--- title: The prawn got some eyes, which he placed on the shoulders of the cra… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics description: The prawn got some eyes, which he placed on the shoulders of the crab, and they grew there, so that he could see quite well, but the crab has never had a head since that time. Who acts: prawn, eyes, crab. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Xviii.--how the --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/13/28/) [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/) / [Xviii.--how the River Came Into Existe…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/13/) / 28 # Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xviii.--how the River Came Into Existence; Or, Why a Crab Has No Head., sentence 28 The prawn got some eyes, which he placed on the shoulders of the crab, and they grew there, so that he could see quite well, but the crab has never had a head since that time. **Who acts:** prawn, eyes, crab · **What happens:** get, place, grow, see, not have · **To what, where:** eyes, shoulders, head 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 (prawn, eyes, crab), 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:pg70959:13:28 # text = The prawn got some eyes, which he placed on the shoulders of the crab, and they grew there, so that he could see quite well, but the crab has never had a head since that time. 1 The the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 2 det _ _ 2 prawn prawn NOUN NN Number=Sing 3 nsubj _ _ 3 got get VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 4 some some DET DT PronType=Ind 5 det _ _ 5 eyes eye NOUN NNS Number=Plur 3 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 6 , , PUNCT , _ 9 punct _ _ 7 which which PRON WDT PronType=Rel 9 nsubj _ _ 8 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 9 nsubj _ _ 9 placed place VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 5 acl:relcl _ _ 10 on on ADP IN _ 12 case _ _ 11 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 12 det _ _ 12 shoulders shoulder NOUN NNS Number=Plur 9 obl _ _ 13 of of ADP IN _ 15 case _ _ 14 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 15 det _ _ 15 crab crab NOUN NN Number=Sing 12 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 16 , , PUNCT , _ 19 punct _ _ 17 and and CCONJ CC _ 19 cc _ _ 18 they they PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 19 nsubj _ _ 19 grew grow VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 3 parataxis _ _ 20 there there ADV RB PronType=Dem 19 advmod _ SpaceAfter=No 21 , , PUNCT , _ 26 punct _ _ 22 so so ADV RB _ 26 advmod _ _ 23 that that SCONJ IN _ 26 mark _ _ 24 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 26 nsubj _ _ 25 could could AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 26 aux _ _ 26 see see VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 19 conj _ _ 27 quite quite ADV RB _ 28 advmod _ _ 28 well well ADV RB Degree=Pos 26 advmod _ SpaceAfter=No 29 , , PUNCT , _ 35 punct _ _ 30 but but CCONJ CC _ 35 cc _ _ 31 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 32 det _ _ 32 crab crab NOUN NN Number=Sing 35 nsubj _ _ 33 has have AUX VBZ Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 35 aux _ _ 34 never never ADV RB PronType=Neg 35 advmod _ _ 35 had have VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part 3 parataxis _ _ 36 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 37 det _ _ 37 head head NOUN NN Number=Sing 35 obj _ _ 38 since since ADP IN _ 40 case _ _ 39 that that DET DT Number=Sing|PronType=Dem 40 det _ _ 40 time time NOUN NN Number=Sing 35 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 41 . . PUNCT . _ 3 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **get** | past | the prawn | some eyes | | | | | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer eye=Stimulus | | 2 | **place** | past | some eyes | | | the shoulders of the crab | | prawn *nsubj* | vn put-9.1-2 «NP V PP.destination NP»: agent=Agent on shoulder=Destination | | 3 | **grow** | past | eyes *= eye* | | | there | | | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 4 | **see** | could | prawn | | | | | well *property* | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer | | 5 | **not** **have** | present · perfect | the crab | a head | | | time | | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent head=Patient | 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 27](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/13/27/) - next →: [sentence 29](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/13/29/) - ↑ back to [Xviii.--how the River Came Into Existence; Or, Why a Crab Has No Head.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/13/)