--- title: One of the Okuni chiefs, called Elullo, who was a witch, said that h… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics description: One of the Okuni chiefs, called Elullo, who was a witch, said that he was willing to go to Chief ’Ndabu’s house at night and see what he could do, but he was afraid of the ju-ju which the chief kept in a corner of the house, as it was very powerful against witches and might kill him. Who acts: Elull --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/9/34/) [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/) / [Xii.--concerning the Okuni Witches and…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/9/) / 34 # Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xii.--concerning the Okuni Witches and Cannibalism., sentence 34 One of the Okuni chiefs, called Elullo, who was a witch, said that he was willing to go to Chief ’Ndabu’s house at night and see what he could do, but he was afraid of the ju-ju which the chief kept in a corner of the house, as it was very powerful against witches and might kill him. **Who acts:** Elullo, chief, ju ju, corner · **What happens:** call, be, say, go, see, do · **To what, where:** Okuni chiefs, witch, Ndabu house, chief, corner · **Speech:** someone speaks here 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 (Elullo, chief, ju ju, corner), 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:pg70959:9:34 # text = One of the Okuni chiefs, called Elullo, who was a witch, said that he was willing to go to Chief ’Ndabu’s house at night and see what he could do, but he was afraid of the ju-ju which the chief kept in a corner of the house, as it was very powerful against witches and might kill him. 1 One one NUM CD NumForm=Word|NumType=Card 15 ccomp _ _ 2 of of ADP IN _ 5 case _ _ 3 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 5 det _ _ 4 Okuni Okuni PROPN NNP Number=Sing 5 compound _ _ 5 chiefs chief NOUN NNS Number=Plur 1 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 6 , , PUNCT , _ 7 punct _ _ 7 called call VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 5 acl _ _ 8 Elullo Elullo PROPN NNP Number=Sing 7 xcomp _ SpaceAfter=No 9 , , PUNCT , _ 13 punct _ _ 10 who who PRON WP PronType=Rel 13 nsubj _ _ 11 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 13 cop _ _ 12 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 13 det _ _ 13 witch witch NOUN NN Number=Sing 8 appos _ SpaceAfter=No 14 , , PUNCT , _ 15 punct _ _ 15 said say VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 16 that that SCONJ IN _ 19 mark _ _ 17 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 19 nsubj _ _ 18 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 19 cop _ _ 19 willing willing ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 15 ccomp _ _ 20 to to PART TO _ 21 mark _ _ 21 go go VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 19 xcomp _ _ 22 to to ADP IN _ 27 case _ _ 23 Chief Chief PROPN NNP Number=Sing 25 nmod:poss _ _ 24 ’ 's PART POS _ 23 case _ SpaceAfter=No 25 Ndabu Ndabu PROPN NNP Number=Sing 27 compound _ SpaceAfter=No 26 ’s 's PART POS _ 25 case _ _ 27 house house NOUN NN Number=Sing 21 obl _ _ 28 at at ADP IN _ 29 case _ _ 29 night night NOUN NN Number=Sing 21 obl _ _ 30 and and CCONJ CC _ 31 cc _ _ 31 see see VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 21 conj _ _ 32 what what PRON WP PronType=Int 35 obj _ _ 33 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 35 nsubj _ _ 34 could could AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 35 aux _ _ 35 do do VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 31 ccomp _ SpaceAfter=No 36 , , PUNCT , _ 40 punct _ _ 37 but but CCONJ CC _ 40 cc _ _ 38 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 40 nsubj _ _ 39 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 40 cop _ _ 40 afraid afraid ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 15 advcl _ _ 41 of of ADP IN _ 45 case _ _ 42 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 45 det _ _ 43 ju ju NOUN NN Number=Sing 45 compound _ SpaceAfter=No 44 - - PUNCT HYPH _ 43 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 45 ju ju NOUN NN Number=Sing 40 obl _ _ 46 which which PRON WDT PronType=Rel 48 nsubj _ _ 47 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 48 det _ _ 48 chief chief NOUN NN Number=Sing 45 appos _ _ 49 kept keep VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 48 acl _ _ 50 in in ADP IN _ 52 case _ _ 51 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 52 det _ _ 52 corner corner NOUN NN Number=Sing 49 obl _ _ 53 of of ADP IN _ 55 case _ _ 54 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 55 det _ _ 55 house house NOUN NN Number=Sing 52 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 56 , , PUNCT , _ 61 punct _ _ 57 as as SCONJ IN _ 61 mark _ _ 58 it it PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 61 nsubj _ _ 59 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 61 cop _ _ 60 very very ADV RB _ 61 advmod _ _ 61 powerful powerful ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 40 conj _ _ 62 against against ADP IN _ 63 case _ _ 63 witches witch NOUN NNS Number=Plur 61 obl _ _ 64 and and CCONJ CC _ 66 cc _ _ 65 might might AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 66 aux _ _ 66 kill kill VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 61 conj _ _ 67 him he PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 66 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 68 . . PUNCT . _ 15 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **call** | participle | | the Okuni chiefs *not said here* | | | | Elullo *xcomp* | vn initiate\_communication-37.4.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent | | 2 | **is a** | past | Elullo | a witch | | | | | tree rules | | 3 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | | | | | | One of the Okuni chiefs *ccomp* | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent | | 4 | **is** | past | chief | | | | | willing *property* | tree rules | | 5 | **go** | to-infinitive | chief *not said here* | | | Ndabu house | night | | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme to house=Initial\_Location | | 6 | **see** | infinitive | chief *not said here* | | | | | | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V how S\_INF»: agent=Experiencer clause=Stimulus | | 7 | **do** | could | chief | | | | | what *obj* | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent what=Eventuality | | 8 | **is** | past | chief | | | | | of the ju ju; afraid *property* | tree rules | | 9 | **chief** | | the ju ju | | | | | | tree rules | | 10 | **keep** | participle | | the chief *not said here* | | a corner of the house | | | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP PP.location»: agent=Agent in corner=Location | | 11 | **is** | past | corner | | | | | against witches; powerful *property* | tree rules | | 12 | **kill** | might | corner *not said here* | chief | | | | | vn remove-10.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent he=Theme | 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 33](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/9/33/) - next →: [sentence 35](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/9/35/) - ↑ back to [Xii.--concerning the Okuni Witches and Cannibalism.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/9/)