---
title: Just as he got near the land, however, he came across a large female… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: Just as he got near the land, however, he came across a large female alligator, who asked him where he came from and where he was going. Who acts: fish, large female alligator. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Xxii.--a Story of the Great Famine., with i
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xxii.--a Story of the Great Famine., sentence 23

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Just as he got near the land, however, he came across a large female alligator, who asked him where he came from and where he was going.

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**Who acts:** fish, large female alligator · **What happens:** get, come, ask, go · **To what, where:** land, fish

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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 (fish, large female alligator), 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:pg70959:16:23
# text = Just as he got near the land, however, he came across a large female alligator, who asked him where he came from and where he was going.
1	Just	just	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
2	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	4	mark	_	_
3	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
4	got	get	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	near	near	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	land	land	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
9	however	however	ADV	RB	_	12	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
11	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	12	nsubj	_	_
12	came	come	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	conj	_	_
13	across	across	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
14	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
15	large	large	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	17	amod	_	_
16	female	female	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	17	amod	_	_
17	alligator	alligator	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	20	punct	_	_
19	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	20	nsubj	_	_
20	asked	ask	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	17	acl:relcl	_	_
21	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	20	iobj	_	_
22	where	where	ADV	WRB	PronType=Rel	24	advmod	_	_
23	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	24	nsubj	_	_
24	came	come	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	20	advcl	_	_
25	from	from	ADP	IN	_	24	obl	_	_
26	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	30	cc	_	_
27	where	where	ADV	WRB	PronType=Rel	30	advmod	_	_
28	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	30	nsubj	_	_
29	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	30	aux	_	_
30	going	go	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	24	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
31	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **get** | past | fish |  |  | the land |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Experiencer |
| 2 | **come** | past | fish |  |  |  |  | across a large female alligator; however *property* | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme across alligator=Initial\_Location |
| 3 | **ask** *speech: ask* | past | a large female alligator |  | fish |  |  |  | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent he=Recipient |
| 4 | **come** | past | fish |  |  |  |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 5 | **go** | past · progressive | fish |  |  |  |  |  | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

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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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