---
title: When she had shaken the string of snail shells, the python soon appe… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: When she had shaken the string of snail shells, the python soon appeared, and the men who were ready sprang up, whereupon ’Ndere ran away, in order to deceive her husband. Who acts: Ndere, python, men. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Xxxi.--chief Kekon
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xxxi.--chief Kekong’s Daughter ’ndere Who Married a Python., part 2, sentence 3

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When she had shaken the string of snail shells, the python soon appeared, and the men who were ready sprang up, whereupon ’Ndere ran away, in order to deceive her husband.

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**Who acts:** Ndere, python, men · **What happens:** shake, appear, be, spring up, run away, deceive · **To what, where:** string, husband

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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 (Ndere, python, men), 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:pg70959:25:3
# text = When she had shaken the string of snail shells, the python soon appeared, and the men who were ready sprang up, whereupon ’Ndere ran away, in order to deceive her husband.
1	When	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	4	advmod	_	_
2	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
3	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	shaken	shake	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	string	string	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
7	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	snail	snail	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	compound	_	_
9	shells	shell	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	python	python	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	nsubj	_	_
13	soon	soon	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	14	advmod	_	_
14	appeared	appear	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	28	punct	_	_
16	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	28	cc	_	_
17	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
18	men	man	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	28	nsubj	_	_
19	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	21	nsubj	_	_
20	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	21	cop	_	_
21	ready	ready	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	18	acl:relcl	_	_
22	sprang	spring	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	21	xcomp	_	_
23	up	up	ADP	RP	_	22	compound:prt	_	SpaceAfter=No
24	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	28	punct	_	_
25	whereupon	whereupon	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	28	advmod	_	_
26	’	'	PUNCT	``	_	28	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
27	Ndere	Ndere	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	28	nsubj	_	_
28	ran	run	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	14	advcl	_	_
29	away	away	ADV	RB	_	28	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
30	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	34	punct	_	_
31	in	in	SCONJ	IN	ExtPos=SCONJ	34	mark	_	_
32	order	order	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	31	fixed	_	_
33	to	to	PART	TO	_	34	mark	_	_
34	deceive	deceive	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	28	conj	_	_
35	her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	36	nmod:poss	_	_
36	husband	husband	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	34	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
37	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **shake** | past · perfect | Ndere | the string of snail shells |  |  |  |  | vn shake-22.3-2 «NP V NP together»: agent=Agent string=Patient |
| 2 | **appear** | past | the python |  |  |  |  | soon *property* | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 3 | **is** | past | the men |  |  |  |  | ready *property* | tree rules |
| 4 | **spring up** | participle | the men *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 5 | **run away** | past | the men |  |  |  |  | Ndere *nsubj*; away, whereupon *property* | vn run-51.3.2-2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 6 | **deceive** | to-infinitive | the men *not said here* | Ndere's husband |  |  |  |  | vn trick-59.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent husband=Patient |

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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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