Hawaiian Legends of Volcanoes (mythology), Pele and the Owl Ghost-god, sentence 34
It was a curious element of old Hawaiian belief, but they did believe that demi-gods and supernatural beings had au-makuas, or ghost-gods, the spirits of their ancestors, to whom they prayed and offered sacrifice as if they were common people and needed ghost-gods to take care of them.
Who acts: lightning, chiefs, demi gods · What happens: be, believe, have, pray, offer, need · To what, where: curious element, au makuas, sacrifice, ghost gods, care · Speech: someone speaks here
This is a sentence of «Hawaiian Legends of Volcanoes (mythology)» by W. D. Westervelt, Pele and the Owl Ghost-god. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (lightning, chiefs, demi gods), 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
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | It | it | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 5 element | nsubj |
| 2 | was | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 5 element | cop |
| 3 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 5 element | det |
| 4 | curious | curious | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 5 element | amod |
| 5 | element | element | NOUN | Number=Sing | root | root |
| 6 | of | of | ADP | _ | 9 belief | case |
| 7 | old | old | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 9 belief | amod |
| 8 | Hawaiian | hawaiian | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 9 belief | amod |
| 9 | belief | belief | NOUN | Number=Sing | 5 element | nmod |
| 10 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 14 believe | punct |
| 11 | but | but | CCONJ | _ | 14 believe | cc |
| 12 | they | they | PRON | Case=Nom Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs | 14 believe | nsubj |
| 13 | did | do | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 14 believe | aux |
| 14 | believe | believe | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 5 element | parataxis |
| 15 | that | that | SCONJ | _ | 22 had | mark |
| 16 | demi | demi | NOUN | Number=Sing | 18 gods | compound |
| 17 | - | - | PUNCT | _ | 16 demi | punct |
| 18 | gods | god | NOUN | Number=Plur | 22 had | nsubj |
| 19 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 21 beings | cc |
| 20 | supernatural | supernatural | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 21 beings | amod |
| 21 | beings | being | NOUN | Number=Plur | 18 gods | conj |
| 22 | had | have | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 14 believe | ccomp |
| 23 | au | au | NOUN | Number=Sing | 25 makuas | compound |
| 24 | - | - | PUNCT | _ | 23 au | punct |
| 25 | makuas | makua | NOUN | Number=Plur | 22 had | obj |
| 26 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 30 gods | punct |
| 27 | or | or | CCONJ | _ | 30 gods | cc |
| 28 | ghost | ghost | NOUN | Number=Sing | 30 gods | compound |
| 29 | - | - | PUNCT | _ | 28 ghost | punct |
| 30 | gods | god | NOUN | Number=Plur | 25 makuas | conj |
| 31 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 33 spirits | punct |
| 32 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 33 spirits | det |
| 33 | spirits | spirit | NOUN | Number=Plur | 25 makuas | conj |
| 34 | of | of | ADP | _ | 36 ancestors | case |
| 35 | their | their | PRON | Case=Gen Number=Plur Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 36 ancestors | nmod:poss |
| 36 | ancestors | ancestor | NOUN | Number=Plur | 33 spirits | nmod |
| 37 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 39 whom | punct |
| 38 | to | to | ADP | _ | 39 whom | case |
| 39 | whom | whom | PRON | PronType=Rel | 22 had | conj |
| 40 | they | they | PRON | Case=Nom Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs | 41 prayed | nsubj |
| 41 | prayed | pray | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 39 whom | acl:relcl |
| 42 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 43 offered | cc |
| 43 | offered | offer | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 41 prayed | conj |
| 44 | sacrifice | sacrifice | NOUN | Number=Sing | 43 offered | obj |
| 45 | as | as | ADP | _ | 50 people | case |
| 46 | if | if | SCONJ | _ | 50 people | mark |
| 47 | they | they | PRON | Case=Nom Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs | 50 people | nsubj |
| 48 | were | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 50 people | cop |
| 49 | common | common | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 50 people | amod |
| 50 | people | people | NOUN | Number=Plur | 43 offered | obl |
| 51 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 52 needed | cc |
| 52 | needed | need | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 41 prayed | conj |
| 53 | ghost | ghost | NOUN | Number=Sing | 55 gods | compound |
| 54 | - | - | PUNCT | _ | 53 ghost | punct |
| 55 | gods | god | NOUN | Number=Plur | 52 needed | obj |
| 56 | to | to | PART | _ | 57 take | mark |
| 57 | take | take | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 52 needed | advcl |
| 58 | care | care | NOUN | Number=Sing | 57 take | obj |
| 59 | of | of | ADP | _ | 60 them | case |
| 60 | them | they | PRON | Case=Acc Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs | 57 take | obl |
| 61 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 5 element | punct |
Pragmatics
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | is a | past | lightning | a curious element | of old Hawaiian belief | tree rules | |||
| 2 | believe | past · do-support | chiefs = chief | vn admire-31.2 «NP V that S»: agent=Experiencer clause=Stimulus | |||||
| 3 | have | past | demi gods and supernatural beings | au makuas or ghost gods and the spirits of gods's ancestors | whom conj | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent makua=Patient | |||
| 4 | pray | past | chiefs = chief | vn long-32.2 «NP V S_INF»: agent=Pivot | |||||
| 5 | offer | past | chiefs = chief not said here | sacrifice | vn future_having-13.3 «NP V NP.theme (PP)»: agent=Agent sacrifice=Theme | ||||
| 6 | is a condition, not said to happen | past | chiefs = chief | as common people | tree rules | ||||
| 7 | need | past | chiefs = chief not said here | ghost gods | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Pivot god=Theme | ||||
| 8 | take | to-infinitive | chiefs = chief not said here | care | of gods = god | vn bring-11.3 «NP V NP PP.initial_location»: agent=Agent care=Theme of they=Initial_Location |
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: «Hawaiian Legends of Volcanoes (mythology)» by W. D. Westervelt, Project Gutenberg book 66516 (public domain in the USA). Tree: Mova's own parse, Elamur Cosmic License. Frames: Mova's frames reader (prag), the chapter read in order.
This page in Markdown → https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg66516/6/34/