---
title: Shortly afterwards the Elephantiasis rolled himself up to where the… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: Shortly afterwards the Elephantiasis rolled himself up to where the people were working and asked them whether they had seen the hare pass that way, but the people told him that the hare had not called at their farm. Who acts: Elephantiasis, people, hare. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southe
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xxv.--how Two Bendega Young Men Changed Their Skins., part 2, sentence 4

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Shortly afterwards the Elephantiasis rolled himself up to where the people were working and asked them whether they had seen the hare pass that way, but the people told him that the hare had not called at their farm.

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**Who acts:** Elephantiasis, people, hare · **What happens:** roll up, work, ask, see, pass, tell · **To what, where:** Elephantiasis, people, hare, way · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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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 (Elephantiasis, people, 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:pg70959:19:4
# text = Shortly afterwards the Elephantiasis rolled himself up to where the people were working and asked them whether they had seen the hare pass that way, but the people told him that the hare had not called at their farm.
1	Shortly	shortly	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
2	afterwards	afterwards	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	Elephantiasis	Elephantiasis	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
5	rolled	roll	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	himself	himself	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes	5	obj	_	_
7	up	up	ADP	RP	_	5	compound:prt	_	_
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	people	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	13	nsubj	_	_
12	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	13	aux	_	_
13	working	work	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	5	advcl	_	_
14	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	15	cc	_	_
15	asked	ask	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	conj	_	_
16	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	15	obj	_	_
17	whether	whether	SCONJ	IN	_	20	mark	_	_
18	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	20	nsubj	_	_
19	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	20	aux	_	_
20	seen	see	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	15	advcl	_	_
21	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	22	det	_	_
22	hare	hare	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	20	obj	_	_
23	pass	pass	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	20	xcomp	_	_
24	that	that	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	25	det	_	_
25	way	way	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	23	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
26	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	30	punct	_	_
27	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	30	cc	_	_
28	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	29	det	_	_
29	people	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	30	nsubj	_	_
30	told	tell	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	conj	_	_
31	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	30	iobj	_	_
32	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	37	mark	_	_
33	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	34	det	_	_
34	hare	hare	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	37	nsubj:pass	_	_
35	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	37	aux	_	_
36	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	37	advmod	_	_
37	called	call	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	30	ccomp	_	_
38	at	at	ADP	IN	_	40	case	_	_
39	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	40	nmod:poss	_	_
40	farm	farm	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	37	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
41	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **roll up** | past | the Elephantiasis | Elephantiasis |  |  |  | afterwards *property* | vn run-51.3.2-2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent himself=Agent |
| 2 | **work** | past · progressive | the people |  |  |  |  |  | vn employment-95.3 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **ask** *speech: ask* | past | the Elephantiasis *not said here* |  | people |  |  |  | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent they=Recipient |
| 4 | **see** | past · perfect | people | the hare |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 5 | **pass** | infinitive | the hare *not said here* | that way |  |  |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1-3 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme way=Trajectory |
| 6 | **tell** *speech: assert* | past | the people |  | hare |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Agent he=Recipient clause=Topic |
| 7 | **not** **call** | past · perfect · passive |  | the hare |  |  |  | at people's farm | vn animal\_sounds-38 «NP V NP.theme PP.recipient PP.stimulus»: subject=Theme at farm=Stimulus |

<!-- .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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