---
title: So the cock said, “What you are looking for is sitting on your head;… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: So the cock said, “What you are looking for is sitting on your head; if you wave one of your arms over your head you will find what you want.” Who acts: cock, you. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Xxx.--the Game of Hide-and-seek As Played By the Hawk an
---

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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 31

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So the cock said, “What you are looking for is sitting on your head; if you wave one of your arms over your head you will find what you want.”

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**Who acts:** cock, you · **What happens:** say, look, sit, wave, find, want · **To what, where:** head, one · **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 (cock, you), 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:pg70959:23:31
# text = So the cock said, “What you are looking for is sitting on your head; if you wave one of your arms over your head you will find what you want.”
1	So	so	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	cock	cock	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
6	“	"	PUNCT	``	_	10	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	10	obl	_	_
8	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	10	nsubj	_	_
9	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	10	aux	_	_
10	looking	look	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	13	advcl	_	_
11	for	for	ADP	IN	_	10	obl	_	_
12	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	13	aux	_	_
13	sitting	sit	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	4	ccomp	_	_
14	on	on	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
15	your	your	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	16	nmod:poss	_	_
16	head	head	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	30	punct	_	_
18	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	20	mark	_	_
19	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	20	nsubj	_	_
20	wave	wave	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	30	advcl	_	_
21	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	20	obj	_	_
22	of	of	ADP	IN	_	24	case	_	_
23	your	your	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	24	nmod:poss	_	_
24	arms	arm	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	21	nmod	_	_
25	over	over	ADP	IN	_	27	case	_	_
26	your	your	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	27	nmod:poss	_	_
27	head	head	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	20	obl	_	_
28	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	30	nsubj	_	_
29	will	will	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	30	aux	_	_
30	find	find	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	conj	_	_
31	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	33	obj	_	_
32	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	33	nsubj	_	_
33	want	want	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	30	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
34	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
35	”	"	PUNCT	''	_	4	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | the cock |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **look** *in a quote* | present · progressive | you |  |  |  |  | What *obl* | vn stimulus\_subject-30.4 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Stimulus |
| 3 | **sit** *in a quote* | present · progressive |  |  |  | your head |  |  | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent on head=Location |
| 4 | **wave** *a condition, not said to happen, in a quote* | present | you | one of your arms |  | your head |  |  | vn wink-40.3.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent one=Patient |
| 5 | **find** *in a quote* | future | you |  |  |  |  |  | vn declare-29.4-1-1 «NP V what S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Theme |
| 6 | **want** *in a quote* | present | you |  |  |  |  | what *obj* | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Pivot what=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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