---
title: He then tried to get the grasshopper to kill his dog, but he refused… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: He then tried to get the grasshopper to kill his dog, but he refused, saying, “The dog was given to me by the chief as a present and not for food. Who acts: chief, grasshopper. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Vii.--how Two Friends Fell Out: the Spider 
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Vii.--how Two Friends Fell Out: the Spider and the Grasshopper., sentence 50

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He then tried to get the grasshopper to kill his dog, but he refused, saying, “The dog was given to me by the chief as a present and not for food.

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**Who acts:** chief, grasshopper · **What happens:** try, get, kill, refuse, say, give · **To what, where:** grasshopper, dog, chief · **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 (chief, grasshopper), 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:pg70959:6:50
# text = He then tried to get the grasshopper to kill his dog, but he refused, saying, “The dog was given to me by the chief as a present and not for food.
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	3	advmod	_	_
3	tried	try	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	to	to	PART	TO	_	5	mark	_	_
5	get	get	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	xcomp	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	grasshopper	grasshopper	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
8	to	to	PART	TO	_	9	mark	_	_
9	kill	kill	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	xcomp	_	_
10	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	11	nmod:poss	_	_
11	dog	dog	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	15	punct	_	_
13	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	15	cc	_	_
14	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	15	nsubj	_	_
15	refused	refuse	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	17	punct	_	_
17	saying	say	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	15	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	23	punct	_	_
19	“	"	PUNCT	``	_	23	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	21	det	_	_
21	dog	dog	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	23	nsubj:pass	_	_
22	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	23	aux:pass	_	_
23	given	give	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	17	ccomp	_	_
24	to	to	ADP	IN	_	25	case	_	_
25	me	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	23	obl	_	_
26	by	by	ADP	IN	_	28	case	_	_
27	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	28	det	_	_
28	chief	chief	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	23	obl	_	_
29	as	as	ADP	IN	_	31	case	_	_
30	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	31	det	_	_
31	present	present	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	23	obl	_	_
32	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	35	cc	_	_
33	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	35	advmod	_	_
34	for	for	ADP	IN	_	35	case	_	_
35	food	food	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	31	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
36	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **try** | past | chief |  |  |  | then |  | vn try-61.1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality |
| 2 | **get** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | chief *not said here* | the grasshopper |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **kill** | to-infinitive | the grasshopper *not said here* | chief's dog |  |  |  |  | vn remove-10.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent dog=Theme |
| 4 | **refuse** | past | chief |  |  |  |  |  | vn reject-77.2 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Agent |
| 5 | **say** *speech: assert* | gerund | chief *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 6 | **give** *in a quote* | past · passive | the chief | the dog | chief |  |  | as a present and food | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP PP.recipient»: agent=Agent subject=Theme to i=Recipient |

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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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