---
title: The eagle was elected king of the birds because he lived higher up i… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: The eagle was elected king of the birds because he lived higher up in the air than any of the other birds, and could thus direct them better. Who acts: king. 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 
---

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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 6

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The eagle was elected king of the birds because he lived higher up in the air than any of the other birds, and could thus direct them better.

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**Who acts:** king · **What happens:** elect, live, direct · **To what, where:** eagle, air, eagles

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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 (king), 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:pg70959:23:6
# text = The eagle was elected king of the birds because he lived higher up in the air than any of the other birds, and could thus direct them better.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	eagle	eagle	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	elected	elect	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	king	king	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	xcomp	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	birds	bird	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nmod	_	_
9	because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	11	mark	_	_
10	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	11	nsubj	_	_
11	lived	live	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	advcl	_	_
12	higher	high	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	13	advmod	_	_
13	up	up	ADV	RB	_	11	advmod	_	_
14	in	in	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
15	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
16	air	air	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obl	_	_
17	than	than	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
18	any	any	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	16	nmod	_	_
19	of	of	ADP	IN	_	22	case	_	_
20	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	22	det	_	_
21	other	other	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	22	amod	_	_
22	birds	bird	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	18	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	27	punct	_	_
24	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	27	cc	_	_
25	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	27	aux	_	_
26	thus	thus	ADV	RB	_	27	advmod	_	_
27	direct	direct	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	4	parataxis	_	_
28	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	27	obj	_	_
29	better	good	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	27	xcomp	_	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 | **elect** | past · passive |  | the eagle |  |  |  | king of the birds *xcomp* | vn appoint-29.1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |
| 2 | **live** | past | king |  |  | the air than any of the other birds |  |  | vn lodge-46 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme in air=Location |
| 3 | **direct** | could |  | eagles *= eagle* |  |  |  | good, thus *property* | vn supervision-95.2.2-1 «NP V NP.predicate»: agent=Agent they=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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