---
title: The next day he held up the alligator he had already painted to the… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: The next day he held up the alligator he had already painted to the hole for the old ones to see, and then put it down again, closing the hole as before. Who acts: hole. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Xxii.--a Story of the Great Famine., with its depe
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xxii.--a Story of the Great Famine., sentence 35

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The next day he held up the alligator he had already painted to the hole for the old ones to see, and then put it down again, closing the hole as before.

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**Who acts:** hole · **What happens:** hold up, paint, see, put down, close · **To what, where:** alligator, ground, 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 (hole), 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:pg70959:16:35
# text = The next day he held up the alligator he had already painted to the hole for the old ones to see, and then put it down again, closing the hole as before.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	next	next	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	day	day	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl:unmarked	_	_
4	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
5	held	hold	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	up	up	ADP	RP	_	5	compound:prt	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	alligator	alligator	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
9	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	12	nsubj	_	_
10	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	12	aux	_	_
11	already	already	ADV	RB	_	12	advmod	_	_
12	painted	paint	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	8	acl:relcl	_	_
13	to	to	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	hole	hole	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obl	_	_
16	for	for	ADP	IN	_	19	case	_	_
17	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	19	det	_	_
18	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	19	amod	_	_
19	ones	one	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	15	nmod	_	_
20	to	to	PART	TO	_	21	mark	_	_
21	see	see	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	19	acl	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	25	punct	_	_
23	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	25	cc	_	_
24	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	25	advmod	_	_
25	put	put	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	advcl	_	_
26	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	25	obj	_	_
27	down	down	ADP	RP	_	25	compound:prt	_	_
28	again	again	ADV	RB	_	25	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
29	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	30	punct	_	_
30	closing	close	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	25	conj	_	_
31	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	32	det	_	_
32	hole	hole	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	30	obj	_	_
33	as	as	ADV	RB	_	34	advmod	_	_
34	before	before	ADV	RB	_	30	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
35	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **hold up** | past | hole | the alligator |  |  | day |  | vn support-15.3-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot alligator=Theme |
| 2 | **paint** | past · perfect | hole | the alligator *not said here* |  |  |  | to the hole for the old ones *result* | vn coloring-24 «NP V NP PP.result»: agent=Agent alligator=Patient to hole=Result |
| 3 | **see** | to-infinitive | hole *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer |
| 4 | **put down** | infinitive | hole *not said here* | ground |  |  | then; again |  | vn invest-13.5.4-1 «NP V PP»: agent=Agent it=Goal |
| 5 | **close** | gerund | hole *not said here* | the hole |  |  |  | before *property* | vn crane-40.3.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent hole=Patient |

<!-- .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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