---
title: The python would not allow her to go so far as the farm, as he told… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: The python would not allow her to go so far as the farm, as he told her she was such a fine girl that if the other pythons saw her they would certainly be so envious of him that they might kill him in order to get her for themselves. Who acts: python, Ndere, other pythons, farm. A sentence of «Ikom 
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xxxi.--chief Kekong’s Daughter ’ndere Who Married a Python., part 1, sentence 76

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The python would not allow her to go so far as the farm, as he told her she was such a fine girl that if the other pythons saw her they would certainly be so envious of him that they might kill him in order to get her for themselves.

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**Who acts:** python, Ndere, other pythons, farm · **What happens:** not allow, go, tell, be, see, kill · **To what, where:** Ndere, fine girl, python · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is a sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Xxxi.--chief Kekong’s Daughter ’ndere Who Married a Python., part 1. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (python, Ndere, other pythons, farm), 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:pg70959:24:76
# text = The python would not allow her to go so far as the farm, as he told her she was such a fine girl that if the other pythons saw her they would certainly be so envious of him that they might kill him in order to get her for themselves.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	python	python	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
3	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
4	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	5	advmod	_	_
5	allow	allow	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
6	her	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	iobj	_	_
7	to	to	PART	TO	_	8	mark	_	_
8	go	go	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	xcomp	_	_
9	so	so	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	_
10	far	far	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	8	advmod	_	_
11	as	as	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	farm	farm	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	17	punct	_	_
15	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	17	mark	_	_
16	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	17	nsubj	_	_
17	told	tell	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	parataxis	_	_
18	her	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	17	iobj	_	_
19	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	24	nsubj	_	_
20	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	24	cop	_	_
21	such	such	DET	PDT	PronType=Ind	24	det:predet	_	_
22	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	24	det	_	_
23	fine	fine	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	24	amod	_	_
24	girl	girl	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	ccomp	_	_
25	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	30	obj	_	_
26	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	30	mark	_	_
27	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	29	det	_	_
28	other	other	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	29	amod	_	_
29	pythons	python	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	30	nsubj	_	_
30	saw	see	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	24	acl:relcl	_	_
31	her	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	30	obj	_	_
32	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	37	nsubj	_	_
33	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	37	aux	_	_
34	certainly	certainly	ADV	RB	_	37	advmod	_	_
35	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	37	cop	_	_
36	so	so	ADV	RB	_	37	advmod	_	_
37	envious	envious	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	30	ccomp	_	_
38	of	of	ADP	IN	_	39	case	_	_
39	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	37	obl	_	_
40	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	43	mark	_	_
41	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	43	nsubj	_	_
42	might	might	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	43	aux	_	_
43	kill	kill	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	37	advcl	_	_
44	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	43	obj	_	_
45	in	in	SCONJ	IN	ExtPos=SCONJ	48	mark	_	_
46	order	order	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	45	fixed	_	_
47	to	to	PART	TO	_	48	mark	_	_
48	get	get	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	43	advcl	_	_
49	her	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	48	obj	_	_
50	for	for	ADP	IN	_	51	case	_	_
51	themselves	themselves	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes	48	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
52	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **allow** | would | the python |  | Ndere |  |  |  | vn allow-64.1-1 «NP V NP S»: agent=Causer she=Beneficiary clause=Eventuality |
| 2 | **go** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | the python *not said here* |  |  |  |  | far *property* | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 3 | **tell** *speech: assert* | past | python |  | Ndere |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent she=Recipient |
| 4 | **is a** | past | Ndere | such fine girl |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 5 | **see** *a condition, not said to happen* | past | the other pythons | such fine girl |  |  |  | Ndere *obj* | tree rules |
| 6 | **is** | would | farm |  |  |  |  | of python; certainly, envious *property* | tree rules |
| 7 | **kill** | might | farm | python |  |  |  |  | vn remove-10.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent he=Theme |
| 8 | **get** | to-infinitive | farm *not said here* | Ndere |  |  |  | for farm | vn get-13.5.1-1 «NP V NP PP.source»: agent=Agent she=Theme for themselves=Source |

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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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