--- title: A law was also passed, at the hare’s suggestion, that a piece of gro… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics description: A law was also passed, at the hare’s suggestion, that a piece of ground at the roadside should be set aside for the king’s own private use, and that if anyone was caught defiling this piece of ground in any way he should be killed and eaten. Who acts: way, hare, king. A sentence of «Ikom folk storie --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/4/5/) [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/) / 5 # Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Ii.--the Cunning Hare; Or, Why the Tortoise Has a Patched Shell., sentence 5 A law was also passed, at the hare’s suggestion, that a piece of ground at the roadside should be set aside for the king’s own private use, and that if anyone was caught defiling this piece of ground in any way he should be killed and eaten. **Who acts:** way, hare, king · **What happens:** pass, set, catch, defile, kill, eat · **To what, where:** law, suggestion, piece, anyone, way, hare 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 (way, hare, king), 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:pg70959:4:5 # text = A law was also passed, at the hare’s suggestion, that a piece of ground at the roadside should be set aside for the king’s own private use, and that if anyone was caught defiling this piece of ground in any way he should be killed and eaten. 1 A a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 2 det _ _ 2 law law NOUN NN Number=Sing 5 nsubj:pass _ _ 3 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 5 aux:pass _ _ 4 also also ADV RB _ 5 advmod _ _ 5 passed pass VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 0 root _ SpaceAfter=No 6 , , PUNCT , _ 11 punct _ _ 7 at at ADP IN _ 11 case _ _ 8 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 9 det _ _ 9 hare hare NOUN NN Number=Sing 11 nmod:poss _ SpaceAfter=No 10 ’s 's PART POS _ 9 case _ _ 11 suggestion suggestion NOUN NN Number=Sing 5 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 12 , , PUNCT , _ 23 punct _ _ 13 that that SCONJ IN _ 23 mark _ _ 14 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 15 det _ _ 15 piece piece NOUN NN Number=Sing 23 nsubj:pass _ _ 16 of of ADP IN _ 17 case _ _ 17 ground ground NOUN NN Number=Sing 15 nmod _ _ 18 at at ADP IN _ 20 case _ _ 19 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 20 det _ _ 20 roadside roadside NOUN NN Number=Sing 15 nmod _ _ 21 should should AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 23 aux _ _ 22 be be AUX VB VerbForm=Inf 23 aux:pass _ _ 23 set set VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 5 conj _ _ 24 aside aside ADV RB _ 23 advmod _ _ 25 for for ADP IN _ 31 case _ _ 26 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 27 det _ _ 27 king king NOUN NN Number=Sing 31 nmod:poss _ SpaceAfter=No 28 ’s 's PART POS _ 27 case _ _ 29 own own ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 31 amod _ _ 30 private private ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 31 amod _ _ 31 use use NOUN NN Number=Sing 23 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 32 , , PUNCT , _ 38 punct _ _ 33 and and CCONJ CC _ 38 cc _ _ 34 that that SCONJ IN _ 38 mark _ _ 35 if if SCONJ IN _ 38 mark _ _ 36 anyone anyone PRON NN Number=Sing|PronType=Ind 38 nsubj:pass _ _ 37 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 38 aux:pass _ _ 38 caught catch VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 5 conj _ _ 39 defiling defile VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 38 advcl _ _ 40 this this DET DT Number=Sing|PronType=Dem 41 det _ _ 41 piece piece NOUN NN Number=Sing 39 obj _ _ 42 of of ADP IN _ 43 case _ _ 43 ground ground NOUN NN Number=Sing 41 nmod _ _ 44 in in ADP IN _ 46 case _ _ 45 any any DET DT PronType=Ind 46 det _ _ 46 way way NOUN NN Number=Sing 39 obl _ _ 47 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 50 nsubj:pass _ _ 48 should should AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 50 aux _ _ 49 be be AUX VB VerbForm=Inf 50 aux:pass _ _ 50 killed kill VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 46 acl:relcl _ _ 51 and and CCONJ CC _ 52 cc _ _ 52 eaten eat VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 50 conj _ SpaceAfter=No 53 . . PUNCT . _ 5 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **pass** | past · passive | | a law | | the hare's suggestion | | | vn throw-17.1-1 «NP V NP PP.destinations»: subject=Theme at suggestion=Destination | | 2 | **set** | should · passive | | a piece of ground at the roadside | | | | for the king's own private use; aside *property* | vn preparing-26.3-2 «NP V NP PP.beneficiary»: subject=Patient for use=Beneficiary | | 3 | **catch** *a condition, not said to happen* | past · passive | | anyone | | | | | vn get-13.5.1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme | | 4 | **defile** | gerund | | this piece of ground | | any way | | | tree rules | | 5 | **kill** | should · passive | any way *not said here* | hare | | | | | vn remove-10.1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme | | 6 | **eat** | participle | any way *not said here* | | | | | | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent | | 7 | **suggest** | | the hare | | | | | | nom suggestion «cognition intransitive»: poss=agent | | 8 | **use** | | the king | | | | | | nom use «act transitive»: poss=agent | 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 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/4/4/) - next →: [sentence 6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/4/6/) - ↑ 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/)