--- title: He tried to explain that he had left the meat before the fire when h… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics description: He tried to explain that he had left the meat before the fire when he went to bed, but the hare got up at once and said, “Do not believe him, most likely he has sold the meat to get some money. Who acts: Keroho, hare. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Ii --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/4/28/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [tales](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/) / [Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/) / [Ii.--the Cunning Hare; Or, Why the Tor…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/4/) / 28 # Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Ii.--the Cunning Hare; Or, Why the Tortoise Has a Patched Shell., sentence 28 He tried to explain that he had left the meat before the fire when he went to bed, but the hare got up at once and said, “Do not believe him, most likely he has sold the meat to get some money. **Who acts:** Keroho, hare · **What happens:** try, explain, leave, go, get up, say · **To what, where:** meat, fire, bed, Keroho, money · **Speech:** someone speaks here 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 (Keroho, hare), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree. **Mova's own parse.** This tree may be wrong. ## The tree {#tree} ```conllu # sent_id = book:pg70959:4:28 # text = He tried to explain that he had left the meat before the fire when he went to bed, but the hare got up at once and said, “Do not believe him, most likely he has sold the meat to get some money. 1 He he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 2 nsubj _ _ 2 tried try VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 3 to to PART TO _ 4 mark _ _ 4 explain explain VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 2 xcomp _ _ 5 that that SCONJ IN _ 8 mark _ _ 6 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 8 nsubj _ _ 7 had have AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 8 aux _ _ 8 left leave VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part 4 ccomp _ _ 9 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 10 det _ _ 10 meat meat NOUN NN Number=Sing 8 obj _ _ 11 before before ADP IN _ 13 case _ _ 12 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 13 det _ _ 13 fire fire NOUN NN Number=Sing 8 obl _ _ 14 when when ADV WRB PronType=Int 16 advmod _ _ 15 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 16 nsubj _ _ 16 went go VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 8 advcl _ _ 17 to to ADP IN _ 18 case _ _ 18 bed bed NOUN NN Number=Sing 16 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 19 , , PUNCT , _ 23 punct _ _ 20 but but CCONJ CC _ 23 cc _ _ 21 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 22 det _ _ 22 hare hare NOUN NN Number=Sing 23 nsubj _ _ 23 got get VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 2 parataxis _ _ 24 up up ADP RP _ 23 compound:prt _ _ 25 at at ADP IN _ 26 case _ _ 26 once once ADV RB NumForm=Word|NumType=Mult 23 obl _ _ 27 and and CCONJ CC _ 28 cc _ _ 28 said say VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 23 conj _ SpaceAfter=No 29 , , PUNCT , _ 33 punct _ _ 30 “ " PUNCT `` _ 33 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 31 Do do AUX VB Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin 33 aux _ _ 32 not not PART RB Polarity=Neg 33 advmod _ _ 33 believe believe VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 28 ccomp _ _ 34 him he PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 33 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 35 , , PUNCT , _ 40 punct _ _ 36 most most ADV RBS Degree=Sup 37 advmod _ _ 37 likely likely ADV RB _ 40 advmod _ _ 38 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 40 nsubj _ _ 39 has have AUX VBZ Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 40 aux _ _ 40 sold sell VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part 33 parataxis _ _ 41 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 42 det _ _ 42 meat meat NOUN NN Number=Sing 40 obj _ _ 43 to to PART TO _ 44 mark _ _ 44 get get VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 40 advcl _ _ 45 some some DET DT PronType=Ind 46 det _ _ 46 money money NOUN NN Number=Sing 44 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 47 . . PUNCT . _ 2 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **try** | past | Keroho | | | | | | vn try-61.1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality | | 2 | **explain** *speech: assert* *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | Keroho *not said here* | | | | | | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic | | 3 | **leave** | past · perfect | Keroho | the meat | | the fire | | | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP PP.location»: agent=Agent meat=Theme before fire=Location | | 4 | **go** | past | Keroho | | | bed | | | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme to bed=Initial\_Location | | 5 | **get up** | past | the hare | | | | | | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Experiencer | | 6 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | the hare *not said here* | | | | | | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic | | 7 | **not** **believe** *in a quote* | infinitive · do-support | | Keroho | | | | | vn admire-31.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer he=Stimulus | | 8 | **sell** *in a quote* | present · perfect | Keroho | the meat | | | | likely *property* | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent meat=Theme | | 9 | **get** *in a quote* | to-infinitive | Keroho *not said here* | some money | | | | | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer money=Stimulus | 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. **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. - ← previous: [sentence 27](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/4/27/) - next →: [sentence 29](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/4/29/) - ↑ back to [Ii.--the Cunning Hare; Or, Why the Tortoise Has a Patched Shell.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/4/)