---
title: When the spider saw this he was vexed, and told the grasshopper that… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: When the spider saw this he was vexed, and told the grasshopper that he did not want him for his friend again. Who acts: spider, remainder. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Vii.--how Two Friends Fell Out: the Spider and the Grasshopper., with its depend
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Vii.--how Two Friends Fell Out: the Spider and the Grasshopper., sentence 64

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When the spider saw this he was vexed, and told the grasshopper that he did not want him for his friend again.

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**Who acts:** spider, remainder · **What happens:** see, vex, tell, not want · **To what, where:** this, remainder, grasshopper · **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, remainder), 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:pg70959:6:64
# text = When the spider saw this he was vexed, and told the grasshopper that he did not want him for his friend again.
1	When	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	4	advmod	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	spider	spider	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	saw	see	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	this	this	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	4	obj	_	_
6	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	_
7	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	8	aux:pass	_	_
8	vexed	vex	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
10	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	11	cc	_	_
11	told	tell	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	conj	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	grasshopper	grasshopper	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	iobj	_	_
14	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	18	mark	_	_
15	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	18	nsubj	_	_
16	did	do	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	18	aux	_	_
17	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	18	advmod	_	_
18	want	want	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	11	xcomp	_	_
19	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	18	obj	_	_
20	for	for	ADP	IN	_	22	case	_	_
21	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	22	nmod:poss	_	_
22	friend	friend	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	obl	_	_
23	again	again	ADV	RB	_	18	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
24	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **see** | past | the spider | this |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **vex** | past · passive |  | remainder |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: subject=Experiencer |
| 3 | **tell** *speech: assert* | past | the spider *not said here* |  | the grasshopper |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Agent grasshopper=Recipient clause=Topic |
| 4 | **not** **want** *not said to happen* | past · do-support | remainder | grasshopper |  |  | again | for remainder's friend | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Pivot he=Theme |

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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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