---
title: He then sat down to watch, and very soon a hen came along who, being… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: He then sat down to watch, and very soon a hen came along who, being very hungry, swallowed the young rat. Who acts: rat, hen. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Xxi.--why the Head of the Male Goat Smells So Strong., with its dependency tree and the pragm
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xxi.--why the Head of the Male Goat Smells So Strong., sentence 12

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He then sat down to watch, and very soon a hen came along who, being very hungry, swallowed the young rat.

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**Who acts:** rat, hen · **What happens:** sit down, watch, come along, be, swallow · **To what, where:** young rat

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This is a sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Xxi.--why the Head of the Male Goat Smells So Strong.. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (rat, hen), 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:pg70959:15:12
# text = He then sat down to watch, and very soon a hen came along who, being very hungry, swallowed the young rat.
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	3	advmod	_	_
3	sat	sit	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	down	down	ADP	RP	_	3	compound:prt	_	_
5	to	to	PART	TO	_	6	mark	_	_
6	watch	watch	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
8	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	13	cc	_	_
9	very	very	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	_
10	soon	soon	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	13	advmod	_	_
11	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	hen	hen	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	nsubj	_	_
13	came	come	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
14	along	along	ADV	RB	_	13	advmod	_	_
15	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	13	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	19	punct	_	_
17	being	be	AUX	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	19	cop	_	_
18	very	very	ADV	RB	_	19	advmod	_	_
19	hungry	hungry	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	13	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	21	punct	_	_
21	swallowed	swallow	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
22	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	24	det	_	_
23	young	young	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	24	amod	_	_
24	rat	rat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	21	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
25	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **sit down** | past | rat |  |  |  | then |  | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **watch** | to-infinitive | rat *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn search-35.2 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **come along** | past | a hen |  |  |  |  | who *advcl*; along, soon *property* | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 4 | **is** | gerund | a hen *not said here* |  |  |  |  | hungry *property* | tree rules |
| 5 | **swallow** | past | rat *not said here* | the young rat |  |  |  |  | vn gobble-39.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent rat=Patient |

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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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