---
title: Now in Chief Kaku’s country there was a stream full of cat-fish (Akp… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: Now in Chief Kaku’s country there was a stream full of cat-fish (Akpambi), but no one ever caught them, and when the people went to the stream to get water the fish would look at them without any fear. ’ Who acts: one, people, fish. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinst
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xxxi.--chief Kekong’s Daughter ’ndere Who Married a Python., part 2, sentence 11

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Now in Chief Kaku’s country there was a stream full of cat-fish (Akpambi), but no one ever caught them, and when the people went to the stream to get water the fish would look at them without any fear. ’

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**Who acts:** one, people, fish · **What happens:** be, go, get, look · **To what, where:** stream, water

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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 2. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (one, people, fish), 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:pg70959:25:11
# text = Now in Chief Kaku’s country there was a stream full of cat-fish (Akpambi), but no one ever caught them, and when the people went to the stream to get water the fish would look at them without any fear. ’
1	Now	now	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	8	advmod	_	_
2	in	in	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
3	Chief	Chief	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	6	nmod:poss	_	_
4	Kaku	Kaku	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	flat	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	’s	's	PART	POS	_	3	case	_	_
6	country	country	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	_
7	there	there	PRON	EX	PronType=Dem	8	expl	_	_
8	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	24	cop	_	_
9	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	stream	stream	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
11	full	full	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
12	of	of	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
13	cat	cat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	13	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	fish	fish	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obl	_	_
16	(	(	PUNCT	-LRB-	_	17	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	Akpambi	Akpambi	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	15	appos	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	)	)	PUNCT	-RRB-	_	17	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	24	punct	_	_
20	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	24	cc	_	_
21	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	22	det	_	_
22	one	one	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	24	nsubj	_	_
23	ever	ever	ADV	RB	PronType=Ind	24	advmod	_	_
24	caught	catch	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
25	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	24	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
26	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	31	punct	_	_
27	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	31	cc	_	_
28	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	31	advmod	_	_
29	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	30	det	_	_
30	people	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	31	nsubj	_	_
31	went	go	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	24	conj	_	_
32	to	to	ADP	IN	_	34	case	_	_
33	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	34	det	_	_
34	stream	stream	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	31	obl	_	_
35	to	to	PART	TO	_	36	mark	_	_
36	get	get	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	31	advcl	_	_
37	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	36	obj	_	_
38	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	39	det	_	_
39	fish	fish	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	41	nsubj	_	_
40	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	41	aux	_	_
41	look	look	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	36	conj	_	_
42	at	at	ADP	IN	_	43	case	_	_
43	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	41	obl	_	_
44	without	without	ADP	IN	_	46	case	_	_
45	any	any	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	46	det	_	_
46	fear	fear	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	41	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
47	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	24	punct	_	_
48	’	'	PUNCT	''	_	24	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | no one |  |  |  | ever | people *obj*; catch *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **go** | past | the people |  |  | the stream |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme to stream=Initial\_Location |
| 3 | **get** | to-infinitive | the people *not said here* | water |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer water=Stimulus |
| 4 | **look** | would | the fish |  |  |  |  | at people; without any fear | vn peer-30.3 «NP V PP.theme»: agent=Agent at they=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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