--- title: Ever since that time the parrots have made their nests on high trees… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics description: Ever since that time the parrots have made their nests on high trees on islands, and when they are flying high up in the air you can hear them laughing at the hare, saying, “We are out of your reach, you cannot harm us now.” Who acts: parrots, you, We. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/16/61/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [tales](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/) / [Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/) / [Xxii.--a Story of the Great Famine.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/16/) / 61 # Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xxii.--a Story of the Great Famine., sentence 61 Ever since that time the parrots have made their nests on high trees on islands, and when they are flying high up in the air you can hear them laughing at the hare, saying, “We are out of your reach, you cannot harm us now.” **Who acts:** parrots, you, We · **What happens:** make, fly, hear, laugh, say, be · **To what, where:** parrots, high trees, air, reach, us · **Speech:** someone speaks here 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 (parrots, you, We), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree. **Mova's own parse.** This tree may be wrong. ## The tree {#tree} ```conllu # sent_id = book:pg70959:16:61 # text = Ever since that time the parrots have made their nests on high trees on islands, and when they are flying high up in the air you can hear them laughing at the hare, saying, “We are out of your reach, you cannot harm us now.” 1 Ever ever ADV RB PronType=Ind 2 advmod _ _ 2 since since ADP IN _ 4 case _ _ 3 that that DET DT Number=Sing|PronType=Dem 4 det _ _ 4 time time NOUN NN Number=Sing 8 obl _ _ 5 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 6 det _ _ 6 parrots parrot NOUN NNS Number=Plur 8 nsubj:pass _ _ 7 have have AUX VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 8 aux _ _ 8 made make VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 0 root _ _ 9 their their PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 10 nmod:poss _ _ 10 nests nest NOUN NNS Number=Plur 8 obj _ _ 11 on on ADP IN _ 13 case _ _ 12 high high ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 13 amod _ _ 13 trees tree NOUN NNS Number=Plur 8 obl _ _ 14 on on ADP IN _ 15 case _ _ 15 islands island NOUN NNS Number=Plur 13 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 16 , , PUNCT , _ 29 punct _ _ 17 and and CCONJ CC _ 29 cc _ _ 18 when when SCONJ WRB _ 21 mark _ _ 19 they they PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 21 nsubj _ _ 20 are be AUX VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 21 aux _ _ 21 flying fly VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 29 advcl _ _ 22 high high ADV RB Degree=Pos 23 advmod _ _ 23 up up ADV RB _ 21 advmod _ _ 24 in in ADP IN _ 26 case _ _ 25 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 26 det _ _ 26 air air NOUN NN Number=Sing 29 obl _ _ 27 you you PRON PRP Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs 29 nsubj _ _ 28 can can AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 29 aux _ _ 29 hear hear VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 8 parataxis _ _ 30 them they PRON PRP Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 29 obj _ _ 31 laughing laugh VERB VBG VerbForm=Ger 29 xcomp _ _ 32 at at ADP IN _ 34 case _ _ 33 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 34 det _ _ 34 hare hare NOUN NN Number=Sing 31 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 35 , , PUNCT , _ 36 punct _ _ 36 saying say VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 31 advcl _ SpaceAfter=No 37 , , PUNCT , _ 44 punct _ _ 38 “ " PUNCT `` _ 44 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 39 We we PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs 44 nsubj _ _ 40 are be AUX VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 44 cop _ _ 41 out out ADP IN _ 44 case _ _ 42 of of ADP IN _ 44 case _ _ 43 your your PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 44 nmod:poss _ _ 44 reach reach NOUN NN Number=Sing 36 ccomp _ SpaceAfter=No 45 , , PUNCT , _ 49 punct _ _ 46 you you PRON PRP Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs 49 nsubj _ _ 47 can can AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 49 aux _ SpaceAfter=No 48 not not PART RB Polarity=Neg 49 advmod _ _ 49 harm harm VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 29 conj _ _ 50 us we PRON PRP Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs 49 obj _ _ 51 now now ADV RB PronType=Dem 49 advmod _ SpaceAfter=No 52 . . PUNCT . _ 8 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 53 ” " PUNCT '' _ 8 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **make** | present · perfect · passive | | the parrots | | high trees on islands | time | parrots's nests *obj* | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP NP»: subject=Beneficiary nest=Product | | 2 | **fly** | present · progressive | parrots *= parrot* | | | | | | vn spatial\_configuration-47.6-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 3 | **hear** | can | you | parrots *= parrot* | | the air | | | tree rules | | 4 | **laugh** | gerund | parrots *= parrot* *not said here* | | | | | at the hare | vn nonverbal\_expression-40.2 «NP V»: agent=Agent | | 5 | **say** *speech: assert* | gerund | parrots *= parrot* *not said here* | | | | | | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent | | 6 | **is** *in a quote* | present | We | | | your reach | | your *nmod:poss* | tree rules | | 7 | **not** **harm** *in a quote* | can | you | us | | | now | | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus we=Experiencer | 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. **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. - ← previous: [sentence 60](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/16/60/) - next →: [sentence 62](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/16/62/) - ↑ back to [Xxii.--a Story of the Great Famine.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/16/)