---
title: So the tortoise, not liking the idea of being swallowed by the pytho… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: So the tortoise, not liking the idea of being swallowed by the python, passed along as the other animals had done. Who acts: tortoise, python. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Xxix.--why a Python Never Swallows a Tortoise., with its dependency tree and 
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xxix.--why a Python Never Swallows a Tortoise., sentence 17

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So the tortoise, not liking the idea of being swallowed by the python, passed along as the other animals had done.

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**Who acts:** tortoise, python · **What happens:** not like, swallow, pass along, do · **To what, where:** idea, python, other animals, tortoise

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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 (tortoise, python), 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:pg70959:22:17
# text = So the tortoise, not liking the idea of being swallowed by the python, passed along as the other animals had done.
1	So	so	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	tortoise	tortoise	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	6	punct	_	_
5	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	6	advmod	_	_
6	liking	like	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	3	acl	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	idea	idea	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	_
9	of	of	SCONJ	IN	_	11	mark	_	_
10	being	be	AUX	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	11	aux:pass	_	_
11	swallowed	swallow	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	8	acl	_	_
12	by	by	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	python	python	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	16	punct	_	_
16	passed	pass	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	14	acl	_	_
17	along	along	ADV	RB	_	16	advmod	_	_
18	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	23	mark	_	_
19	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	21	det	_	_
20	other	other	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	21	amod	_	_
21	animals	animal	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	23	nsubj:pass	_	_
22	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	23	aux	_	_
23	done	do	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	16	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
24	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **like** | gerund | the tortoise *not said here* | the idea |  |  |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Pivot idea=Theme |
| 2 | **swallow** | gerund · passive | the python | the idea *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn hiccup-40.1.1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **pass along** | participle |  | the python *not said here* |  |  |  | along *property* | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 4 | **do** | past · perfect · passive |  | the other animals |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Eventuality |

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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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