---
title: This the spider also eat, saying, “I am sorry, Dabi, but there is no… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: This the spider also eat, saying, “I am sorry, Dabi, but there is no food for you, as this was brought for the stranger, and that is my name.” Who acts: spider, food, that. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Vii.--how Two Friends Fell Out: the Spider and 
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Vii.--how Two Friends Fell Out: the Spider and the Grasshopper., sentence 13

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This the spider also eat, saying, “I am sorry, Dabi, but there is no food for you, as this was brought for the stranger, and that is my name.”

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**Who acts:** spider, food, that · **What happens:** eat, say, be, bring · **To what, where:** this, name · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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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 (spider, food, that), 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:pg70959:6:13
# text = This the spider also eat, saying, “I am sorry, Dabi, but there is no food for you, as this was brought for the stranger, and that is my name.”
1	This	this	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	3	det	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	spider	spider	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
4	also	also	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	eat	eat	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
7	saying	say	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	5	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
9	“	"	PUNCT	``	_	12	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	12	nsubj	_	_
11	am	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	12	cop	_	_
12	sorry	sorry	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
14	Dabi	Dabi	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	12	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	18	punct	_	_
16	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	18	cc	_	_
17	there	there	PRON	EX	PronType=Dem	18	expl	_	_
18	is	be	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	conj	_	_
19	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	20	det	_	_
20	food	food	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	nsubj	_	_
21	for	for	ADP	IN	_	22	case	_	_
22	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Person=2|PronType=Prs	18	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	27	punct	_	_
24	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	27	mark	_	_
25	this	this	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	27	nsubj:pass	_	_
26	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	27	aux:pass	_	_
27	brought	bring	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	5	conj	_	_
28	for	for	ADP	IN	_	30	case	_	_
29	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	30	det	_	_
30	stranger	stranger	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	27	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
31	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	36	punct	_	_
32	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	36	cc	_	_
33	that	that	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	36	nsubj	_	_
34	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	36	cop	_	_
35	my	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	36	nmod:poss	_	_
36	name	name	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	parataxis	_	SpaceAfter=No
37	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	36	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
38	”	"	PUNCT	''	_	36	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **eat** | present | this spider |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **say** *speech: assert* | gerund | this spider *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **is** *in a quote* | present | this spider *= spider* |  |  |  |  | Dabi *obl*; sorry *property* | tree rules |
| 4 | **be** *in a quote* | present | no food |  |  | there |  | for you | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 5 | **bring** *in a quote* | past · passive |  | this |  |  |  | for the stranger | vn bring-11.3-1 «NP V NP together»: subject=Theme |
| 6 | **is a** *in a quote* | present | that | my name |  |  |  | my *nmod:poss* | tree rules |

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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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