---
title: The alligator then scrambled up the bank to where the hare was sitti… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: The alligator then scrambled up the bank to where the hare was sitting, and asked him why he had killed and eaten his children, and told the hare he should kill him. Who acts: alligator, hare, iguana. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Xxii.--a Story of t
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xxii.--a Story of the Great Famine., sentence 48

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The alligator then scrambled up the bank to where the hare was sitting, and asked him why he had killed and eaten his children, and told the hare he should kill him.

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**Who acts:** alligator, hare, iguana · **What happens:** scramble up, sit, ask, kill, eat, tell · **To what, where:** bank, iguana, children, hare, son · **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 (alligator, hare, iguana), 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:pg70959:16:48
# text = The alligator then scrambled up the bank to where the hare was sitting, and asked him why he had killed and eaten his children, and told the hare he should kill him.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	alligator	alligator	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	4	advmod	_	_
4	scrambled	scramble	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	up	up	ADP	RP	_	4	compound:prt	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	bank	bank	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
8	to	to	SCONJ	IN	_	13	mark	_	_
9	where	where	ADV	WRB	PronType=Rel	13	advmod	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	hare	hare	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	nsubj	_	_
12	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	13	aux	_	_
13	sitting	sit	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	4	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	16	punct	_	_
15	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	16	cc	_	_
16	asked	ask	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	parataxis	_	_
17	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	16	iobj	_	_
18	why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	21	advmod	_	_
19	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	21	nsubj:pass	_	_
20	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	21	aux	_	_
21	killed	kill	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	16	advcl	_	_
22	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	23	cc	_	_
23	eaten	eat	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	21	conj	_	_
24	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	25	nmod:poss	_	_
25	children	child	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	23	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
26	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	28	punct	_	_
27	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	28	cc	_	_
28	told	tell	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	16	conj	_	_
29	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	30	det	_	_
30	hare	hare	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	28	iobj	_	_
31	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	33	nsubj	_	_
32	should	should	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	33	aux	_	_
33	kill	kill	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	28	ccomp	_	_
34	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	33	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
35	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **scramble up** | past | the alligator | the bank |  |  | then |  | vn run-51.3.2 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Initial\_Location bank=Theme |
| 2 | **sit** | past · progressive | the hare |  |  |  |  |  | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **ask** *speech: ask* | past |  |  | iguana |  |  |  | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent he=Recipient |
| 4 | **kill** | past · perfect · passive |  | iguana |  |  |  |  | vn remove-10.1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |
| 5 | **eat** | participle |  | iguana's children |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent child=Patient |
| 6 | **tell** *speech: assert* | past |  |  | the hare |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Agent hare=Recipient clause=Topic |
| 7 | **kill** | should | iguana | son |  |  |  |  | vn remove-10.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent he=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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