Kulóskap the master, and other Algonkin poems, Opening, part 5, sentence 71
Now ’tis of old the custom When an Indian seeks a wife, Be it from her father or friends, He makes small ado about it, And only utters two words Which mean in the Micmac language: “I am tired of living alone.”
Who acts: Indian, custom, two words · What happens: seek, be, make, utter, mean, live · To what, where: wife, custom, small ado, two words · Speech: someone speaks here
This is a sentence of «Kulóskap the master, and other Algonkin poems», Opening, part 5. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (Indian, custom, two words), 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 | Now | now | ADV | PronType=Dem | 5 old | advmod |
| 2 | ’ | ' | PUNCT | _ | 1 Now | punct |
| 3 | tis | tis | NOUN | Number=Sing | 5 old | advmod |
| 4 | of | of | ADP | _ | 3 tis | fixed |
| 5 | old | old | ADJ | Degree=Pos | root | root |
| 6 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 7 custom | det |
| 7 | custom | custom | NOUN | Number=Sing | 5 old | nsubj |
| 8 | When | when | SCONJ | _ | 11 seeks | mark |
| 9 | an | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 10 Indian | det |
| 10 | Indian | Indian | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 11 seeks | nsubj |
| 11 | seeks | seek | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 5 old | advcl |
| 12 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 13 wife | det |
| 13 | wife | wife | NOUN | Number=Sing | 11 seeks | obj |
| 14 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 16 it | punct |
| 15 | Be | be | AUX | VerbForm=Inf | 16 it | cop |
| 16 | it | it | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 24 makes | nsubj |
| 17 | from | from | ADP | _ | 19 father | case |
| 18 | her | her | PRON | Case=Gen Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 19 father | nmod:poss |
| 19 | father | father | NOUN | Number=Sing | 16 it | nmod |
| 20 | or | or | CCONJ | _ | 21 friends | cc |
| 21 | friends | friend | NOUN | Number=Plur | 19 father | conj |
| 22 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 19 father | punct |
| 23 | He | he | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 24 makes | nsubj |
| 24 | makes | make | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 5 old | parataxis |
| 25 | small | small | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 26 ado | amod |
| 26 | ado | ado | NOUN | Number=Sing | 24 makes | obj |
| 27 | about | about | ADP | _ | 28 it | case |
| 28 | it | it | PRON | Case=Acc Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 26 ado | nmod |
| 29 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 32 utters | punct |
| 30 | And | and | CCONJ | _ | 32 utters | cc |
| 31 | only | only | ADV | _ | 32 utters | advmod |
| 32 | utters | utter | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 24 makes | conj |
| 33 | two | two | NUM | NumForm=Word NumType=Card | 34 words | nummod |
| 34 | words | word | NOUN | Number=Plur | 32 utters | obj |
| 35 | Which | which | PRON | PronType=Rel | 36 mean | nsubj |
| 36 | mean | mean | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 34 words | acl:relcl |
| 37 | in | in | ADP | _ | 40 language | case |
| 38 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 40 language | det |
| 39 | Micmac | Micmac | PROPN | Number=Sing | 40 language | compound |
| 40 | language | language | NOUN | Number=Sing | 36 mean | obl |
| 41 | : | : | PUNCT | _ | 45 tired | punct |
| 42 | “ | " | PUNCT | _ | 45 tired | punct |
| 43 | I | I | PRON | Case=Nom Number=Sing Person=1 PronType=Prs | 45 tired | nsubj |
| 44 | am | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=1 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 45 tired | cop |
| 45 | tired | tired | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 32 utters | advcl |
| 46 | of | of | SCONJ | _ | 47 living | mark |
| 47 | living | live | VERB | Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part | 45 tired | advcl |
| 48 | alone | alone | ADV | _ | 47 living | advmod |
| 49 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 5 old | punct |
| 50 | ” | " | PUNCT | _ | 5 old | punct |
Pragmatics
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | seek | present | a Indian | a wife | vn hunt-35.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent wife=Theme | ||||
| 2 | is a | infinitive | custom | from wife's father or friends | tree rules | ||||
| 3 | make | present | custom | small ado | about ado; many nsubj | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.material V NP»: agent=Material ado=Product | |||
| 4 | utter speech: other | present | custom not said here | two words | vn say-37.7-1 «NP V NP.topic»: agent=Agent word=Topic | ||||
| 5 | mean | present | two words | in the Micmac language | vn representation-110.1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Pivot in language=Attribute | ||||
| 6 | is in a quote | present | custom | tired property | tree rules | ||||
| 7 | live in a quote | gerund | custom not said here | alone property | vn exist-47.1-1 «NP V»: agent=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: «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/pg78673/5/71/