---
title: During the time the old crab had been fighting the Elephantiasis, th… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: During the time the old crab had been fighting the Elephantiasis, the hare had been very busy, and had killed and eaten three of the crab’s children, and then threw their shells behind the fireplace near to where the old crab used to keep her salt. Who acts: old crab, hare. A sentence of «Ikom folk 
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xxv.--how Two Bendega Young Men Changed Their Skins., part 2, sentence 38

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During the time the old crab had been fighting the Elephantiasis, the hare had been very busy, and had killed and eaten three of the crab’s children, and then threw their shells behind the fireplace near to where the old crab used to keep her salt.

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**Who acts:** old crab, hare · **What happens:** fight, be, kill, eat, throw, use · **To what, where:** Elephantiasis, three, shells, fireplace, old crab, salt

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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 2. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (old crab, 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:pg70959:19:38
# text = During the time the old crab had been fighting the Elephantiasis, the hare had been very busy, and had killed and eaten three of the crab’s children, and then threw their shells behind the fireplace near to where the old crab used to keep her salt.
1	During	during	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	time	time	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	obl	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	crab	crab	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	_
7	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	9	aux	_	_
8	been	be	AUX	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	9	aux	_	_
9	fighting	fight	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	3	acl:relcl	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	Elephantiasis	Elephantiasis	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	9	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	3	punct	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	hare	hare	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	nsubj	_	_
15	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	18	aux	_	_
16	been	be	AUX	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	18	cop	_	_
17	very	very	ADV	RB	_	18	advmod	_	_
18	busy	busy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	22	punct	_	_
20	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	22	cc	_	_
21	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	22	aux	_	_
22	killed	kill	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	18	parataxis	_	_
23	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	24	cc	_	_
24	eaten	eat	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	22	conj	_	_
25	three	three	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	24	obj	_	_
26	of	of	ADP	IN	_	30	case	_	_
27	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	28	det	_	_
28	crab	crab	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	30	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
29	’s	's	PART	POS	_	28	case	_	_
30	children	child	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	25	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
31	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	34	punct	_	_
32	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	34	cc	_	_
33	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	34	advmod	_	_
34	threw	throw	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	18	parataxis	_	_
35	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	36	nmod:poss	_	_
36	shells	shell	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	34	obj	_	_
37	behind	behind	ADP	IN	_	39	case	_	_
38	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	39	det	_	_
39	fireplace	fireplace	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	34	obl	_	_
40	near	near	ADV	RB	_	42	advmod	_	_
41	to	to	ADP	IN	_	42	case	_	_
42	where	where	ADV	WRB	PronType=Rel	34	conj	_	_
43	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	45	det	_	_
44	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	45	amod	_	_
45	crab	crab	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	42	nsubj	_	_
46	used	use	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	45	acl	_	_
47	to	to	PART	TO	_	48	mark	_	_
48	keep	keep	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	46	advcl	_	_
49	her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	50	nmod:poss	_	_
50	salt	salt	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	48	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
51	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	18	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **fight** | past · perfect · progressive | the old crab | the Elephantiasis |  |  |  |  | vn battle-36.4-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent elephantiasis=Co-Agent |
| 2 | **is** | past · perfect | the hare |  |  |  | time | busy *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **kill** | past · perfect |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Experiencer |
| 4 | **eat** | participle |  | three of the crab's children |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent three=Patient |
| 5 | **throw** | past |  | children's shells |  | the fireplace | then |  | vn throw-17.1-1-1 «NP V NP PP.destinations»: agent=Agent shell=Theme behind fireplace=Destination |
| 6 | **use** | participle |  | the old crab *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 7 | **keep** | to-infinitive |  | crab's salt |  |  |  |  | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent salt=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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