---
title: The alligator then threw the hare into the air as high as he could,… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: The alligator then threw the hare into the air as high as he could, and he fell into the pit, but was careful not to be caught on the sharp sticks. Who acts: alligator, iguana. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Xxii.--a Story of the Great Famine., with i
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xxii.--a Story of the Great Famine., sentence 53

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The alligator then threw the hare into the air as high as he could, and he fell into the pit, but was careful not to be caught on the sharp sticks.

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**Who acts:** alligator, iguana · **What happens:** throw, fall, be, not catch · **To what, where:** hare, air, pit, sharp sticks

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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, 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:pg70959:16:53
# text = The alligator then threw the hare into the air as high as he could, and he fell into the pit, but was careful not to be caught on the sharp sticks.
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	threw	throw	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	hare	hare	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
7	into	into	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	air	air	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
10	as	as	ADV	RB	_	11	advmod	_	_
11	high	high	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	advcl	_	_
12	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	14	mark	_	_
13	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	14	nsubj	_	_
14	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	11	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	18	punct	_	_
16	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	18	cc	_	_
17	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	18	nsubj	_	_
18	fell	fall	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	conj	_	_
19	into	into	ADP	IN	_	21	case	_	_
20	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	21	det	_	_
21	pit	pit	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	25	punct	_	_
23	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	25	cc	_	_
24	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	25	cop	_	_
25	careful	careful	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	18	conj	_	_
26	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	29	advmod	_	_
27	to	to	PART	TO	_	29	mark	_	_
28	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	29	aux:pass	_	_
29	caught	catch	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	25	advcl	_	_
30	on	on	ADP	IN	_	33	case	_	_
31	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	33	det	_	_
32	sharp	sharp	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	33	amod	_	_
33	sticks	stick	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	29	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
34	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **throw** | past | the alligator | the hare |  |  | then | into the air *result* | vn throw-17.1-1-1 «NP V NP PP.result»: agent=Causer hare=Theme into air=Result |
| 2 | **fall** | past | iguana |  |  |  |  | into the pit *result* | vn become-109.1-1 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Patient into pit=Result |
| 3 | **is** | past | iguana *not said here* |  |  |  |  | careful *property* | tree rules |
| 4 | **not** **catch** | to-infinitive · passive | iguana *not said here* |  |  | the sharp sticks |  |  | vn get-13.5.1 «NP V NP» |

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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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