The Punishment of the Stingy, and Other Indian Stories, Little Friend Coyote, sentence 8
It seemed to his wife as if he were always away on some expedition, so seldom was he at home, and as she had learned to respect and love him, she was very lonely during these long absences.
Who acts: It, Wolf, wife · What happens: seem, be, learn, respect, love · To what, where: expedition, home, Wolf
This is a sentence of «The Punishment of the Stingy, and Other Indian Stories» by George Bird Grinnell, Little Friend Coyote. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (It, Wolf, wife), 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 | 2 seemed | nsubj |
| 2 | seemed | seem | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 3 | to | to | ADP | _ | 5 wife | case |
| 4 | his | his | PRON | Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 5 wife | nmod:poss |
| 5 | wife | wife | NOUN | Number=Sing | 2 seemed | obl |
| 6 | as | as | SCONJ | _ | 11 away | mark |
| 7 | if | if | SCONJ | _ | 11 away | mark |
| 8 | he | he | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 11 away | nsubj |
| 9 | were | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 11 away | cop |
| 10 | always | always | ADV | PronType=Tot | 11 away | advmod |
| 11 | away | away | ADV | _ | 2 seemed | xcomp |
| 12 | on | on | ADP | _ | 14 expedition | case |
| 13 | some | some | DET | PronType=Ind | 14 expedition | det |
| 14 | expedition | expedition | NOUN | Number=Sing | 11 away | obl |
| 15 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 21 home | punct |
| 16 | so | so | ADV | _ | 17 seldom | advmod |
| 17 | seldom | seldom | ADV | _ | 21 home | advmod |
| 18 | was | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 21 home | cop |
| 19 | he | he | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 21 home | nsubj |
| 20 | at | at | ADP | _ | 21 home | case |
| 21 | home | home | NOUN | Number=Sing | 2 seemed | obl |
| 22 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 27 learned | punct |
| 23 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 27 learned | cc |
| 24 | as | as | SCONJ | _ | 27 learned | mark |
| 25 | she | she | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 27 learned | nsubj |
| 26 | had | have | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 27 learned | aux |
| 27 | learned | learn | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part | 2 seemed | parataxis |
| 28 | to | to | PART | _ | 29 respect | mark |
| 29 | respect | respect | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 27 learned | xcomp |
| 30 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 31 love | cc |
| 31 | love | love | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 29 respect | conj |
| 32 | him | he | PRON | Case=Acc Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 31 love | obj |
| 33 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 37 lonely | punct |
| 34 | she | she | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 37 lonely | nsubj |
| 35 | was | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 37 lonely | cop |
| 36 | very | very | ADV | _ | 37 lonely | advmod |
| 37 | lonely | lonely | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 27 learned | conj |
| 38 | during | during | ADP | _ | 41 absences | case |
| 39 | these | this | DET | Number=Plur PronType=Dem | 41 absences | det |
| 40 | long | long | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 41 absences | amod |
| 41 | absences | absence | NOUN | Number=Plur | 37 lonely | obl |
| 42 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 2 seemed | punct |
Pragmatics
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | seem | past | It | to Wolf's wife | vn seem-109-1-1-1 «NP V S_INF»: agent=Theme | ||||
| 2 | is a condition, not said to happen | past | Wolf | some expedition | always, away property | tree rules | |||
| 3 | is | past | Wolf | home | seldom property | tree rules | |||
| 4 | learn | past · perfect | wife | vn learn-14-2-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic | |||||
| 5 | respect | to-infinitive | wife not said here | vn admire-31.2 «NP V that S»: agent=Experiencer | |||||
| 6 | love | infinitive | wife not said here | Wolf | vn admire-31.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer he=Stimulus | ||||
| 7 | is | past | wife | during this long absences | lonely property | tree rules |
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: «The Punishment of the Stingy, and Other Indian Stories» by George Bird Grinnell, Project Gutenberg book 66596 (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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