---
title: The frog tried to jump away, but found that he was helpless as both… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: The frog tried to jump away, but found that he was helpless as both of his hind legs were fast. Who acts: frog, COCK, both. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Xv.--what Happened At Okuni When Anyone Was Killed By Accident., with its dependency tree and th
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xv.--what Happened At Okuni When Anyone Was Killed By Accident., sentence 110

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The frog tried to jump away, but found that he was helpless as both of his hind legs were fast.

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**Who acts:** frog, COCK, both · **What happens:** try, jump away, find, be · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is a sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Xv.--what Happened At Okuni When Anyone Was Killed By Accident.. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (frog, COCK, both), 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:pg70959:12:111
# text = The frog tried to jump away, but found that he was helpless as both of his hind legs were fast.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	frog	frog	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	tried	try	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	to	to	PART	TO	_	5	mark	_	_
5	jump	jump	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	xcomp	_	_
6	away	away	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
8	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
9	found	find	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
10	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	13	mark	_	_
11	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	13	nsubj	_	_
12	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	13	cop	_	_
13	helpless	helpless	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	ccomp	_	_
14	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	21	mark	_	_
15	both	both	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	21	nsubj	_	_
16	of	of	ADP	IN	_	19	case	_	_
17	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	19	nmod:poss	_	_
18	hind	hind	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	19	amod	_	_
19	legs	leg	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	15	nmod	_	_
20	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	21	cop	_	_
21	fast	fast	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	13	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **try** | past | the frog |  |  |  |  |  | vn try-61.1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality |
| 2 | **jump away** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | the frog *not said here* |  |  |  |  | away *property* | vn run-51.3.2-2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 3 | **find** | past | the frog *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn declare-29.4-1-1 «NP V what S\_INF»: agent=Agent |
| 4 | **is** | past | COCK |  |  |  |  | helpless *property* | tree rules |
| 5 | **is** | past | both of COCK's hind legs |  |  |  |  | fast *property* | tree rules |

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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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