--- title: When they returned they were to place eight bundles of the leaves in… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics description: When they returned they were to place eight bundles of the leaves in a row along the road, and they were then to put the crocodile on the ground and cover him up with leaves for the ninth bundle. Who acts: mats. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, Xi.--how --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/8/36/) [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/) / 36 # Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xi.--how a Father Tried to Kill One of His Sons But Failed., sentence 36 When they returned they were to place eight bundles of the leaves in a row along the road, and they were then to put the crocodile on the ground and cover him up with leaves for the ninth bundle. **Who acts:** mats · **What happens:** return, be, put, cover up · **To what, where:** crocodile, ground 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 (mats), 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:pg70959:8:36 # text = When they returned they were to place eight bundles of the leaves in a row along the road, and they were then to put the crocodile on the ground and cover him up with leaves for the ninth bundle. 1 When when ADV WRB PronType=Int 3 advmod _ _ 2 they they PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 3 nsubj _ _ 3 returned return VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 25 advcl _ _ 4 they they PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 7 nsubj _ _ 5 were be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 7 cop _ _ 6 to to ADP IN _ 7 case _ _ 7 place place NOUN NN Number=Sing 3 ccomp _ _ 8 eight eight NUM CD NumForm=Word|NumType=Card 9 nummod _ _ 9 bundles bundle NOUN NNS Number=Plur 7 conj _ _ 10 of of ADP IN _ 12 case _ _ 11 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 12 det _ _ 12 leaves leaf NOUN NNS Number=Plur 9 nmod _ _ 13 in in ADP IN _ 15 case _ _ 14 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 15 det _ _ 15 row row NOUN NN Number=Sing 12 nmod _ _ 16 along along ADP IN _ 18 case _ _ 17 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 18 det _ _ 18 road road NOUN NN Number=Sing 15 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 19 , , PUNCT , _ 3 punct _ _ 20 and and CCONJ CC _ 25 cc _ _ 21 they they PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 25 nsubj _ _ 22 were be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 25 aux _ _ 23 then then ADV RB PronType=Dem 25 advmod _ _ 24 to to PART TO _ 25 mark _ _ 25 put put VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 0 root _ _ 26 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 27 det _ _ 27 crocodile crocodile NOUN NN Number=Sing 25 obj _ _ 28 on on ADP IN _ 30 case _ _ 29 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 30 det _ _ 30 ground ground NOUN NN Number=Sing 25 obl _ _ 31 and and CCONJ CC _ 32 cc _ _ 32 cover cover VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 25 conj _ _ 33 him he PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 32 obj _ _ 34 up up ADP RP _ 32 compound:prt _ _ 35 with with ADP IN _ 36 case _ _ 36 leaves leaf NOUN NNS Number=Plur 32 obl _ _ 37 for for ADP IN _ 40 case _ _ 38 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 40 det _ _ 39 ninth ninth ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 40 amod _ _ 40 bundle bundle NOUN NN Number=Sing 32 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 41 . . PUNCT . _ 25 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **return** | past | mats *= mat* | | | | | | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 2 | **is** | past | mats *= mat* | | | | | to place and eight bundles of the leaves in a row along the road; eight bundles of the leaves in a row along the road *conj* | tree rules | | 3 | **put** | past | mats *= mat* | the crocodile | | the ground | then | | vn put-9.1-2 «NP V PP.destination NP»: agent=Agent crocodile=Theme on ground=Destination | | 4 | **cover up** | infinitive | mats *= mat* *not said here* | | crocodile | | | with leaves; for the ninth bundle | vn fill-9.8-1 «NP V NP PP.theme»: agent=Agent he=Destination with leaf=Theme | 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 35](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/8/35/) - next →: [sentence 37](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/8/37/) - ↑ 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/)