---
title: He was fortunate in pinning the crocodile to the ground and very soo… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: He was fortunate in pinning the crocodile to the ground and very soon it showed its head through the leaves, whereupon the boy threw the noose round its jaws and made it fast to a tree. Who acts: Agberamfe, ground, boy. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elphinstone Dayrell, 
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xi.--how a Father Tried to Kill One of His Sons But Failed., sentence 43

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He was fortunate in pinning the crocodile to the ground and very soon it showed its head through the leaves, whereupon the boy threw the noose round its jaws and made it fast to a tree.

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**Who acts:** Agberamfe, ground, boy · **What happens:** be, pin, show, throw, make · **To what, where:** crocodile, head, leaves, noose

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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 (Agberamfe, ground, boy), 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:pg70959:8:43
# text = He was fortunate in pinning the crocodile to the ground and very soon it showed its head through the leaves, whereupon the boy threw the noose round its jaws and made it fast to a tree.
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	fortunate	fortunate	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
4	in	in	SCONJ	IN	_	5	mark	_	_
5	pinning	pin	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	3	advcl	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	crocodile	crocodile	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
8	to	to	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	ground	ground	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
11	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	15	cc	_	_
12	very	very	ADV	RB	_	13	advmod	_	_
13	soon	soon	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	15	advmod	_	_
14	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	15	nsubj	_	_
15	showed	show	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
16	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	17	nmod:poss	_	_
17	head	head	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	obj	_	_
18	through	through	ADP	IN	_	20	case	_	_
19	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	20	det	_	_
20	leaves	leaf	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	15	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	25	punct	_	_
22	whereupon	whereupon	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	25	advmod	_	_
23	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	24	det	_	_
24	boy	boy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	25	nsubj	_	_
25	threw	throw	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	parataxis	_	_
26	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	27	det	_	_
27	noose	noose	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	25	obj	_	_
28	round	round	ADP	IN	_	30	case	_	_
29	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	30	nmod:poss	_	_
30	jaws	jaw	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	25	obl	_	_
31	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	32	cc	_	_
32	made	make	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	25	conj	_	_
33	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	32	obj	_	_
34	fast	fast	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	32	advmod	_	_
35	to	to	ADP	IN	_	37	case	_	_
36	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	37	det	_	_
37	tree	tree	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	32	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
38	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | Agberamfe |  |  |  |  | fortunate *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **pin** | gerund | Agberamfe *not said here* | the crocodile |  |  |  | to the ground | vn tape-22.4 «NP V NP PP.co-patient»: agent=Agent crocodile=Patient to ground=Co-Patient |
| 3 | **show** | past | ground | ground's head |  | the leaves |  | soon *property* | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent head=Recipient |
| 4 | **throw** | past | the boy | the noose |  |  |  | round ground's jaws; whereupon *property* | vn throw-17.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent noose=Theme |
| 5 | **make** | past | the boy *not said here* | noose |  |  |  | to a tree; fast *property* | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset it=Product |

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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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