--- title: The rabbit then went off and dug a hole under the chief’s bed so tha… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics description: The rabbit then went off and dug a hole under the chief’s bed so that he could hear all that passed in the room above him, and when it was dark he went into the hole to listen. Who acts: rabbit, Agbor, that, hole. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Xi.--h --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/8/23/) [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/) / [Xi.--how a Father Tried to Kill One of…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/8/) / 23 # Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xi.--how a Father Tried to Kill One of His Sons But Failed., sentence 23 The rabbit then went off and dug a hole under the chief’s bed so that he could hear all that passed in the room above him, and when it was dark he went into the hole to listen. **Who acts:** rabbit, Agbor, that, hole · **What happens:** go off, dig, hear, pass, be, go · **To what, where:** hole, bed, room · **Speech:** someone speaks here This is a sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Xi.--how a Father Tried to Kill One of His Sons But Failed.. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (rabbit, Agbor, that, hole), 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:pg70959:8:23 # text = The rabbit then went off and dug a hole under the chief’s bed so that he could hear all that passed in the room above him, and when it was dark he went into the hole to listen. 1 The the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 2 det _ _ 2 rabbit rabbit NOUN NN Number=Sing 4 nsubj _ _ 3 then then ADV RB PronType=Dem 4 advmod _ _ 4 went go VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 5 off off ADP RP _ 4 compound:prt _ _ 6 and and CCONJ CC _ 7 cc _ _ 7 dug dig VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 4 conj _ _ 8 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 9 det _ _ 9 hole hole NOUN NN Number=Sing 7 obj _ _ 10 under under ADP IN _ 14 case _ _ 11 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 12 det _ _ 12 chief chief NOUN NN Number=Sing 14 nmod:poss _ SpaceAfter=No 13 ’s 's PART POS _ 12 case _ _ 14 bed bed NOUN NN Number=Sing 7 obl _ _ 15 so so SCONJ IN ExtPos=SCONJ 19 mark _ _ 16 that that SCONJ IN _ 15 fixed _ _ 17 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 19 nsubj _ _ 18 could could AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 19 aux _ _ 19 hear hear VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 7 advcl _ _ 20 all all DET PDT PronType=Tot 22 det:predet _ _ 21 that that PRON WDT PronType=Rel 22 nsubj _ _ 22 passed pass VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 19 ccomp _ _ 23 in in ADP IN _ 25 case _ _ 24 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 25 det _ _ 25 room room NOUN NN Number=Sing 22 obl _ _ 26 above above ADP IN _ 27 case _ _ 27 him he PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 25 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 28 , , PUNCT , _ 35 punct _ _ 29 and and CCONJ CC _ 35 cc _ _ 30 when when SCONJ WRB _ 33 mark _ _ 31 it it PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 33 nsubj _ _ 32 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 33 cop _ _ 33 dark dark ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 35 advcl _ _ 34 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 35 nsubj _ _ 35 went go VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 4 conj _ _ 36 into into ADP IN _ 38 case _ _ 37 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 38 det _ _ 38 hole hole NOUN NN Number=Sing 35 obl _ _ 39 to to PART TO _ 40 mark _ _ 40 listen listen VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 35 advcl _ SpaceAfter=No 41 . . PUNCT . _ 4 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **go off** | past | the rabbit | | | | then | | vn occur-48.3-2 «NP V ADV»: agent=Theme | | 2 | **dig** | past | the rabbit *not said here* | a hole | | the chief's bed | | | vn hunt-35.1 «NP V NP PP.location»: agent=Agent hole=Theme under bed=Location | | 3 | **hear** | could | Agbor | | | | | | vn see-30.1-1-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Experiencer clause=Stimulus | | 4 | **pass** | past | that | | | the room above Agbor | | | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V PP»: agent=Theme in room=Location | | 5 | **is** | past | hole | | | | | dark *property* | tree rules | | 6 | **go** | past | Agbor | | | the hole | | | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme into hole=Initial\_Location | | 7 | **listen** | to-infinitive | Agbor *not said here* | | | | | | vn peer-30.3 «NP V PP.theme»: agent=Agent | 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 22](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/8/22/) - next →: [sentence 24](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/8/24/) - ↑ back to [Xi.--how a Father Tried to Kill One of His Sons But Failed.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/8/)