---
title: As he was unable to walk, he crawled along the path on his hands and… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: As he was unable to walk, he crawled along the path on his hands and knees, rolling the head in front of him. Who acts: cripple. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Xix.--why the Mist Rises From the Water., with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of ev
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xix.--why the Mist Rises From the Water., sentence 31

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As he was unable to walk, he crawled along the path on his hands and knees, rolling the head in front of him.

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**Who acts:** cripple · **What happens:** be, walk, crawl, roll · **To what, where:** hands, head, front

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This is a sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Xix.--why the Mist Rises From the Water.. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (cripple), 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:pg70959:14:31
# text = As he was unable to walk, he crawled along the path on his hands and knees, rolling the head in front of him.
1	As	as	SCONJ	IN	_	4	mark	_	_
2	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
3	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
4	unable	unable	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
5	to	to	PART	TO	_	6	mark	_	_
6	walk	walk	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
8	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	nsubj	_	_
9	crawled	crawl	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	parataxis	_	_
10	along	along	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	path	path	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	_
13	on	on	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
14	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	15	nmod:poss	_	_
15	hands	hand	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	obl	_	_
16	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	17	cc	_	_
17	knees	knee	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	15	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	19	punct	_	_
19	rolling	roll	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	9	advcl	_	_
20	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	21	det	_	_
21	head	head	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	19	obj	_	_
22	in	in	ADP	IN	_	23	case	_	_
23	front	front	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	19	obl	_	_
24	of	of	ADP	IN	_	25	case	_	_
25	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	23	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
26	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | cripple |  |  |  |  | unable *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **walk** | to-infinitive | cripple *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn run-51.3.2-2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 3 | **crawl** | past | cripple |  |  | cripple's hands and knees |  | along the path | vn run-51.3.2 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme along path=Trajectory |
| 4 | **roll** | gerund | cripple *not said here* | the head |  | front of cripple |  |  | vn run-51.3.2-2 «NP V NP PP.trajectory»: agent=Agent head=Theme in front=Trajectory |

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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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