---
title: As the bush cow went through the town he saw several different birds… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: As the bush cow went through the town he saw several different birds, and asked each of them as he passed whether they had seen the hawk about anywhere, but although they could all see the hawk perched on the bush cow’s horns, no one answered him. Who acts: bush cow, antelope, hawks, one. A sentence
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xxx.--the Game of Hide-and-seek As Played By the Hawk and the Bush Cow., sentence 26

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As the bush cow went through the town he saw several different birds, and asked each of them as he passed whether they had seen the hawk about anywhere, but although they could all see the hawk perched on the bush cow’s horns, no one answered him.

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**Who acts:** bush cow, antelope, hawks, one · **What happens:** go, see, ask, pass, perch, answer · **To what, where:** town, several different birds, each, hawk, horns, antelope · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is a sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Xxx.--the Game of Hide-and-seek As Played By the Hawk and the Bush Cow.. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (bush cow, antelope, hawks, one), 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:pg70959:23:26
# text = As the bush cow went through the town he saw several different birds, and asked each of them as he passed whether they had seen the hawk about anywhere, but although they could all see the hawk perched on the bush cow’s horns, no one answered him.
1	As	as	SCONJ	IN	_	5	mark	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	bush	bush	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	compound	_	_
4	cow	cow	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
5	went	go	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	10	advcl	_	_
6	through	through	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	town	town	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
9	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	nsubj	_	_
10	saw	see	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
11	several	several	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	13	amod	_	_
12	different	different	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	13	amod	_	_
13	birds	bird	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	16	punct	_	_
15	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	16	cc	_	_
16	asked	ask	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	10	conj	_	_
17	each	each	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	16	obj	_	_
18	of	of	ADP	IN	_	19	case	_	_
19	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	17	nmod	_	_
20	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	22	mark	_	_
21	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	22	nsubj	_	_
22	passed	pass	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	16	ccomp	_	_
23	whether	whether	SCONJ	IN	_	26	mark	_	_
24	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	26	nsubj	_	_
25	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	26	aux	_	_
26	seen	see	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	22	ccomp	_	_
27	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	28	det	_	_
28	hawk	hawk	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	26	obj	_	_
29	about	about	ADP	IN	_	30	case	_	_
30	anywhere	anywhere	ADV	RB	PronType=Ind	26	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
31	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	50	punct	_	_
32	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	50	cc	_	_
33	although	although	SCONJ	IN	_	37	mark	_	_
34	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	37	nsubj	_	_
35	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	37	aux	_	_
36	all	all	ADV	RB	_	37	advmod	_	_
37	see	see	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	50	advcl	_	_
38	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	39	det	_	_
39	hawk	hawk	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	37	obj	_	_
40	perched	perch	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	39	acl	_	_
41	on	on	ADP	IN	_	46	case	_	_
42	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	44	det	_	_
43	bush	bush	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	44	compound	_	_
44	cow	cow	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	46	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
45	’s	's	PART	POS	_	44	case	_	_
46	horns	horn	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	40	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
47	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	50	punct	_	_
48	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	49	det	_	_
49	one	one	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	50	nsubj	_	_
50	answered	answer	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	10	parataxis	_	_
51	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	50	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
52	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	10	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **go** | past | the bush cow |  |  | the town |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme through town=Initial\_Location |
| 2 | **see** | past | antelope | several different birds |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer bird=Stimulus |
| 3 | **ask** *speech: ask* | past | antelope *not said here* | each of hawks |  |  |  |  | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V NP whether S»: agent=Agent each=Recipient clause=Topic |
| 4 | **pass** | past | antelope |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 5 | **see** | past · perfect | hawks *= hawk* | the hawk |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer hawk=Stimulus |
| 6 | **see** | could | hawks *= hawk* | the hawk |  |  |  | all *property* | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer hawk=Stimulus |
| 7 | **perch** | participle |  | the hawk *not said here* |  | the bush cow's horns |  |  | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent on horn=Location |
| 8 | **answer** *speech: assert* | past | no one |  | antelope |  |  |  | vn reciprocate-112-1 «NP V PP»: agent=Agent he=Eventuality |

<!-- .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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