---
title: This happened for three days in succession, until the mushroom boy b… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: This happened for three days in succession, until the mushroom boy became so hungry that he determined to go back to the forest where he came from, and turn himself back into a mushroom again. Who acts: This, mushroom boy, boy. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone D
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Ii.--the Cunning Hare; Or, Why the Tortoise Has a Patched Shell., sentence 106

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This happened for three days in succession, until the mushroom boy became so hungry that he determined to go back to the forest where he came from, and turn himself back into a mushroom again.

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**Who acts:** This, mushroom boy, boy · **What happens:** happen, become, determine, go back, come, turn back · **To what, where:** succession, boy, mushroom

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This is a sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Ii.--the Cunning Hare; Or, Why the Tortoise Has a Patched Shell.. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (This, mushroom boy, boy), 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:pg70959:4:107
# text = This happened for three days in succession, until the mushroom boy became so hungry that he determined to go back to the forest where he came from, and turn himself back into a mushroom again.
1	This	this	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	2	nsubj	_	_
2	happened	happen	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	for	for	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	three	three	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	5	nummod	_	_
5	days	day	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obl	_	_
6	in	in	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	succession	succession	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
9	until	until	SCONJ	IN	_	13	mark	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
11	mushroom	mushroom	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	compound	_	_
12	boy	boy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	nsubj	_	_
13	became	become	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	parataxis	_	_
14	so	so	ADV	RB	_	15	advmod	_	_
15	hungry	hungry	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	13	xcomp	_	_
16	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	18	mark	_	_
17	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	18	nsubj	_	_
18	determined	determine	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	15	advcl	_	_
19	to	to	PART	TO	_	20	mark	_	_
20	go	go	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	18	xcomp	_	_
21	back	back	ADV	RB	_	20	advmod	_	_
22	to	to	ADP	IN	_	24	case	_	_
23	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	24	det	_	_
24	forest	forest	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	20	obl	_	_
25	where	where	ADV	WRB	PronType=Rel	27	advmod	_	_
26	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	27	nsubj	_	_
27	came	come	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	24	acl:relcl	_	_
28	from	from	ADP	IN	_	27	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
29	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	31	punct	_	_
30	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	31	cc	_	_
31	turn	turn	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	13	conj	_	_
32	himself	himself	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes	31	obj	_	_
33	back	back	ADV	RB	_	31	advmod	_	_
34	into	into	ADP	IN	_	36	case	_	_
35	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	36	det	_	_
36	mushroom	mushroom	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	31	obl	_	_
37	again	again	ADV	RB	_	31	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
38	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **happen** | past | This |  |  | succession | day |  | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V PP»: agent=Theme in succession=Location |
| 2 | **become** | past | the mushroom boy |  |  |  |  | hungry *property* | vn become-109.1-1-1 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Patient |
| 3 | **determine** | past | boy |  |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V how S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 4 | **go back** | to-infinitive | boy *not said here* |  |  |  |  | to the forest *result* | vn convert-26.6.2 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Patient to forest=Result |
| 5 | **come** | past | boy |  |  |  |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 6 | **turn back** | infinitive | the mushroom boy *not said here* | boy |  | a mushroom | again |  | vn banish-10.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent himself=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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