---
title: When they had gone a little distance the father alligator went to th… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: When they had gone a little distance the father alligator went to the house where the hare had been, and when he looked in he found only his eldest son who had been painted, so he asked him where the other children were, and his son replied that the hare had eaten one of his brothers or sisters ever
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xxii.--a Story of the Great Famine., sentence 44

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When they had gone a little distance the father alligator went to the house where the hare had been, and when he looked in he found only his eldest son who had been painted, so he asked him where the other children were, and his son replied that the hare had eaten one of his brothers or sisters every night until he was the only one left.

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**Who acts:** alligators, father alligator, iguana, other children, son · **What happens:** go, look, find, paint, ask, be · **To what, where:** little distance, eldest son, fish, hare, only one · **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 (alligators, father alligator, iguana, other children), 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:pg70959:16:44
# text = When they had gone a little distance the father alligator went to the house where the hare had been, and when he looked in he found only his eldest son who had been painted, so he asked him where the other children were, and his son replied that the hare had eaten one of his brothers or sisters every night until he was the only one left.
1	When	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	4	advmod	_	_
2	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
3	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	gone	go	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	little	little	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	distance	distance	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
9	father	father	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	compound	_	_
10	alligator	alligator	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nsubj	_	_
11	went	go	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	acl:relcl	_	_
12	to	to	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	house	house	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obl	_	_
15	where	where	ADV	WRB	PronType=Rel	19	advmod	_	_
16	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
17	hare	hare	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	19	nsubj	_	_
18	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	19	aux	_	_
19	been	be	AUX	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	14	acl:relcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	24	punct	_	_
21	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	24	cc	_	_
22	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	24	advmod	_	_
23	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	24	nsubj	_	_
24	looked	look	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	parataxis	_	_
25	in	in	SCONJ	IN	_	27	mark	_	_
26	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	27	nsubj	_	_
27	found	find	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	24	advcl	_	_
28	only	only	ADV	RB	_	31	advmod	_	_
29	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	31	nmod:poss	_	_
30	eldest	eld	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	31	amod	_	_
31	son	son	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	27	obj	_	_
32	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	35	nsubj	_	_
33	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	35	aux	_	_
34	been	be	AUX	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	35	aux:pass	_	_
35	painted	paint	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	31	acl:relcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
36	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	39	punct	_	_
37	so	so	ADV	RB	_	39	advmod	_	_
38	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	39	nsubj	_	_
39	asked	ask	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	24	parataxis	_	_
40	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	39	iobj	_	_
41	where	where	ADV	WRB	PronType=Rel	45	advmod	_	_
42	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	44	det	_	_
43	other	other	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	44	amod	_	_
44	children	child	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	45	nsubj	_	_
45	were	be	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	39	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
46	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	50	punct	_	_
47	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	50	cc	_	_
48	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	49	nmod:poss	_	_
49	son	son	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	50	nsubj	_	_
50	replied	reply	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	39	parataxis	_	_
51	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	55	mark	_	_
52	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	53	det	_	_
53	hare	hare	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	55	nsubj:pass	_	_
54	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	55	aux	_	_
55	eaten	eat	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	50	advcl	_	_
56	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	55	obj	_	_
57	of	of	ADP	IN	_	59	case	_	_
58	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	59	nmod:poss	_	_
59	brothers	brother	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	56	nmod	_	_
60	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	61	cc	_	_
61	sisters	sister	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	59	conj	_	_
62	every	every	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	63	det	_	_
63	night	night	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	55	obl:unmarked	_	_
64	until	until	SCONJ	IN	_	69	mark	_	_
65	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	69	nsubj	_	_
66	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	69	cop	_	_
67	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	69	det	_	_
68	only	only	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	69	amod	_	_
69	one	one	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	55	parataxis	_	_
70	left	leave	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	69	acl	_	SpaceAfter=No
71	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **go** | past · perfect | alligators *= alligator* | a little distance |  |  |  |  | vn meander-47.7 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location distance=Theme |
| 2 | **go** | past | the father alligator | a little distance *not said here* |  |  |  | to the house | tree rules |
| 3 | **look** | past | iguana |  |  |  |  |  | vn stimulus\_subject-30.4 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Stimulus |
| 4 | **find** | past | iguana | iguana's eldest son |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent son=Topic |
| 5 | **paint** | past · perfect · passive |  | iguana's eldest son |  |  |  |  | vn image\_impression-25.1 «NP V NP.theme»: subject=Theme |
| 6 | **ask** *speech: ask* | past | iguana |  | fish |  |  |  | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V NP whether S»: agent=Agent he=Recipient clause=Topic |
| 7 | **be** | past | the other children |  |  |  |  |  | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 8 | **reply** *speech: assert* | past | iguana's son |  |  |  |  |  | vn respond-113 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 9 | **eat** | past · perfect · passive |  | the hare |  |  | night | one of iguana's brothers or sisters *obj* | tree rules |
| 10 | **is a** | past | iguana | the only one |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 11 | **leave** | participle |  | the only one *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

<!-- .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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