---
title: The hunters were never able to kill him, because when they saw him,… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: The hunters were never able to kill him, because when they saw him, which was very seldom, it would be when he went to a pool to drink; then they would wait for the antelope to put his head down to the water, but this he never did, as he drank through small holes in his feet. Who acts: hunters, king
---

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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 4

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The hunters were never able to kill him, because when they saw him, which was very seldom, it would be when he went to a pool to drink; then they would wait for the antelope to put his head down to the water, but this he never did, as he drank through small holes in his feet.

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**Who acts:** hunters, king, this · **What happens:** not be, kill, see, be, drink, wait · **To what, where:** king, head, small holes

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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 (hunters, king, this), 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:pg70959:23:4
# text = The hunters were never able to kill him, because when they saw him, which was very seldom, it would be when he went to a pool to drink; then they would wait for the antelope to put his head down to the water, but this he never did, as he drank through small holes in his feet.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	hunters	hunter	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
3	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
4	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	5	advmod	_	_
5	able	able	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
7	kill	kill	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	xcomp	_	_
8	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
10	because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	13	mark	_	_
11	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	13	advmod	_	_
12	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	13	nsubj	_	_
13	saw	see	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	conj	_	_
14	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	13	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	19	punct	_	_
16	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	19	nsubj	_	_
17	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	19	cop	_	_
18	very	very	ADV	RB	_	19	advmod	_	_
19	seldom	seldom	ADV	RB	_	13	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	22	punct	_	_
21	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	22	nsubj	_	_
22	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	19	advcl	_	_
23	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	26	cop	_	_
24	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	26	advmod	_	_
25	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	26	nsubj	_	_
26	went	go	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	22	conj	_	_
27	to	to	ADP	IN	_	29	case	_	_
28	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	29	det	_	_
29	pool	pool	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	26	obl	_	_
30	to	to	PART	TO	_	31	mark	_	_
31	drink	drink	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	26	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
32	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	36	punct	_	_
33	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	36	advmod	_	_
34	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	36	nsubj	_	_
35	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	36	aux	_	_
36	wait	wait	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	parataxis	_	_
37	for	for	ADP	IN	_	39	case	_	_
38	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	39	det	_	_
39	antelope	antelope	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	36	obl	_	_
40	to	to	PART	TO	_	41	mark	_	_
41	put	put	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	36	advcl	_	_
42	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	43	nmod:poss	_	_
43	head	head	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	41	obj	_	_
44	down	down	ADV	RB	_	41	advmod	_	_
45	to	to	ADP	IN	_	47	case	_	_
46	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	47	det	_	_
47	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	41	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
48	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	53	punct	_	_
49	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	53	cc	_	_
50	this	this	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	53	nsubj	_	_
51	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	53	nsubj	_	_
52	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	53	advmod	_	_
53	did	do	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	36	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
54	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	57	punct	_	_
55	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	57	mark	_	_
56	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	57	nsubj	_	_
57	drank	drink	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	36	conj	_	_
58	through	through	ADP	IN	_	60	case	_	_
59	small	small	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	60	amod	_	_
60	holes	hole	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	57	obl	_	_
61	in	in	ADP	IN	_	63	case	_	_
62	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	63	nmod:poss	_	_
63	feet	foot	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	57	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
64	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **is** | past | the hunters |  |  |  |  | able *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **kill** | to-infinitive | the hunters *not said here* | king |  |  |  |  | vn remove-10.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent he=Theme |
| 3 | **see** | past | hunters *= hunter* | king |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer he=Stimulus |
| 4 | **is** | past |  |  |  |  |  | which *nsubj*; seldom *property* | tree rules |
| 5 | **is** | infinitive | king |  |  |  |  | to a pool; go *property* | tree rules |
| 6 | **drink** | to-infinitive | king *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 7 | **wait** | would | hunters *= hunter* |  |  |  | then | for the antelope | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 8 | **put down** | to-infinitive | hunters *= hunter* *not said here* | king's head |  |  |  | to the water; down *property* | vn invest-13.5.4-1 «NP V PP»: agent=Agent head=Goal |
| 9 | **not** **do** | past | this |  |  |  |  | king *nsubj* | vn act-114-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 10 | **drink** | past | king |  |  | small holes |  | in king's feet | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

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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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