---
title: The Elephantiasis replied that the hare could relieve himself quite… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: The Elephantiasis replied that the hare could relieve himself quite well without his going away, so the hare was compelled to do so; he then returned to the path again. Who acts: Elephantiasis, hare. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Xxv.--how Two Bendeg
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xxv.--how Two Bendega Young Men Changed Their Skins., part 1, sentence 60

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The Elephantiasis replied that the hare could relieve himself quite well without his going away, so the hare was compelled to do so; he then returned to the path again.

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**Who acts:** Elephantiasis, hare · **What happens:** reply, relieve, go away, compel, do, return · **To what, where:** ELEPHANTIASIS, hare

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This is a sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Xxv.--how Two Bendega Young Men Changed Their Skins., part 1. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (Elephantiasis, hare), 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:pg70959:18:60
# text = The Elephantiasis replied that the hare could relieve himself quite well without his going away, so the hare was compelled to do so; he then returned to the path again.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	Elephantiasis	Elephantiasis	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	replied	reply	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	8	mark	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	hare	hare	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
7	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	8	aux	_	_
8	relieve	relieve	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	ccomp	_	_
9	himself	himself	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes	8	obj	_	_
10	quite	quite	ADV	RB	_	11	advmod	_	_
11	well	well	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	8	advmod	_	_
12	without	without	SCONJ	IN	_	14	mark	_	_
13	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Gender=Masc|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	14	nsubj	_	_
14	going	go	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	8	advcl	_	_
15	away	away	ADV	RB	_	14	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	21	punct	_	_
17	so	so	ADV	RB	_	21	advmod	_	_
18	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	19	det	_	_
19	hare	hare	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	21	nsubj:pass	_	_
20	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	21	aux:pass	_	_
21	compelled	compel	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	conj	_	_
22	to	to	PART	TO	_	23	mark	_	_
23	do	do	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	21	xcomp	_	_
24	so	so	ADV	RB	_	23	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
25	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	28	punct	_	_
26	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	28	nsubj	_	_
27	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	28	advmod	_	_
28	returned	return	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
29	to	to	ADP	IN	_	31	case	_	_
30	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	31	det	_	_
31	path	path	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	28	obl	_	_
32	again	again	ADV	RB	_	28	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
33	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **reply** *speech: assert* | past | the Elephantiasis |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **relieve** | could | the hare | ELEPHANTIASIS |  |  |  | well *property* | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus himself=Experiencer |
| 3 | **go away** | gerund | ELEPHANTIASIS |  |  |  |  | away *property* | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 4 | **compel** | past · passive |  | the hare |  |  |  |  | vn compel-59.1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: subject=Patient clause=Result |
| 5 | **do** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 6 | **return** | past | ELEPHANTIASIS |  |  |  | then; again | to the path *result* | vn convert-26.6.2-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Patient to path=Result |

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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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