---
title: This antelope was appointed king because he was so cunning, and alwa… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: This antelope was appointed king because he was so cunning, and always knew when danger was near, having a very fine sense of smell and keen eyesight. Who acts: antelope, danger. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Xxx.--the Game of Hide-and-seek As Played
---

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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 3

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This antelope was appointed king because he was so cunning, and always knew when danger was near, having a very fine sense of smell and keen eyesight.

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**Who acts:** antelope, danger · **What happens:** appoint, be, know, have, sense · **To what, where:** antelope, fine sense, smell

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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 (antelope, danger), 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:pg70959:23:3
# text = This antelope was appointed king because he was so cunning, and always knew when danger was near, having a very fine sense of smell and keen eyesight.
1	This	this	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	2	det	_	_
2	antelope	antelope	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	appointed	appoint	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	king	king	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
6	because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	10	mark	_	_
7	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	nsubj	_	_
8	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	10	cop	_	_
9	so	so	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	_
10	cunning	cunning	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
12	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	14	cc	_	_
13	always	always	ADV	RB	PronType=Tot	14	advmod	_	_
14	knew	know	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	parataxis	_	_
15	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	18	advmod	_	_
16	danger	danger	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	nsubj	_	_
17	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	18	cop	_	_
18	near	near	ADV	RB	_	14	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	20	punct	_	_
20	having	have	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	14	parataxis	_	_
21	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	24	det	_	_
22	very	very	ADV	RB	_	23	advmod	_	_
23	fine	fine	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	24	amod	_	_
24	sense	sense	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	20	obj	_	_
25	of	of	ADP	IN	_	26	case	_	_
26	smell	smell	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	24	nmod	_	_
27	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	29	cc	_	_
28	keen	keen	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	29	amod	_	_
29	eyesight	eyesight	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	26	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
30	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **appoint** | past · passive |  | this antelope |  |  |  | king *obj* | vn appoint-29.1 «NP V NP NP»: subject=Theme king=Attribute |
| 2 | **is** | past | antelope |  |  |  |  | cunning *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **know** | past |  |  |  |  |  | always *property* | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer |
| 4 | **is** | past | danger |  |  |  |  | near *property* | tree rules |
| 5 | **have** | gerund |  | a fine sense of smell and keen eyesight |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent sense=Patient |
| 6 | **sense** |  |  | smell and keen eyesight |  |  |  |  | nom sense «cognition transitive»: of=patient |

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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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