---
title: The hare then told the alligators that he had finished painting all… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: The hare then told the alligators that he had finished painting all their children, and wanted to go home, but he told them that they must not go into the house until after he had gone, as if they did his ju-ju would be broken and all the painting would be spoiled. Who acts: hare, thing, alligators.
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xxii.--a Story of the Great Famine., sentence 38

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The hare then told the alligators that he had finished painting all their children, and wanted to go home, but he told them that they must not go into the house until after he had gone, as if they did his ju-ju would be broken and all the painting would be spoiled.

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**Who acts:** hare, thing, alligators · **What happens:** tell, finish, paint, want, go, not go · **To what, where:** alligators, children, house, ju ju, painting · **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, thing, alligators), 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:pg70959:16:38
# text = The hare then told the alligators that he had finished painting all their children, and wanted to go home, but he told them that they must not go into the house until after he had gone, as if they did his ju-ju would be broken and all the painting would be spoiled.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	hare	hare	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	4	advmod	_	_
4	told	tell	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	alligators	alligator	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obj	_	_
7	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	10	nsubj:pass	_	_
8	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	nsubj	_	_
9	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	10	aux	_	_
10	finished	finish	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	6	acl:relcl	_	_
11	painting	paint	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	10	xcomp	_	_
12	all	all	DET	PDT	PronType=Tot	14	det:predet	_	_
13	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	14	nmod:poss	_	_
14	children	child	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	11	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	17	punct	_	_
16	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	17	cc	_	_
17	wanted	want	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	conj	_	_
18	to	to	PART	TO	_	19	mark	_	_
19	go	go	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	17	xcomp	_	_
20	home	home	ADV	RB	_	19	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	24	punct	_	_
22	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	24	cc	_	_
23	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	24	nsubj	_	_
24	told	tell	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	conj	_	_
25	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	24	iobj	_	_
26	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	30	mark	_	_
27	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	30	nsubj	_	_
28	must	must	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	30	aux	_	_
29	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	30	advmod	_	_
30	go	go	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	24	ccomp	_	_
31	into	into	ADP	IN	_	33	case	_	_
32	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	33	det	_	_
33	house	house	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	30	obl	_	_
34	until	until	SCONJ	IN	_	38	mark	_	_
35	after	after	SCONJ	IN	_	38	mark	_	_
36	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	38	nsubj	_	_
37	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	38	aux	_	_
38	gone	go	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	30	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
39	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	43	punct	_	_
40	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	43	mark	_	_
41	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	43	mark	_	_
42	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	43	nsubj	_	_
43	did	do	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	38	advcl	_	_
44	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	47	nmod:poss	_	_
45	ju	ju	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	47	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
46	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	45	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
47	ju	ju	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	50	nsubj:pass	_	_
48	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	50	aux	_	_
49	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	50	aux:pass	_	_
50	broken	break	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	43	parataxis	_	_
51	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	57	cc	_	_
52	all	all	DET	PDT	PronType=Tot	54	det:predet	_	_
53	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	54	det	_	_
54	painting	painting	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	57	nsubj:pass	_	_
55	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	57	aux	_	_
56	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	57	aux:pass	_	_
57	spoiled	spoil	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	50	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
58	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **tell** *speech: assert* | past | the hare |  | the alligators |  | then |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent alligator=Recipient |
| 2 | **finish** | past · perfect · passive |  | the alligators |  |  |  | thing *nsubj* | tree rules |
| 3 | **paint** | gerund |  | alligators's children |  |  |  |  | vn image\_impression-25.1 «NP V NP.theme»: agent=Agent child=Theme |
| 4 | **want** | past | the hare *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Pivot clause=Theme |
| 5 | **go** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | the hare *not said here* |  |  |  |  | home *property* | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 6 | **tell** *speech: assert* | past | thing |  | alligators *= alligator* |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Agent they=Recipient clause=Topic |
| 7 | **not** **go** | must | alligators *= alligator* |  |  | the house |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme into house=Initial\_Location |
| 8 | **go** | past · perfect | thing |  |  |  |  |  | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 9 | **do** | past | alligators *= alligator* |  |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 10 | **break** | would · passive |  | thing's ju ju |  |  |  |  | vn hurt-40.8.3-1-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Patient |
| 11 | **spoil** | would · passive |  | all painting |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

<!-- .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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