Kulóskap the master, and other Algonkin poems, Opening, part 16, sentence 41
In ancient times--this is the tale which oft was told to me-- An Indian and squaw were out afar in bark canoe When in the current’s swirling waves they right before them saw A wee canoe in which there sat two children, as they thought.
Who acts: this, waves, current · What happens: be, tell, swirl, see, sit, think · To what, where: tale, me, bark canoe, wee canoe, swirling waves, two children · Speech: someone speaks here
This is a sentence of «Kulóskap the master, and other Algonkin poems», Opening, part 16. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (this, waves, current), 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 | In | in | ADP | _ | 3 times | case |
| 2 | ancient | ancient | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 3 times | amod |
| 3 | times | time | NOUN | Number=Plur | 8 tale | obl |
| 4 | -- | -- | PUNCT | _ | 3 times | punct |
| 5 | this | this | PRON | Number=Sing PronType=Dem | 8 tale | nsubj |
| 6 | is | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 8 tale | cop |
| 7 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 8 tale | det |
| 8 | tale | tale | NOUN | Number=Sing | root | root |
| 9 | which | which | PRON | PronType=Rel | 12 told | nsubj:pass |
| 10 | oft | oft | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 12 told | nsubj:pass |
| 11 | was | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 12 told | aux:pass |
| 12 | told | tell | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 8 tale | acl:relcl |
| 13 | to | to | ADP | _ | 14 me | case |
| 14 | me | I | PRON | Case=Acc Number=Sing Person=1 PronType=Prs | 12 told | obl |
| 15 | -- | -- | PUNCT | _ | 17 Indian | punct |
| 16 | An | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 17 Indian | det |
| 17 | Indian | Indian | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 8 tale | parataxis |
| 18 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 19 squaw | cc |
| 19 | squaw | squaw | NOUN | Number=Sing | 17 Indian | conj |
| 20 | were | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 22 afar | cop |
| 21 | out | out | ADV | _ | 22 afar | advmod |
| 22 | afar | afar | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 17 Indian | appos |
| 23 | in | in | ADP | _ | 25 canoe | case |
| 24 | bark | bark | NOUN | Number=Sing | 25 canoe | compound |
| 25 | canoe | canoe | NOUN | Number=Sing | 22 afar | obl |
| 26 | When | when | ADV | PronType=Int | 37 saw | advmod |
| 27 | in | in | ADP | _ | 32 waves | case |
| 28 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 29 current | det |
| 29 | current | current | NOUN | Number=Sing | 32 waves | nmod:poss |
| 30 | ’s | 's | PART | _ | 29 current | case |
| 31 | swirling | swirl | VERB | VerbForm=Ger | 32 waves | amod |
| 32 | waves | wave | NOUN | Number=Plur | 37 saw | obl |
| 33 | they | they | PRON | Case=Nom Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs | 37 saw | nsubj |
| 34 | right | right | ADV | _ | 36 them | advmod |
| 35 | before | before | ADP | _ | 36 them | case |
| 36 | them | they | PRON | Case=Acc Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs | 33 they | conj |
| 37 | saw | see | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 22 afar | advcl |
| 38 | A | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 40 canoe | det |
| 39 | wee | wee | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 40 canoe | amod |
| 40 | canoe | canoe | NOUN | Number=Sing | 37 saw | obj |
| 41 | in | in | ADP | _ | 42 which | case |
| 42 | which | which | PRON | PronType=Rel | 44 sat | obl |
| 43 | there | there | ADV | PronType=Dem | 44 sat | advmod |
| 44 | sat | sit | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 40 canoe | acl:relcl |
| 45 | two | two | NUM | NumForm=Word NumType=Card | 46 children | nummod |
| 46 | children | child | NOUN | Number=Plur | 44 sat | obj |
| 47 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 50 thought | punct |
| 48 | as | as | SCONJ | _ | 50 thought | mark |
| 49 | they | they | PRON | Case=Nom Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs | 50 thought | nsubj |
| 50 | thought | think | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 44 sat | conj |
| 51 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 8 tale | punct |
Pragmatics
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | is a | present | this | the tale | time | tree rules | |||
| 2 | tell speech: assert | past · passive | the tale | me | vn transfer_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP PP.recipient»: subject=Topic to i=Recipient | ||||
| 3 | is | past | bark canoe | afar, out property | tree rules | ||||
| 4 | swirl | gerund | vn modes_of_being_with_motion-47.3 «NP V»: agent=Theme | ||||||
| 5 | see | past | waves = wave | a wee canoe | the current's swirling waves | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer canoe=Stimulus | |||
| 6 | sit | past | two children | a wee canoe; there | vn spatial_configuration-47.6-1 «NP V NP.theme PP»: agent=Agent child=Theme in which=Location | ||||
| 7 | think speech: other | past | waves = wave | vn focus-87.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent | |||||
| 8 | wave | the current | nom wave «event transitive»: poss=agent |
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: «Kulóskap the master, and other Algonkin poems», Project Gutenberg book 78673 (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/pg78673/16/41/