · perfect | boys *= boy* | | | | | what *obj* | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer what=Stimulus | 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 157](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/7/157/) - next →: [sentence 159](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/7/159/) - ↑ back to [Ix.--the Story of the War Between Inkum and Enfitop.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/7/)