---
title: The spider went across the river, spinning his web as he went, and t… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: The spider went across the river, spinning his web as he went, and then returned to the side where the people were standing. Who acts: spider, people. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Xxxi.--chief Kekong’s Daughter ’ndere Who Married a Python., part 3, 
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xxxi.--chief Kekong’s Daughter ’ndere Who Married a Python., part 3, sentence 46

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The spider went across the river, spinning his web as he went, and then returned to the side where the people were standing.

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**Who acts:** spider, people · **What happens:** go, spin, return, stand · **To what, where:** river, web

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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 3. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (spider, people), 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:pg70959:26:46
# text = The spider went across the river, spinning his web as he went, and then returned to the side where the people were standing.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	spider	spider	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	went	go	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	across	across	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	river	river	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
8	spinning	spin	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	3	advcl	_	_
9	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	10	nmod:poss	_	_
10	web	web	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
11	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	13	mark	_	_
12	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	13	nsubj	_	_
13	went	go	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	8	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	17	punct	_	_
15	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	17	cc	_	_
16	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	17	advmod	_	_
17	returned	return	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
18	to	to	ADP	IN	_	20	case	_	_
19	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	20	det	_	_
20	side	side	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	obl	_	_
21	where	where	ADV	WRB	PronType=Rel	25	advmod	_	_
22	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	23	det	_	_
23	people	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	25	nsubj	_	_
24	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	25	aux	_	_
25	standing	stand	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	20	acl:relcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
26	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **go** | past | the spider |  |  | the river |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme across river=Initial\_Location |
| 2 | **spin** | gerund | the spider *not said here* | spider's web |  |  |  |  | vn roll-51.3.1 «NP V NP.theme»: agent=Agent web=Theme |
| 3 | **go** | past | spider |  |  |  |  |  | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 4 | **return** | past | the spider *not said here* |  |  |  | then | to the side *result* | vn convert-26.6.2-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Patient to side=Result |
| 5 | **stand** | past · progressive | the people |  |  |  |  |  | vn assuming\_position-50 «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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