---
title: When the animals heard this they were frightened, and although they… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: When the animals heard this they were frightened, and although they were very hungry, they passed on and left the fruit untouched. Who acts: animals. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Xxix.--why a Python Never Swallows a Tortoise., with its dependency tr
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xxix.--why a Python Never Swallows a Tortoise., sentence 14

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When the animals heard this they were frightened, and although they were very hungry, they passed on and left the fruit untouched.

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**Who acts:** animals · **What happens:** hear, frighten, be, pass on, leave · **To what, where:** this, animals, fruit

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This is a sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Xxix.--why a Python Never Swallows a Tortoise.. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (animals), 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:pg70959:22:14
# text = When the animals heard this they were frightened, and although they were very hungry, they passed on and left the fruit untouched.
1	When	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	4	advmod	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	animals	animal	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
4	heard	hear	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	18	advcl	_	_
5	this	this	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	4	obj	_	_
6	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj:pass	_	_
7	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	8	aux:pass	_	_
8	frightened	frighten	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	parataxis	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	15	punct	_	_
10	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	15	cc	_	_
11	although	although	SCONJ	IN	_	15	mark	_	_
12	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	15	nsubj	_	_
13	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	15	cop	_	_
14	very	very	ADV	RB	_	15	advmod	_	_
15	hungry	hungry	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	4	punct	_	_
17	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	18	nsubj	_	_
18	passed	pass	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
19	on	on	ADP	RP	_	18	compound:prt	_	_
20	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	21	cc	_	_
21	left	leave	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	18	conj	_	_
22	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	23	det	_	_
23	fruit	fruit	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	21	obj	_	_
24	untouched	untouched	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	21	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
25	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	18	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **hear** | past | the animals | this |  |  |  |  | vn see-30.1-1-1 «NP V S»: agent=Experiencer this=Stimulus |
| 2 | **frighten** | past · passive |  | animals *= animal* |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: subject=Experiencer |
| 3 | **is** | past | animals *= animal* |  |  |  |  | hungry *property* | tree rules |
| 4 | **pass on** | past | animals *= animal* |  |  |  |  |  | vn send-11.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 5 | **leave** | past | animals *= animal* *not said here* | the fruit |  |  |  | untouched *property* | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent fruit=Theme |

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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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