--- title: To this they all agreed, and cut their long tails off in order to es… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics description: To this they all agreed, and cut their long tails off in order to escape from any enemy who might try to catch them by the tail, and ever since the hares have had no tails, as when the men-hares went home they made their wives and children follow their example, telling them that it was done for thei --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/19/76/) [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/) / [Xxv.--how Two Bendega Young Men Change…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/19/) / 76 # Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xxv.--how Two Bendega Young Men Changed Their Skins., part 2, sentence 76 To this they all agreed, and cut their long tails off in order to escape from any enemy who might try to catch them by the tail, and ever since the hares have had no tails, as when the men-hares went home they made their wives and children follow their example, telling them that it was done for their good by the war ju-ju to prevent them from dying in battle. **Who acts:** men, enemy, hares, children, ju ju · **What happens:** agree, cut off, escape, try, catch, have · **To what, where:** long tails, order, enemy, men, tails, wives · **Speech:** someone speaks here 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 (men, enemy, hares, children), 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:pg70959:19:76 # text = To this they all agreed, and cut their long tails off in order to escape from any enemy who might try to catch them by the tail, and ever since the hares have had no tails, as when the men-hares went home they made their wives and children follow their example, telling them that it was done for their good by the war ju-ju to prevent them from dying in battle. 1 To to ADP IN _ 3 case _ _ 2 this this PRON DT Number=Sing|PronType=Dem 3 nsubj _ _ 3 they they PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 8 nsubj _ _ 4 all all DET DT PronType=Tot 3 det _ _ 5 agreed agree VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 4 acl _ SpaceAfter=No 6 , , PUNCT , _ 8 punct _ _ 7 and and CCONJ CC _ 8 cc _ _ 8 cut cut VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 9 their their PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 11 nmod:poss _ _ 10 long long ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 11 amod _ _ 11 tails tail NOUN NNS Number=Plur 8 obj _ _ 12 off off ADP RP _ 8 compound:prt _ _ 13 in in ADP IN _ 14 case _ _ 14 order order NOUN NN Number=Sing 8 obl _ _ 15 to to PART TO _ 16 mark _ _ 16 escape escape VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 8 advcl _ _ 17 from from ADP IN _ 19 case _ _ 18 any any DET DT PronType=Ind 19 det _ _ 19 enemy enemy NOUN NN Number=Sing 16 obl _ _ 20 who who PRON WP PronType=Rel 22 nsubj _ _ 21 might might AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 22 aux _ _ 22 try try VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 19 acl:relcl _ _ 23 to to PART TO _ 24 mark _ _ 24 catch catch VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 22 xcomp _ _ 25 them they PRON PRP Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 24 obj _ _ 26 by by ADP IN _ 28 case _ _ 27 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 28 det _ _ 28 tail tail NOUN NN Number=Sing 24 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 29 , , PUNCT , _ 36 punct _ _ 30 and and CCONJ CC _ 36 cc _ _ 31 ever ever ADV RB PronType=Ind 36 advmod _ _ 32 since since SCONJ IN _ 36 mark _ _ 33 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 34 det _ _ 34 hares hare NOUN NNS Number=Plur 36 nsubj _ _ 35 have have AUX VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 36 aux _ _ 36 had have VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part 8 parataxis _ _ 37 no no DET DT PronType=Neg 38 det _ _ 38 tails tail NOUN NNS Number=Plur 36 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 39 , , PUNCT , _ 46 punct _ _ 40 as as SCONJ IN _ 46 mark _ _ 41 when when ADV WRB PronType=Int 46 advmod _ _ 42 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 43 det _ _ 43 men man NOUN NNS Number=Plur 46 nsubj _ SpaceAfter=No 44 - - PUNCT HYPH _ 45 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 45 hares hare NOUN NNS Number=Plur 43 conj _ _ 46 went go VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 36 conj _ _ 47 home home ADV RB _ 46 advmod _ _ 48 they they PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 49 nsubj _ _ 49 made make VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 46 ccomp _ _ 50 their their PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 51 nmod:poss _ _ 51 wives wife NOUN NNS Number=Plur 49 obj _ _ 52 and and CCONJ CC _ 54 cc _ _ 53 children child NOUN NNS Number=Plur 54 nsubj _ _ 54 follow follow VERB VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 49 conj _ _ 55 their their PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 56 nmod:poss _ _ 56 example example NOUN NN Number=Sing 54 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 57 , , PUNCT , _ 58 punct _ _ 58 telling tell VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 54 advcl _ _ 59 them they PRON PRP Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 58 iobj _ _ 60 that that SCONJ IN _ 63 mark _ _ 61 it it PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 63 nsubj:pass _ _ 62 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 63 aux:pass _ _ 63 done do VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 58 advcl _ _ 64 for for ADP IN _ 66 case _ _ 65 their their PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 66 nmod:poss _ _ 66 good good ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 63 obl _ _ 67 by by ADP IN _ 72 case _ _ 68 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 72 det _ _ 69 war war NOUN NN Number=Sing 72 nsubj _ _ 70 ju ju NOUN NN Number=Sing 72 compound _ SpaceAfter=No 71 - - PUNCT HYPH _ 72 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 72 ju ju NOUN NN Number=Sing 63 obl _ _ 73 to to PART TO _ 74 mark _ _ 74 prevent prevent VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 63 advcl _ _ 75 them they PRON PRP Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 74 obj _ _ 76 from from SCONJ IN _ 77 mark _ _ 77 dying die VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 74 advcl _ _ 78 in in ADP IN _ 79 case _ _ 79 battle battle NOUN NN Number=Sing 77 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 80 . . PUNCT . _ 8 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **agree** *speech: agree* | participle | | | | | | | vn correspond-36.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent | | 2 | **cut off** | past | men *= man* | men's long tails | | order | | | vn stop-55.4-1 «NP V NP.eventuality»: agent=Affector tail=Eventuality | | 3 | **escape** | to-infinitive | men *= man* *not said here* | | | any enemy | | | vn escape-51.1-1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme from enemy=Initial\_Location | | 4 | **try** | might | any enemy | | | | | | vn try-61.1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality | | 5 | **catch** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | any enemy *not said here* | men *= man* | | | | by the tail | vn get-13.5.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent they=Theme | | 6 | **have** | present · perfect | the hares | no tails | | | ever | | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent tail=Patient | | 7 | **go** | past | the men and hares | | | | | home *property* | vn say-37.7 «NP V S-Quote»: agent=Agent clause=Topic | | 8 | **make** | past | men *= man* | men's wives | | | | | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset wife=Product | | 9 | **follow** | present | children | men's example | | | | | vn chase-51.6 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent example=Theme | | 10 | **tell** *speech: assert* | gerund | children *not said here* | | men *= man* | | | | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent they=Recipient | | 11 | **do** | past · passive | the ju ju war | tail | | | | for men's good | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=Eventuality | | 12 | **prevent** | to-infinitive | the ju ju war *not said here* | men *= man* | | | | | vn forbid-64.4-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Causer they=Theme | | 13 | **die** | gerund | the ju ju war *not said here* | | | | | in battle | vn calibratable\_cos-45.6.1 «NP.patient V PP.attribute»: agent=Patient in battle=Attribute | | 14 | **exemplify** | | men *= man* | | | | | | nom example «cognition transitive»: poss=agent | 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 75](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/19/75/) - next →: [sentence 77](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/19/77/) - ↑ back to [Xxv.--how Two Bendega Young Men Changed Their Skins., part 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/19/)