---
title: The crab then went into the river, but having no head he could not s… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: The crab then went into the river, but having no head he could not see, so he went to the fish and asked him to cure his wounds and give him a pair of eyes to see with. Who acts: crab. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Xviii.--how the River Came Into Exi
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xviii.--how the River Came Into Existence; Or, Why a Crab Has No Head., sentence 26

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The crab then went into the river, but having no head he could not see, so he went to the fish and asked him to cure his wounds and give him a pair of eyes to see with.

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**Who acts:** crab · **What happens:** go, have, not see, ask, cure, give · **To what, where:** river, head, crab, wounds, pair

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This is a sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Xviii.--how the River Came Into Existence; Or, Why a Crab Has No Head.. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (crab), 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:pg70959:13:26
# text = The crab then went into the river, but having no head he could not see, so he went to the fish and asked him to cure his wounds and give him a pair of eyes to see with.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	crab	crab	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	4	advmod	_	_
4	went	go	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	into	into	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	river	river	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
9	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc	_	_
10	having	have	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	4	advcl	_	_
11	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	12	det	_	_
12	head	head	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obj	_	_
13	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	16	nsubj	_	_
14	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	16	aux	_	_
15	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	16	advmod	_	_
16	see	see	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	12	acl:relcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	20	punct	_	_
18	so	so	ADV	RB	_	20	advmod	_	_
19	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	20	nsubj	_	_
20	went	go	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	parataxis	_	_
21	to	to	ADP	IN	_	23	case	_	_
22	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	23	det	_	_
23	fish	fish	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	20	obl	_	_
24	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	25	cc	_	_
25	asked	ask	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	20	conj	_	_
26	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	25	iobj	_	_
27	to	to	PART	TO	_	28	mark	_	_
28	cure	cure	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	25	xcomp	_	_
29	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	30	nmod:poss	_	_
30	wounds	wound	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	28	obj	_	_
31	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	32	cc	_	_
32	give	give	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	28	conj	_	_
33	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	32	iobj	_	_
34	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	35	det	_	_
35	pair	pair	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	32	obj	_	_
36	of	of	ADP	IN	_	37	case	_	_
37	eyes	eye	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	35	nmod	_	_
38	to	to	PART	TO	_	39	mark	_	_
39	see	see	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	35	acl	_	_
40	with	with	ADP	IN	_	39	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
41	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **go** | past | the crab |  |  | the river | then |  | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme into river=Initial\_Location |
| 2 | **have** | gerund | the crab *not said here* | no head |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent head=Patient |
| 3 | **not** **see** | could | crab | no head *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer head=Stimulus |
| 4 | **go** | past | crab |  |  |  |  | to the fish | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme to fish=Initial\_Location |
| 5 | **ask** *speech: ask* | past | crab *not said here* |  | crab |  |  |  | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V NP whether S\_INF»: agent=Agent he=Recipient clause=Topic |
| 6 | **cure** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | crab *not said here* | crab's wounds |  |  |  |  | vn free-10.6.3-1-1 «NP V NP PP.theme»: agent=Causer wound=Source |
| 7 | **give** | infinitive | crab *not said here* | a pair of eyes | crab |  |  |  | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP-Dative NP»: agent=Agent he=Recipient pair=Theme |
| 8 | **see** | to-infinitive | crab *not said here* | a pair of eyes *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer |
| 9 | **wound** |  | crab |  |  |  |  |  | nom wound «state transitive»: poss=agent |

<!-- .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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