---
title: But the water ju-ju refused them, and said, “Tell Chief Eka, if he w… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: But the water ju-ju refused them, and said, “Tell Chief Eka, if he wants to see his son, let him look in the river in two days’ time.” Who acts: water, Chief. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Ix.--the Story of the War Between Inkum and Enfitop., with it
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Ix.--the Story of the War Between Inkum and Enfitop., sentence 163

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But the water ju-ju refused them, and said, “Tell Chief Eka, if he wants to see his son, let him look in the river in two days’ time.”

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**Who acts:** water, Chief · **What happens:** refuse, say, tell, want, see, let · **To what, where:** slaves, Chief, son · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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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 (water, Chief), 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:pg70959:7:163
# text = But the water ju-ju refused them, and said, “Tell Chief Eka, if he wants to see his son, let him look in the river in two days’ time.”
1	But	but	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
4	ju	ju	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	appos	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	6	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	ju	ju	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	flat	_	_
7	refused	refuse	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
8	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
10	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	11	cc	_	_
11	said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
13	“	"	PUNCT	``	_	14	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	Tell	tell	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	11	ccomp	_	_
15	Chief	Chief	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	14	obj	_	_
16	Eka	Eka	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	15	flat	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	20	punct	_	_
18	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	20	mark	_	_
19	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	20	nsubj	_	_
20	wants	want	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	14	conj	_	_
21	to	to	PART	TO	_	22	mark	_	_
22	see	see	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	20	xcomp	_	_
23	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	24	nmod:poss	_	_
24	son	son	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	22	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
25	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	26	punct	_	_
26	let	let	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	14	conj	_	_
27	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	26	obj	_	_
28	look	look	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	26	xcomp	_	_
29	in	in	ADP	IN	_	31	case	_	_
30	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	31	det	_	_
31	river	river	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	28	obl	_	_
32	in	in	ADP	IN	_	36	case	_	_
33	two	two	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	34	nummod	_	_
34	days	day	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	36	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
35	’	's	PART	POS	_	34	case	_	_
36	time	time	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	28	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
37	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	14	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
38	”	"	PUNCT	''	_	14	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **refuse** | past | the water | slaves *= slave* |  |  |  |  | vn reject-77.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent they=Theme |
| 2 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | the water *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 3 | **tell** *speech: assert* *in a quote* | infinitive |  |  | Chief |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent chief=Recipient |
| 4 | **want** *a condition, not said to happen, in a quote* | present | Chief |  |  |  |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Pivot clause=Theme |
| 5 | **see** *not said to happen, in a quote* | to-infinitive | Chief *not said here* | Chief's son |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer son=Stimulus |
| 6 | **let** *in a quote* | infinitive |  | Chief |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 7 | **look** *in a quote* | infinitive | Chief *not said here* |  |  |  | time | in the river | vn peer-30.3 «NP V PP.theme»: agent=Agent in river=Theme |

<!-- .note -->
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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