---
title: Then the hare said, “I see you have many young alligators here, and… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: Then the hare said, “I see you have many young alligators here, and I will paint them all for you, but you must not look at me while I am doing it. Who acts: hare, you. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Xxii.--a Story of the Great Famine., with its depen
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xxii.--a Story of the Great Famine., sentence 27

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Then the hare said, “I see you have many young alligators here, and I will paint them all for you, but you must not look at me while I am doing it.

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**Who acts:** hare, you · **What happens:** say, see, have, paint, not look, do · **To what, where:** many young alligators, alligators, colouring · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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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 (hare, you), 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:pg70959:16:27
# text = Then the hare said, “I see you have many young alligators here, and I will paint them all for you, but you must not look at me while I am doing it.
1	Then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	4	advmod	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	hare	hare	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
6	“	"	PUNCT	``	_	8	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	_
8	see	see	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	ccomp	_	_
9	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	10	nsubj	_	_
10	have	have	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	ccomp	_	_
11	many	many	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	13	amod	_	_
12	young	young	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	13	amod	_	_
13	alligators	alligator	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	obj	_	_
14	here	here	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	10	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	19	punct	_	_
16	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	19	cc	_	_
17	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	19	nsubj	_	_
18	will	will	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	19	aux	_	_
19	paint	paint	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	8	parataxis	_	_
20	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	19	obj	_	_
21	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	20	nmod:unmarked	_	_
22	for	for	ADP	IN	_	23	case	_	_
23	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Person=2|PronType=Prs	19	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
24	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	29	punct	_	_
25	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	29	cc	_	_
26	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	29	nsubj	_	_
27	must	must	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	29	aux	_	_
28	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	29	advmod	_	_
29	look	look	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	19	conj	_	_
30	at	at	ADP	IN	_	31	case	_	_
31	me	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	29	obl	_	_
32	while	while	SCONJ	IN	_	35	mark	_	_
33	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	35	nsubj	_	_
34	am	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	35	aux	_	_
35	doing	do	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	29	advcl	_	_
36	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	35	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
37	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | the hare |  |  |  | then |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **see** *in a quote* | present | the hare *= hare* |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Experiencer clause=Stimulus |
| 3 | **have** *in a quote* | present | you | many young alligators |  | here |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent alligator=Patient |
| 4 | **paint** *in a quote* | future | the hare *= hare* | alligators *= alligator* |  |  |  | for you | vn create-26.4-1-1 «NP V NP PP.beneficiary»: agent=Agent they=Result for you=Beneficiary |
| 5 | **not** **look** *in a quote* | must | you |  |  |  |  | at the hare *= hare* | vn peer-30.3 «NP V PP.theme»: agent=Agent at i=Theme |
| 6 | **do** *in a quote* | present · progressive | the hare *= hare* | colouring |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Eventuality |

<!-- .note -->
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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