--- title: The leopard came in the middle of the night, when it was so dark tha… — Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria · tree and pragmatics description: The leopard came in the middle of the night, when it was so dark that he could not see very distinctly, and killed the boy he thought was Agberamfe, but he was mistaken and killed one of his own sons instead. Who acts: leopard, log, boy. A sentence of «Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria» by Elp --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/8/57/) [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/) / 57 # Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria, Xi.--how a Father Tried to Kill One of His Sons But Failed., sentence 57 The leopard came in the middle of the night, when it was so dark that he could not see very distinctly, and killed the boy he thought was Agberamfe, but he was mistaken and killed one of his own sons instead. **Who acts:** leopard, log, boy · **What happens:** come, be, not see, kill, think · **To what, where:** middle, boy, Agberamfe, one 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 (leopard, log, boy), 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:pg70959:8:57 # text = The leopard came in the middle of the night, when it was so dark that he could not see very distinctly, and killed the boy he thought was Agberamfe, but he was mistaken and killed one of his own sons instead. 1 The the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 2 det _ _ 2 leopard leopard NOUN NN Number=Sing 3 nsubj _ _ 3 came come VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 4 in in ADP IN _ 6 case _ _ 5 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 6 det _ _ 6 middle middle NOUN NN Number=Sing 3 obl _ _ 7 of of ADP IN _ 9 case _ _ 8 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 9 det _ _ 9 night night NOUN NN Number=Sing 6 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 10 , , PUNCT , _ 15 punct _ _ 11 when when SCONJ WRB _ 15 mark _ _ 12 it it PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 15 nsubj _ _ 13 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 15 cop _ _ 14 so so ADV RB _ 15 advmod _ _ 15 dark dark ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 3 conj _ _ 16 that that SCONJ IN _ 20 mark _ _ 17 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 20 nsubj _ _ 18 could could AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 20 aux _ _ 19 not not PART RB Polarity=Neg 20 advmod _ _ 20 see see VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 15 advcl _ _ 21 very very ADV RB _ 22 advmod _ _ 22 distinctly distinctly ADV RB _ 20 advmod _ SpaceAfter=No 23 , , PUNCT , _ 25 punct _ _ 24 and and CCONJ CC _ 25 cc _ _ 25 killed kill VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 3 conj _ _ 26 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 27 det _ _ 27 boy boy NOUN NN Number=Sing 31 nsubj _ _ 28 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 29 nsubj _ _ 29 thought think VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 27 acl:relcl _ _ 30 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 31 cop _ _ 31 Agberamfe Agberamfe PROPN NNP Number=Sing 25 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 32 , , PUNCT , _ 36 punct _ _ 33 but but CCONJ CC _ 36 cc _ _ 34 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 36 nsubj _ _ 35 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 36 cop _ _ 36 mistaken mistaken ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 3 parataxis _ _ 37 and and CCONJ CC _ 38 cc _ _ 38 killed kill VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 36 conj _ _ 39 one one NUM CD NumForm=Word|NumType=Card 38 obj _ _ 40 of of ADP IN _ 43 case _ _ 41 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 43 nmod:poss _ _ 42 own own ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 43 amod _ _ 43 sons son NOUN NNS Number=Plur 39 nmod _ _ 44 instead instead ADV RB _ 38 advmod _ SpaceAfter=No 45 . . PUNCT . _ 3 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **come** | past | the leopard | | | the middle of the night | | | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme in middle=Location | | 2 | **is** | past | log | | | | | dark *property* | tree rules | | 3 | **not** **see** | could | leopard | | | | | distinctly *property* | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer | | 4 | **kill** | past | the leopard *not said here* | | | | | | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Experiencer | | 5 | **think** *speech: other* | past | leopard | the boy *not said here* | | | | | vn wish-62 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot boy=Theme | | 6 | **is a** | past | the boy | Agberamfe | | | | | tree rules | | 7 | **is** | past | leopard | | | | | mistaken *property* | tree rules | | 8 | **kill** | past | leopard *not said here* | one of leopard's own sons | | | | instead *property* | vn remove-10.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent one=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 56](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/8/56/) - next →: [sentence 58](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg70959/8/58/) - ↑ 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/)