--- title: The natives who were working on the road were afraid to touch anythi… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics description: The natives who were working on the road were afraid to touch anything in the grave, but a native foreman, who came from another country where they held different beliefs, opened a bottle of gin and drank some of it. Who acts: natives, native foreman, things. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories from So --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/6/121/) [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/) / [Vii.--how Two Friends Fell Out: the Sp…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/6/) / 121 # Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Vii.--how Two Friends Fell Out: the Spider and the Grasshopper., sentence 121 The natives who were working on the road were afraid to touch anything in the grave, but a native foreman, who came from another country where they held different beliefs, opened a bottle of gin and drank some of it. **Who acts:** natives, native foreman, things · **What happens:** work, be, touch, come, hold, open · **To what, where:** anything, grave, country, different beliefs, bottle, some This is a sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Vii.--how Two Friends Fell Out: the Spider and the Grasshopper.. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (natives, native foreman, things), 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:pg70959:6:122 # text = The natives who were working on the road were afraid to touch anything in the grave, but a native foreman, who came from another country where they held different beliefs, opened a bottle of gin and drank some of it. 1 The the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 2 det _ _ 2 natives native NOUN NNS Number=Plur 10 nsubj _ _ 3 who who PRON WP PronType=Rel 5 nsubj _ _ 4 were be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 5 aux _ _ 5 working work VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 2 acl:relcl _ _ 6 on on ADP IN _ 8 case _ _ 7 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 8 det _ _ 8 road road NOUN NN Number=Sing 5 obl _ _ 9 were be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 10 cop _ _ 10 afraid afraid ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 0 root _ _ 11 to to PART TO _ 12 mark _ _ 12 touch touch VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 10 xcomp _ _ 13 anything anything PRON NN Number=Sing|PronType=Ind 12 obj _ _ 14 in in ADP IN _ 16 case _ _ 15 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 16 det _ _ 16 grave grave NOUN NN Number=Sing 13 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 17 , , PUNCT , _ 34 punct _ _ 18 but but CCONJ CC _ 34 cc _ _ 19 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 21 det _ _ 20 native native ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 21 amod _ _ 21 foreman foreman NOUN NN Number=Sing 34 nsubj _ SpaceAfter=No 22 , , PUNCT , _ 24 punct _ _ 23 who who PRON WP PronType=Rel 24 nsubj _ _ 24 came come VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 21 acl:relcl _ _ 25 from from ADP IN _ 27 case _ _ 26 another another DET DT PronType=Ind 27 det _ _ 27 country country NOUN NN Number=Sing 24 obl _ _ 28 where where ADV WRB PronType=Rel 30 advmod _ _ 29 they they PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 30 nsubj _ _ 30 held hold VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 27 acl:relcl _ _ 31 different different ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 32 amod _ _ 32 beliefs belief NOUN NNS Number=Plur 30 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 33 , , PUNCT , _ 21 punct _ _ 34 opened open VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 10 parataxis _ _ 35 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 36 det _ _ 36 bottle bottle NOUN NN Number=Sing 34 obj _ _ 37 of of ADP IN _ 38 case _ _ 38 gin gin NOUN NN Number=Sing 36 nmod _ _ 39 and and CCONJ CC _ 40 cc _ _ 40 drank drink VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 34 conj _ _ 41 some some DET DT PronType=Ind 40 obj _ _ 42 of of ADP IN _ 43 case _ _ 43 it it PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 41 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 44 . . PUNCT . _ 10 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **work** | past · progressive | the natives | | | | | on the road | vn employment-95.3 «NP V PP.theme»: agent=Agent on road=Theme | | 2 | **is** | past | the natives | | | | | afraid *property* | tree rules | | 3 | **touch** | to-infinitive | the natives *not said here* | anything | | the grave | | | vn contiguous\_location-47.8-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme anything=Co-Theme | | 4 | **come** | past | a native foreman | | | another country | | | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme from country=Initial\_Location | | 5 | **hold** | past | things *= thing* | different beliefs | | | | | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent belief=Theme | | 6 | **open** | past | a native foreman | a bottle of gin | | | | | vn spatial\_configuration-47.6-1 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location bottle=Theme | | 7 | **drink** | past | a native foreman *not said here* | some of road | | | | | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent some=Patient | 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 120](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/6/120/) - next →: [sentence 122](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/6/122/) - ↑ back to [Vii.--how Two Friends Fell Out: the Spider and the Grasshopper.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/6/)