--- title: As the grasshopper had gone on in front and had not waited for his d… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics description: As the grasshopper had gone on in front and had not waited for his dog, the spider took the buck, and, having cut its head off and put it in his bag next to the dog’s skull, he sat down and eat the body. Who acts: grasshopper, spider. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphin --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/6/54/) [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/) / 54 # Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Vii.--how Two Friends Fell Out: the Spider and the Grasshopper., sentence 54 As the grasshopper had gone on in front and had not waited for his dog, the spider took the buck, and, having cut its head off and put it in his bag next to the dog’s skull, he sat down and eat the body. **Who acts:** grasshopper, spider · **What happens:** go on, not wait, take, have off, put, sit down · **To what, where:** front, buck, dog, bag, body 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 (grasshopper, spider), 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:pg70959:6:54 # text = As the grasshopper had gone on in front and had not waited for his dog, the spider took the buck, and, having cut its head off and put it in his bag next to the dog’s skull, he sat down and eat the body. 1 As as SCONJ IN _ 5 mark _ _ 2 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 3 det _ _ 3 grasshopper grasshopper NOUN NN Number=Sing 5 nsubj _ _ 4 had have AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 5 aux _ _ 5 gone go VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part 19 advcl _ _ 6 on on ADP RP _ 5 compound:prt _ _ 7 in in ADP IN _ 8 case _ _ 8 front front NOUN NN Number=Sing 5 obl _ _ 9 and and CCONJ CC _ 12 cc _ _ 10 had have AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 12 aux _ _ 11 not not PART RB Polarity=Neg 12 advmod _ _ 12 waited wait VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part 5 conj _ _ 13 for for ADP IN _ 15 case _ _ 14 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 15 nmod:poss _ _ 15 dog dog NOUN NN Number=Sing 12 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 16 , , PUNCT , _ 5 punct _ _ 17 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 18 det _ _ 18 spider spider NOUN NN Number=Sing 19 nsubj _ _ 19 took take VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 20 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 21 det _ _ 21 buck buck NOUN NN Number=Sing 19 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 22 , , PUNCT , _ 25 punct _ _ 23 and and CCONJ CC _ 25 cc _ SpaceAfter=No 24 , , PUNCT , _ 25 punct _ _ 25 having have VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 19 parataxis _ _ 26 cut cut ADP IN _ 28 case _ _ 27 its its PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 28 nmod:poss _ _ 28 head head NOUN NN Number=Sing 25 obl _ _ 29 off off ADP RP _ 25 compound:prt _ _ 30 and and CCONJ CC _ 31 cc _ _ 31 put put VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 25 conj _ _ 32 it it PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 31 obj _ _ 33 in in ADP IN _ 35 case _ _ 34 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 35 nmod:poss _ _ 35 bag bag NOUN NN Number=Sing 31 obl _ _ 36 next next ADV RB _ 41 advmod _ _ 37 to to ADP IN _ 41 case _ _ 38 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 39 det _ _ 39 dog dog NOUN NN Number=Sing 41 nmod:poss _ SpaceAfter=No 40 ’s 's PART POS _ 39 case _ _ 41 skull skull NOUN NN Number=Sing 31 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 42 , , PUNCT , _ 44 punct _ _ 43 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 44 nsubj _ _ 44 sat sit VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 19 parataxis _ _ 45 down down ADP RP _ 44 compound:prt _ _ 46 and and CCONJ CC _ 47 cc _ _ 47 eat eat VERB VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|Typo=Yes|VerbForm=Fin 44 conj _ _ 48 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 49 det _ _ 49 body body NOUN NN Number=Sing 47 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 50 . . PUNCT . _ 19 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **go on** | past · perfect | the grasshopper | | | front | | | vn occur-48.3 «NP V PP»: agent=Theme in front=Location | | 2 | **not** **wait** | past · perfect | the grasshopper *not said here* | | | | | for grasshopper's dog | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 3 | **take** | past | the spider | the buck | | | | | vn bring-11.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent buck=Theme | | 4 | **have off** | gerund | | | | | | cut dog's head | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent | | 5 | **put** | infinitive | | dog | | grasshopper's bag | | to the dog's skull | vn put-9.1-2 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent it=Theme in bag=Destination | | 6 | **sit down** | past | grasshopper | | | | | | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V»: agent=Agent | | 7 | **eat** | present | grasshopper *not said here* | the body | | | | | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent body=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 53](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/6/53/) - next →: [sentence 55](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/6/55/) - ↑ back to [Vii.--how Two Friends Fell Out: the Spider and the Grasshopper.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/6/)