---
title: Then when one man has found a thick cluster of bats, he fires into t… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: Then when one man has found a thick cluster of bats, he fires into them, and with luck brings down a few. Who acts: man. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Opening, with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of every clause.
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Opening, sentence 124

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Then when one man has found a thick cluster of bats, he fires into them, and with luck brings down a few.

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**Who acts:** man · **What happens:** find, fire, bring down · **To what, where:** one man, few

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This is a sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Opening. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (man), 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:pg70959:1:124
# text = Then when one man has found a thick cluster of bats, he fires into them, and with luck brings down a few.
1	Then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	6	advmod	_	_
2	when	when	SCONJ	WRB	_	6	mark	_	_
3	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	4	nummod	_	_
4	man	man	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj:pass	_	_
5	has	have	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
6	found	find	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	thick	thick	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	cluster	cluster	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	_
10	of	of	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	bats	bat	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
13	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	14	nsubj	_	_
14	fires	fire	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	parataxis	_	_
15	into	into	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
16	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	14	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	21	punct	_	_
18	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	21	cc	_	_
19	with	with	ADP	IN	_	20	case	_	_
20	luck	luck	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	21	obl	_	_
21	brings	bring	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	14	conj	_	_
22	down	down	ADP	RP	_	21	compound:prt	_	_
23	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	24	det	_	_
24	few	few	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	21	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
25	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **find** | present · perfect · passive |  | one man |  |  | then | a thick cluster of bats *obj* | vn declare-29.4-1-1 «NP V NP ADJ»: subject=Theme cluster=Attribute |
| 2 | **fire** | present | man |  |  |  |  | into bats *= bat* | vn throw-17.1-1 «NP V NP PP.destinations»: agent=Agent into they=Destination |
| 3 | **bring down** | present | man *not said here* | a few |  |  |  | with luck | vn bring-11.3-1 «NP V NP together»: agent=Agent few=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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