---
title: A sheep, who had been watching, told the goat, when he returned, wha… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: A sheep, who had been watching, told the goat, when he returned, what had happened to the chicken, so the next morning the goat went to the hawk and demanded payment. Who acts: sheep, goat. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Xxi.--why the Head of the Male
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xxi.--why the Head of the Male Goat Smells So Strong., sentence 16

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A sheep, who had been watching, told the goat, when he returned, what had happened to the chicken, so the next morning the goat went to the hawk and demanded payment.

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**Who acts:** sheep, goat · **What happens:** watch, tell, return, happen, go, demand · **To what, where:** goat, payment · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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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 (sheep, goat), 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:pg70959:15:16
# text = A sheep, who had been watching, told the goat, when he returned, what had happened to the chicken, so the next morning the goat went to the hawk and demanded payment.
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	sheep	sheep	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
4	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	7	nsubj	_	_
5	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	aux	_	_
6	been	be	AUX	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	7	aux	_	_
7	watching	watch	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	2	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	2	punct	_	_
9	told	tell	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	goat	goat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	iobj	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	15	punct	_	_
13	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	15	advmod	_	_
14	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	15	nsubj	_	_
15	returned	return	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	9	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	19	punct	_	_
17	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	19	nsubj	_	_
18	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	19	aux	_	_
19	happened	happen	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	15	ccomp	_	_
20	to	to	ADP	IN	_	22	case	_	_
21	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	22	det	_	_
22	chicken	chicken	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	19	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	30	punct	_	_
24	so	so	ADV	RB	_	30	advmod	_	_
25	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	27	det	_	_
26	next	next	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	27	amod	_	_
27	morning	morning	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	30	obl:unmarked	_	_
28	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	29	det	_	_
29	goat	goat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	30	nsubj	_	_
30	went	go	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	9	parataxis	_	_
31	to	to	ADP	IN	_	33	case	_	_
32	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	33	det	_	_
33	hawk	hawk	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	30	obl	_	_
34	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	35	cc	_	_
35	demanded	demand	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	30	conj	_	_
36	payment	payment	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	35	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
37	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	9	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **watch** | past · perfect · progressive | a sheep |  |  |  |  |  | vn search-35.2 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **tell** *speech: assert* | past | a sheep |  | the goat |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent goat=Recipient |
| 3 | **return** | past | sheep |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 4 | **happen** | past · perfect |  |  |  |  |  | to the chicken; what *nsubj* | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 5 | **go** | past | the goat |  |  |  | morning | to the hawk | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme to hawk=Initial\_Location |
| 6 | **demand** *speech: request* | past | the goat *not said here* | payment |  |  |  |  | vn require-103-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme payment=Precondition |

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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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