---
title: Then the Elephantiasis said, “Oh, I see you want to deceive me, for… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: Then the Elephantiasis said, “Oh, I see you want to deceive me, for I tracked him as I came along the path; but let me tell you the hare is a great friend of mine; unfortunately he has long legs and can run fast, whereas I have no legs and can only roll along slowly, and thus got left behind.” Who a
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xxv.--how Two Bendega Young Men Changed Their Skins., part 2, sentence 5

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Then the Elephantiasis said, “Oh, I see you want to deceive me, for I tracked him as I came along the path; but let me tell you the hare is a great friend of mine; unfortunately he has long legs and can run fast, whereas I have no legs and can only roll along slowly, and thus got left behind.”

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**Who acts:** Elephantiasis, you, hare · **What happens:** say, see, want, deceive, track, come · **To what, where:** Elephantiasis, path, you, great friend, long legs, legs · **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, you, 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:pg70959:19:5
# text = Then the Elephantiasis said, “Oh, I see you want to deceive me, for I tracked him as I came along the path; but let me tell you the hare is a great friend of mine; unfortunately he has long legs and can run fast, whereas I have no legs and can only roll along slowly, and thus got left behind.”
1	Then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	4	advmod	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	Elephantiasis	elephantiasis	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
6	“	"	PUNCT	``	_	10	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	Oh	oh	INTJ	UH	_	10	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
9	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	10	nsubj	_	_
10	see	see	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	conj	_	_
11	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	12	nsubj	_	_
12	want	want	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	10	ccomp	_	_
13	to	to	PART	TO	_	14	mark	_	_
14	deceive	deceive	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	12	xcomp	_	_
15	me	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	14	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	19	punct	_	_
17	for	for	SCONJ	IN	_	19	mark	_	_
18	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	19	nsubj	_	_
19	tracked	track	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	14	advcl	_	_
20	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	19	obj	_	_
21	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	23	mark	_	_
22	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	23	nsubj	_	_
23	came	come	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	19	advcl	_	_
24	along	along	ADP	IN	_	26	case	_	_
25	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	26	det	_	_
26	path	path	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	23	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
27	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	29	punct	_	_
28	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	29	cc	_	_
29	let	let	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	ccomp	_	_
30	me	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	29	obj	_	_
31	tell	tell	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	29	xcomp	_	_
32	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Person=2|PronType=Prs	31	iobj	_	_
33	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	34	det	_	_
34	hare	hare	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	38	nsubj	_	_
35	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	38	cop	_	_
36	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	38	det	_	_
37	great	great	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	38	amod	_	_
38	friend	friend	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	31	ccomp	_	_
39	of	of	ADP	IN	_	40	case	_	_
40	mine	my	PRON	PRP	Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	38	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
41	;	;	PUNCT	,	_	44	punct	_	_
42	unfortunately	unfortunately	ADV	RB	_	44	advmod	_	_
43	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	44	nsubj	_	_
44	has	have	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	29	parataxis	_	_
45	long	long	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	46	amod	_	_
46	legs	leg	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	44	obj	_	_
47	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	49	cc	_	_
48	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	49	aux	_	_
49	run	run	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	44	conj	_	_
50	fast	fast	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	49	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
51	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	54	punct	_	_
52	whereas	whereas	SCONJ	IN	_	54	mark	_	_
53	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	54	nsubj	_	_
54	have	have	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	49	parataxis	_	_
55	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	56	det	_	_
56	legs	leg	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	54	obj	_	_
57	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	60	cc	_	_
58	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	60	aux	_	_
59	only	only	ADV	RB	_	60	advmod	_	_
60	roll	roll	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	54	conj	_	_
61	along	along	ADV	RB	_	60	advmod	_	_
62	slowly	slowly	ADV	RB	_	60	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
63	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	67	punct	_	_
64	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	67	cc	_	_
65	thus	thus	ADV	RB	_	67	advmod	_	_
66	got	get	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	67	aux:pass	_	_
67	left	leave	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	conj	_	_
68	behind	behind	ADV	RB	_	67	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
69	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
70	”	"	PUNCT	''	_	4	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | the Elephantiasis |  |  |  | then |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **see** *in a quote* | present | the Elephantiasis *= elephantiasis* |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Experiencer clause=Stimulus |
| 3 | **want** *in a quote* | present | you |  |  |  |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Pivot clause=Theme |
| 4 | **deceive** *not said to happen, in a quote* | to-infinitive | you *not said here* | the Elephantiasis *= elephantiasis* |  |  |  |  | vn trick-59.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent i=Patient |
| 5 | **track** *in a quote* | past | the Elephantiasis *= elephantiasis* | Elephantiasis |  |  |  |  | vn stalk-35.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent he=Theme |
| 6 | **come** *in a quote* | past | the Elephantiasis *= elephantiasis* |  |  | the path |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme along path=Initial\_Location |
| 7 | **let** *in a quote* | infinitive |  | the Elephantiasis *= elephantiasis* |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 8 | **tell** *speech: assert* *in a quote* | infinitive | the Elephantiasis *= elephantiasis* *not said here* |  | you |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent you=Recipient |
| 9 | **is a** *in a quote* | present | the hare | a great friend |  |  |  | of the Elephantiasis *= elephantiasis* | tree rules |
| 10 | **have** *in a quote* | present | hare | long legs |  |  |  | unfortunately *property* | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent leg=Patient |
| 11 | **run** *in a quote* | can | hare *not said here* |  |  |  |  | fast *property* | vn run-51.3.2-2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 12 | **have** *in a quote* | present | the Elephantiasis *= elephantiasis* | no legs |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent leg=Patient |
| 13 | **roll** *in a quote* | can | the Elephantiasis *= elephantiasis* *not said here* |  |  |  |  | along, slowly *property* | vn run-51.3.2-2 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 14 | **leave behind** *in a quote* | past · passive | the Elephantiasis *not said here* |  |  |  |  | behind, thus *property* | vn escape-51.1-1-1 «NP V» |

<!-- .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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