---
title: The rabbit, who was listening all the time, told Agbor of the plan h… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics
description: The rabbit, who was listening all the time, told Agbor of the plan he had heard, and she warned her son not to blow the bellows, but to watch the blacksmith carefully In the morning Chief Osewo told his son to go to the blacksmith and blow the bellows for him as he was making something for him. Who 
---

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# Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xi.--how a Father Tried to Kill One of His Sons But Failed., sentence 49

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The rabbit, who was listening all the time, told Agbor of the plan he had heard, and she warned her son not to blow the bellows, but to watch the blacksmith carefully In the morning Chief Osewo told his son to go to the blacksmith and blow the bellows for him as he was making something for him.

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**Who acts:** rabbit, Agbor, chief, Osewo · **What happens:** listen, tell, hear, warn, not blow, watch · **To what, where:** Agbor, plan, son, bellows, blacksmith, morning Chief · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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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 (rabbit, Agbor, chief, Osewo), 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:pg70959:8:49
# text = The rabbit, who was listening all the time, told Agbor of the plan he had heard, and she warned her son not to blow the bellows, but to watch the blacksmith carefully In the morning Chief Osewo told his son to go to the blacksmith and blow the bellows for him as he was making something for him.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	rabbit	rabbit	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	6	punct	_	_
4	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	6	nsubj	_	_
5	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
6	listening	listen	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	2	acl:relcl	_	_
7	all	all	DET	PDT	PronType=Tot	9	det:predet	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	time	time	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl:unmarked	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	2	punct	_	_
11	told	tell	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
12	Agbor	Agbor	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	11	iobj	_	_
13	of	of	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	plan	plan	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nmod	_	_
16	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	18	nsubj	_	_
17	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	18	aux	_	_
18	heard	hear	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	15	acl:relcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	22	punct	_	_
20	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	22	cc	_	_
21	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	22	nsubj	_	_
22	warned	warn	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	11	conj	_	_
23	her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	24	nmod:poss	_	_
24	son	son	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	22	obj	_	_
25	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	27	advmod	_	_
26	to	to	PART	TO	_	27	mark	_	_
27	blow	blow	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	22	ccomp	_	_
28	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	29	det	_	_
29	bellows	bellow	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	27	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
30	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	33	punct	_	_
31	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	33	cc	_	_
32	to	to	PART	TO	_	33	mark	_	_
33	watch	watch	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	11	parataxis	_	_
34	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	35	det	_	_
35	blacksmith	blacksmith	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	33	obj	_	_
36	carefully	carefully	ADV	RB	_	33	advmod	_	_
37	In	in	ADP	IN	_	40	case	_	_
38	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	40	det	_	_
39	morning	morning	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	40	compound	_	_
40	Chief	Chief	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	42	obl	_	_
41	Osewo	Osewo	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	42	nsubj	_	_
42	told	tell	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	33	advcl	_	_
43	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	44	nmod:poss	_	_
44	son	son	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	42	iobj	_	_
45	to	to	PART	TO	_	46	mark	_	_
46	go	go	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	42	xcomp	_	_
47	to	to	ADP	IN	_	49	case	_	_
48	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	49	det	_	_
49	blacksmith	blacksmith	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	46	obl	_	_
50	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	51	cc	_	_
51	blow	blow	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	46	conj	_	_
52	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	53	det	_	_
53	bellows	bellow	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	51	obj	_	_
54	for	for	ADP	IN	_	55	case	_	_
55	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	51	obl	_	_
56	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	59	mark	_	_
57	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	59	nsubj	_	_
58	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	59	aux	_	_
59	making	make	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	51	advcl	_	_
60	something	something	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	59	obj	_	_
61	for	for	ADP	IN	_	62	case	_	_
62	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	59	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
63	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	11	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **listen** | past · progressive | the rabbit |  |  |  | time |  | vn peer-30.3 «NP V PP.theme»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **tell** *speech: assert* | past | the rabbit |  | Agbor of the plan |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent agbor=Recipient |
| 3 | **hear** | past · perfect | Agbor | the plan *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn see-30.1-1-1 «NP V S»: agent=Experiencer plan=Stimulus |
| 4 | **warn** *speech: warn* | past | chief |  | chief's son |  |  |  | vn advise-37.9-1 «NP V NP how S\_INF»: agent=Agent son=Recipient clause=Topic |
| 5 | **not** **blow** | to-infinitive |  | the bellows |  |  |  |  | vn split-23.2 «NP V NP apart»: agent=Agent bellow=Patient |
| 6 | **watch** | to-infinitive |  | the blacksmith |  |  |  | carefully *property* | vn assessment-34.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent blacksmith=Theme |
| 7 | **tell** *speech: assert* | past | Osewo |  | Agbor's son | the morning Chief |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Agent son=Recipient clause=Topic |
| 8 | **go** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | Osewo *not said here* |  |  | the blacksmith |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme to blacksmith=Initial\_Location |
| 9 | **blow** | infinitive | Osewo *not said here* | the bellows |  |  |  | for Agbor | vn build-26.1 «NP V NP PP.beneficiary»: agent=Agent bellow=Product for he=Beneficiary |
| 10 | **make** | past · progressive | Agbor | something |  |  |  | for son | vn build-26.1-1 «NP V NP PP.beneficiary»: agent=Agent something=Material for he=Beneficiary |

<!-- .note -->
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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