---
title: Then the chief went again to the ju-ju man, and having given him a b… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: Then the chief went again to the ju-ju man, and having given him a big “dash,” asked whether the boy would live. Who acts: chief, boy. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Xii.--concerning the Okuni Witches and Cannibalism., with its dependency tree and the
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xii.--concerning the Okuni Witches and Cannibalism., sentence 27

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Then the chief went again to the ju-ju man, and having given him a big “dash,” asked whether the boy would live.

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**Who acts:** chief, boy · **What happens:** go, give, ask, live · **To what, where:** big dash, chief

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This is a sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Xii.--concerning the Okuni Witches and Cannibalism.. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (chief, boy), 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:pg70959:9:27
# text = Then the chief went again to the ju-ju man, and having given him a big “dash,” asked whether the boy would live.
1	Then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	4	advmod	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	chief	chief	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	went	go	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	again	again	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
6	to	to	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
8	ju	ju	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	8	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	ju	ju	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	compound	_	_
11	man	man	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	15	punct	_	_
13	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	15	cc	_	_
14	having	have	AUX	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	15	aux	_	_
15	given	give	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	4	parataxis	_	_
16	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	15	iobj	_	_
17	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	20	det	_	_
18	big	big	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	20	amod	_	_
19	“	"	PUNCT	``	_	20	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	dash	dash	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	4	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	”	"	PUNCT	''	_	4	punct	_	_
23	asked	ask	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	parataxis	_	_
24	whether	whether	SCONJ	IN	_	28	mark	_	_
25	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	26	det	_	_
26	boy	boy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	28	nsubj	_	_
27	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	28	aux	_	_
28	live	live	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	23	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
29	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **go** | past | the chief |  |  |  | then; again | to the ju man | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme to man=Initial\_Location |
| 2 | **give** | gerund · perfect |  | a big dash | chief |  |  |  | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP-Dative NP»: agent=Agent he=Recipient dash=Theme |
| 3 | **ask** *speech: ask* | past |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 4 | **live** *not said to happen* | would | the boy |  |  |  |  |  | vn exist-47.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

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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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