Kulóskap the master, and other Algonkin poems, Opening, part 3, sentence 86
Whether they with other peoples were emigrants from palaeolithic Europe, crossing by way of some long since vanished land-bridge, or whether they wandered into their present habitat from the western part of our own continent, having had their origin in pre-historic Asia, it is impossible to say and, in view of the absolute darkness in which we grope, all theories are futile.
Who acts: men, emigrants, we, view · What happens: be, cross, vanish, wander, have, say · To what, where: emigrants, palaeolithic Europe, present habitat, origin, pre-historic Asia, absolute darkness · Speech: someone speaks here
This is a sentence of «Kulóskap the master, and other Algonkin poems», Opening, part 3. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (men, emigrants, we, view), 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 | Whether | whether | SCONJ | _ | 7 emigrants | mark |
| 2 | they | they | PRON | Case=Nom Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs | 7 emigrants | nsubj |
| 3 | with | with | ADP | _ | 5 peoples | case |
| 4 | other | other | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 5 peoples | amod |
| 5 | peoples | people | NOUN | Number=Plur | 2 they | nmod |
| 6 | were | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 7 emigrants | cop |
| 7 | emigrants | emigrant | NOUN | Number=Plur | root | root |
| 8 | from | from | ADP | _ | 10 Europe | case |
| 9 | palaeolithic | palaeolithic | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 10 Europe | amod |
| 10 | Europe | Europe | PROPN | Number=Sing | 7 emigrants | nmod |
| 11 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 12 crossing | punct |
| 12 | crossing | cross | VERB | VerbForm=Ger | 7 emigrants | acl |
| 13 | by | by | ADP | _ | 14 way | case |
| 14 | way | way | NOUN | Number=Sing | 12 crossing | obl |
| 15 | of | of | ADP | _ | 17 long | case |
| 16 | some | some | DET | PronType=Ind | 17 long | det |
| 17 | long | long | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 14 way | nmod |
| 18 | since | since | ADP | _ | 22 bridge | case |
| 19 | vanished | vanish | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 22 bridge | amod |
| 20 | land | land | NOUN | Number=Sing | 22 bridge | compound |
| 21 | - | - | PUNCT | _ | 20 land | punct |
| 22 | bridge | bridge | NOUN | Number=Sing | 12 crossing | obl |
| 23 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 51 impossible | punct |
| 24 | or | or | CCONJ | _ | 51 impossible | cc |
| 25 | whether | whether | SCONJ | _ | 27 wandered | mark |
| 26 | they | they | PRON | Case=Nom Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs | 27 wandered | nsubj |
| 27 | wandered | wander | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 51 impossible | advcl |
| 28 | into | into | ADP | _ | 31 habitat | case |
| 29 | their | their | PRON | Case=Gen Number=Plur Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 31 habitat | nmod:poss |
| 30 | present | present | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 31 habitat | amod |
| 31 | habitat | habitat | NOUN | Number=Sing | 27 wandered | obl |
| 32 | from | from | ADP | _ | 35 part | case |
| 33 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 35 part | det |
| 34 | western | western | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 35 part | amod |
| 35 | part | part | NOUN | Number=Sing | 27 wandered | obl |
| 36 | of | of | ADP | _ | 39 continent | case |
| 37 | our | our | PRON | Case=Gen Number=Plur Person=1 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 39 continent | nmod:poss |
| 38 | own | own | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 39 continent | amod |
| 39 | continent | continent | NOUN | Number=Sing | 35 part | nmod |
| 40 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 41 having | punct |
| 41 | having | have | VERB | Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part | 27 wandered | advcl |
| 42 | had | have | VERB | Mood=Ind Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 41 having | ccomp |
| 43 | their | their | PRON | Case=Gen Number=Plur Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 44 origin | nmod:poss |
| 44 | origin | origin | NOUN | Number=Sing | 42 had | obj |
| 45 | in | in | ADP | _ | 47 Asia | case |
| 46 | pre-historic | pre-historic | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 47 Asia | amod |
| 47 | Asia | Asia | PROPN | Number=Sing | 42 had | obl |
| 48 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 27 wandered | punct |
| 49 | it | it | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 51 impossible | expl |
| 50 | is | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 51 impossible | cop |
| 51 | impossible | impossible | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 22 bridge | conj |
| 52 | to | to | PART | _ | 53 say | mark |
| 53 | say | say | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 51 impossible | csubj |
| 54 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 70 futile | cc |
| 55 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 57 view | punct |
| 56 | in | in | ADP | _ | 57 view | case |
| 57 | view | view | NOUN | Number=Sing | 70 futile | nsubj |
| 58 | of | of | ADP | _ | 61 darkness | case |
| 59 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 61 darkness | det |
| 60 | absolute | absolute | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 61 darkness | amod |
| 61 | darkness | darkness | NOUN | Number=Sing | 57 view | nmod |
| 62 | in | in | ADP | _ | 63 which | case |
| 63 | which | which | PRON | PronType=Rel | 65 grope | obl |
| 64 | we | we | PRON | Case=Nom Number=Plur Person=1 PronType=Prs | 65 grope | nsubj |
| 65 | grope | grope | NOUN | Number=Sing | 61 darkness | appos |
| 66 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 65 grope | punct |
| 67 | all | all | DET | PronType=Tot | 68 theories | det |
| 68 | theories | theory | NOUN | Number=Plur | 70 futile | nsubj |
| 69 | are | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 70 futile | cop |
| 70 | futile | futile | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 53 say | conj |
| 71 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 7 emigrants | punct |
Pragmatics
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | is a | past | men = man | emigrants | palaeolithic Europe | tree rules | |||
| 2 | cross | gerund | emigrants not said here | since vanished land bridge | by way of some long | vn contiguous_location-47.8-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | |||
| 3 | vanish | participle | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | ||||||
| 4 | wander | past | men = man | men's present habitat | from the western part of our own continent | vn run-51.3.2-1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme into habitat=Destination | |||
| 5 | have | gerund | men = man not said here | tree rules | |||||
| 6 | have | past | men = man not said here | men's origin | pre-historic Asia | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent origin=Patient | |||
| 7 | is | present | emigrants not said here | impossible property | tree rules | ||||
| 8 | say speech: assert | to-infinitive | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent | ||||||
| 9 | grope | we | the absolute darkness | tree rules | |||||
| 10 | is | present | view of the absolute darkness | all theories nsubj; futile property | tree rules | ||||
| 11 | view | the absolute darkness | nom view «cognition transitive»: of=patient |
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.
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