--- title: The girl then began to be afraid and looked round to see how she cou… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics description: The girl then began to be afraid and looked round to see how she could escape, but the path she had come by had closed up and there was no way out, as she was entirely surrounded by thick bush. Who acts: girl, way, thick bush. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Da --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/14/98/) [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/) / [Xix.--why the Mist Rises From the Water.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/14/) / 98 # Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xix.--why the Mist Rises From the Water., sentence 98 The girl then began to be afraid and looked round to see how she could escape, but the path she had come by had closed up and there was no way out, as she was entirely surrounded by thick bush. **Who acts:** girl, way, thick bush · **What happens:** begin, be, look, see, escape, come by · **To what, where:** path, way · **Speech:** someone speaks here 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 (girl, way, thick bush), 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:pg70959:14:98 # text = The girl then began to be afraid and looked round to see how she could escape, but the path she had come by had closed up and there was no way out, as she was entirely surrounded by thick bush. 1 The the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 2 det _ _ 2 girl girl NOUN NN Number=Sing 4 nsubj _ _ 3 then then ADV RB PronType=Dem 4 advmod _ _ 4 began begin VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 5 to to PART TO _ 7 mark _ _ 6 be be AUX VB VerbForm=Inf 7 cop _ _ 7 afraid afraid ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 4 xcomp _ _ 8 and and CCONJ CC _ 9 cc _ _ 9 looked look VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 4 conj _ _ 10 round round ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 9 xcomp _ _ 11 to to PART TO _ 12 mark _ _ 12 see see VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 10 advcl _ _ 13 how how ADV WRB PronType=Int 16 advmod _ _ 14 she she PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 16 nsubj _ _ 15 could could AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 16 aux _ _ 16 escape escape VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 12 ccomp _ SpaceAfter=No 17 , , PUNCT , _ 26 punct _ _ 18 but but CCONJ CC _ 26 cc _ _ 19 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 20 det _ _ 20 path path NOUN NN Number=Sing 26 nsubj:pass _ _ 21 she she PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 23 nsubj _ _ 22 had have AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 23 aux _ _ 23 come come VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part 20 acl:relcl _ _ 24 by by ADP IN _ 23 obl _ _ 25 had have AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 26 aux _ _ 26 closed close VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 4 parataxis _ _ 27 up up ADP RP _ 26 compound:prt _ _ 28 and and CCONJ CC _ 30 cc _ _ 29 there there PRON EX PronType=Dem 30 expl _ _ 30 was be VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 26 conj _ _ 31 no no DET DT PronType=Neg 32 det _ _ 32 way way NOUN NN Number=Sing 30 nsubj _ _ 33 out out ADV RB _ 32 advmod _ SpaceAfter=No 34 , , PUNCT , _ 39 punct _ _ 35 as as SCONJ IN _ 39 mark _ _ 36 she she PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 39 nsubj:pass _ _ 37 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 39 aux:pass _ _ 38 entirely entirely ADV RB _ 39 advmod _ _ 39 surrounded surround VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 26 advcl _ _ 40 by by ADP IN _ 42 case _ _ 41 thick thick ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 42 amod _ _ 42 bush bush NOUN NN Number=Sing 39 obl:agent _ SpaceAfter=No 43 . . PUNCT . _ 4 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **begin** | past | the girl | | | | then | | vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP.eventuality V»: agent=Eventuality | | 2 | **is** | to-infinitive | the girl *not said here* | | | | | afraid *property* | tree rules | | 3 | **look** | past | the girl *not said here* | | | | | round *property* | vn stimulus\_subject-30.4 «NP V ADJ»: agent=Stimulus | | 4 | **see** | to-infinitive | the girl *not said here* | | | | | | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V how S\_INF»: agent=Experiencer clause=Stimulus | | 5 | **escape** | could | girl | | | | | | vn escape-51.1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 6 | **come by** | past · perfect | girl | the path *not said here* | | | | | vn appear-48.1.1 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location path=Theme | | 7 | **close up** | past · perfect · passive | | the path | | | | | vn crane-40.3.2 «NP V NP»: subject=Patient | | 8 | **be** | past | no way | | | there | | | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 9 | **surround** | past · passive | thick bush | way | | | | entirely *property* | vn contiguous\_location-47.8 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme subject=Co-Theme | 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 97](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/14/97/) - next →: [sentence 99](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/14/99/) - ↑ back to [Xix.--why the Mist Rises From the Water.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/14/)