--- title: But before he did so the frog called all his company, who were very… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics description: But before he did so the frog called all his company, who were very numerous, together, and told them that he intended to try and win the bush buck’s daughter, and that he would race her father. Who acts: man, frog, company. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayr --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/21/25/) [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/pg70959/21/) / 25 # Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xxv.--how Two Bendega Young Men Changed Their Skins., part 4, sentence 25 But before he did so the frog called all his company, who were very numerous, together, and told them that he intended to try and win the bush buck’s daughter, and that he would race her father. **Who acts:** man, frog, company · **What happens:** do, call, be, tell, intend, try · **To what, where:** frog, company, animals, daughter, father · **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 4. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (man, frog, company), 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:pg70959:21:25 # text = But before he did so the frog called all his company, who were very numerous, together, and told them that he intended to try and win the bush buck’s daughter, and that he would race her father. 1 But but CCONJ CC _ 21 cc _ _ 2 before before SCONJ IN _ 4 mark _ _ 3 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 4 nsubj _ _ 4 did do VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 21 advcl _ _ 5 so so ADV RB _ 4 advmod _ _ 6 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 7 det _ _ 7 frog frog NOUN NN Number=Sing 4 obj _ _ 8 called call VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 7 acl _ _ 9 all all DET PDT PronType=Tot 11 det:predet _ _ 10 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 11 nmod:poss _ _ 11 company company NOUN NN Number=Sing 8 xcomp _ SpaceAfter=No 12 , , PUNCT , _ 16 punct _ _ 13 who who PRON WP PronType=Rel 16 nsubj _ _ 14 were be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 16 cop _ _ 15 very very ADV RB _ 16 advmod _ _ 16 numerous numerous ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 11 parataxis _ SpaceAfter=No 17 , , PUNCT , _ 18 punct _ _ 18 together together ADV RB _ 16 advmod _ SpaceAfter=No 19 , , PUNCT , _ 21 punct _ _ 20 and and CCONJ CC _ 21 cc _ _ 21 told tell VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 22 them they PRON PRP Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 21 iobj _ _ 23 that that SCONJ IN _ 25 mark _ _ 24 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 25 nsubj _ _ 25 intended intend VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 21 ccomp _ _ 26 to to PART TO _ 27 mark _ _ 27 try try VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 25 xcomp _ _ 28 and and CCONJ CC _ 29 cc _ _ 29 win win VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 27 conj _ _ 30 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 32 det _ _ 31 bush bush NOUN NN Number=Sing 32 compound _ _ 32 buck buck NOUN NN Number=Sing 34 nmod:poss _ SpaceAfter=No 33 ’s 's PART POS _ 32 case _ _ 34 daughter daughter NOUN NN Number=Sing 29 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 35 , , PUNCT , _ 40 punct _ _ 36 and and CCONJ CC _ 40 cc _ _ 37 that that SCONJ IN _ 40 mark _ _ 38 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 40 nsubj _ _ 39 would would AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 40 aux _ _ 40 race race VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 21 conj _ _ 41 her her PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 42 nmod:poss _ _ 42 father father NOUN NN Number=Sing 40 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 43 . . PUNCT . _ 21 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **do** | past | man | the frog | | | | | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent frog=Eventuality | | 2 | **call** | participle | the frog *not said here* | man's company | | | | | vn initiate\_communication-37.4.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent | | 3 | **is** | past | man's company | | | | | numerous, together *property* | tree rules | | 4 | **tell** *speech: assert* | past | | | animals *= animal* | | | | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Agent they=Recipient clause=Topic | | 5 | **intend** | past | man | | | | | | vn intend-61.2-1-1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Topic | | 6 | **try** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | man *not said here* | | | | | | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Experiencer | | 7 | **win** | infinitive | man *not said here* | the bush buck's daughter | | | | | vn succeed-74-2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent daughter=Eventuality | | 8 | **race** | would | man | DAUGHTER's father | | | | | vn run-51.3.2-2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent father=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 24](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/21/24/) - next →: [sentence 26](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/21/26/) - ↑ back to [Xxv.--how Two Bendega Young Men Changed Their Skins., part 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/21/)