---
title: When the parrot began to eat some of the nuts, the hare eat some als… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: When the parrot began to eat some of the nuts, the hare eat some also, and when the parrot dropped the kernel the hare dropped his at the same time through the hole in the bag. Who acts: parrot, hare. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Xxii.--a Story of t
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xxii.--a Story of the Great Famine., sentence 11

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When the parrot began to eat some of the nuts, the hare eat some also, and when the parrot dropped the kernel the hare dropped his at the same time through the hole in the bag.

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**Who acts:** parrot, hare · **What happens:** begin, eat, drop · **To what, where:** some, kernel, plenty, hole

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This is a sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Xxii.--a Story of the Great Famine.. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (parrot, hare), 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:pg70959:16:11
# text = When the parrot began to eat some of the nuts, the hare eat some also, and when the parrot dropped the kernel the hare dropped his at the same time through the hole in the bag.
1	When	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	4	advmod	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	parrot	parrot	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	began	begin	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	to	to	PART	TO	_	6	mark	_	_
6	eat	eat	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	xcomp	_	_
7	some	some	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	6	obj	_	_
8	of	of	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	nuts	nut	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	hare	hare	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	nsubj	_	_
14	eat	eat	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	parataxis	_	_
15	some	some	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	14	obj	_	_
16	also	also	ADV	RB	_	14	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	22	punct	_	_
18	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	22	cc	_	_
19	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	22	advmod	_	_
20	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	21	det	_	_
21	parrot	parrot	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	22	nsubj	_	_
22	dropped	drop	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	14	parataxis	_	_
23	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	24	det	_	_
24	kernel	kernel	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	22	obj	_	_
25	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	26	det	_	_
26	hare	hare	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	27	nsubj	_	_
27	dropped	drop	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	22	parataxis	_	_
28	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	27	obj	_	_
29	at	at	ADP	IN	_	32	case	_	_
30	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	32	det	_	_
31	same	same	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	32	amod	_	_
32	time	time	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	27	obl	_	_
33	through	through	ADP	IN	_	35	case	_	_
34	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	35	det	_	_
35	hole	hole	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	27	obl	_	_
36	in	in	ADP	IN	_	38	case	_	_
37	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	38	det	_	_
38	bag	bag	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	35	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
39	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **begin** | past | the parrot |  |  |  |  |  | vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality |
| 2 | **eat** | to-infinitive | the parrot *not said here* | some of the nuts |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent some=Patient |
| 3 | **eat** | present | the hare | some |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent some=Patient |
| 4 | **drop** | past | the parrot | the kernel |  |  |  |  | vn put\_direction-9.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent kernel=Theme |
| 5 | **drop** | past | the hare | plenty |  | the hole in the bag | time |  | vn put\_direction-9.4 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent his=Theme through hole=Destination |

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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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