--- title: Doing his very best to prevent betrayal by any loosened grasp in any… — Hawaiian Historical Legends · tree and pragmatics description: Doing his very best to prevent betrayal by any loosened grasp in any direction, Opale suddenly swept one foot with terrific force against his antagonist’s leg, at the same time pulling him to one side; but the half second’s unconscious loosening of the muscles preparatory to Opale’s action gave Maki --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg66357/7/112/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [tales](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/) / [Hawaiian Historical Legends](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg66357/) / [The Sons of Kii](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg66357/7/) / 112 # Hawaiian Historical Legends, The Sons of Kii, sentence 112 Doing his very best to prevent betrayal by any loosened grasp in any direction, Opale suddenly swept one foot with terrific force against his antagonist’s leg, at the same time pulling him to one side; but the half second’s unconscious loosening of the muscles preparatory to Opale’s action gave Makima notice, and even as Opale’s foot struck him, he raised the unbalanced chief and whirled him over his head, at the same time by a whirlwind motion preserving his own equilibrium. **Who acts:** Opale, same time, unconscious loosening, foot, whirlwind motion, half second · **What happens:** do, prevent, loosen, sweep, pull, give · **To what, where:** betrayal, direction, one foot, Opale, one side, Makima notice This is a sentence of «Hawaiian Historical Legends» by W. D. Westervelt, The Sons of Kii. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (Opale, same time, unconscious loosening, foot), 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 {#tree} ```conllu # sent_id = book:pg66357:7:112 # text = Doing his very best to prevent betrayal by any loosened grasp in any direction, Opale suddenly swept one foot with terrific force against his antagonist’s leg, at the same time pulling him to one side; but the half second’s unconscious loosening of the muscles preparatory to Opale’s action gave Makima notice, and even as Opale’s foot struck him, he raised the unbalanced chief and whirled him over his head, at the same time by a whirlwind motion preserving his own equilibrium. 1 Doing do VERB VBG VerbForm=Ger 4 amod _ _ 2 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 4 nmod:poss _ _ 3 very very ADV RB _ 4 advmod _ _ 4 best good ADJ JJS Degree=Sup 0 root _ _ 5 to to PART TO _ 6 mark _ _ 6 prevent prevent VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 4 csubj _ _ 7 betrayal betrayal NOUN NN Number=Sing 6 obj _ _ 8 by by ADP IN _ 11 case _ _ 9 any any DET DT PronType=Ind 11 det _ _ 10 loosened loosen VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 11 amod _ _ 11 grasp grasp NOUN NN Number=Sing 6 obl _ _ 12 in in ADP IN _ 14 case _ _ 13 any any DET DT PronType=Ind 14 det _ _ 14 direction direction NOUN NN Number=Sing 6 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 15 , , PUNCT , _ 18 punct _ _ 16 Opale Opale PROPN NNP Number=Sing 18 nsubj _ _ 17 suddenly suddenly ADV RB _ 18 advmod _ _ 18 swept sweep VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 4 conj _ _ 19 one one NUM CD NumForm=Word|NumType=Card 20 nummod _ _ 20 foot foot NOUN NN Number=Sing 18 obj _ _ 21 with with ADP IN _ 23 case _ _ 22 terrific terrific ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 23 amod _ _ 23 force force NOUN NN Number=Sing 18 obl _ _ 24 against against ADP IN _ 28 case _ _ 25 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 26 nmod:poss _ _ 26 antagonist antagonist NOUN NN Number=Sing 28 nmod:poss _ SpaceAfter=No 27 ’s 's PART POS _ 26 case _ _ 28 leg leg NOUN NN Number=Sing 23 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 29 , , PUNCT , _ 33 punct _ _ 30 at at ADP IN _ 33 case _ _ 31 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 33 det _ _ 32 same same ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 33 amod _ _ 33 time time NOUN NN Number=Sing 18 obl _ _ 34 pulling pull VERB VBG VerbForm=Ger 33 acl _ _ 35 him he PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 34 obj _ _ 36 to to ADP IN _ 38 case _ _ 37 one one NUM CD NumForm=Word|NumType=Card 38 nummod _ _ 38 side side NOUN NN Number=Sing 34 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 39 ; ; PUNCT : _ 55 punct _ _ 40 but but CCONJ CC _ 46 cc _ _ 41 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 43 det _ _ 42 half half NOUN NN Number=Sing|NumForm=Word|NumType=Frac 43 compound _ _ 43 second second NOUN NN Number=Sing 46 nmod:poss _ SpaceAfter=No 44 ’s 's PART POS _ 43 case _ _ 45 unconscious unconscious ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 46 amod _ _ 46 loosening loosening NOUN NN Number=Sing 55 nsubj _ _ 47 of of ADP IN _ 50 case _ _ 48 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 50 det _ _ 49 muscles muscle NOUN NNS Number=Plur 50 compound _ _ 50 preparatory preparatory NOUN NN Number=Sing 46 nmod _ _ 51 to to ADP IN _ 54 case _ _ 52 Opale Opale PROPN NNP Number=Sing 54 nmod:poss _ SpaceAfter=No 53 ’s 's PART POS _ 52 case _ _ 54 action action NOUN NN Number=Sing 50 nmod _ _ 55 gave give VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 18 parataxis _ _ 56 Makima Makima PROPN NNP Number=Sing 57 compound _ _ 57 notice notice NOUN NN Number=Sing 55 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 58 , , PUNCT , _ 65 punct _ _ 59 and and CCONJ CC _ 65 cc _ _ 60 even even ADV RB _ 64 advmod _ _ 61 as as ADP IN _ 64 case _ _ 62 Opale Opale PROPN NNP Number=Sing 64 nmod:poss _ SpaceAfter=No 63 ’s 's PART POS _ 62 case _ _ 64 foot foot NOUN NN Number=Sing 65 nsubj _ _ 65 struck strike VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 55 conj _ _ 66 him he PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 65 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 67 , , PUNCT , _ 69 punct _ _ 68 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 69 nsubj _ _ 69 raised raise VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 65 conj _ _ 70 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 72 det _ _ 71 unbalanced unbalanced ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 72 amod _ _ 72 chief chief NOUN NN Number=Sing 69 obj _ _ 73 and and CCONJ CC _ 74 cc _ _ 74 whirled whirl VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 69 conj _ _ 75 him he PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 74 obj _ _ 76 over over ADP IN _ 78 case _ _ 77 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 78 nmod:poss _ _ 78 head head NOUN NN Number=Sing 74 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 79 , , PUNCT , _ 83 punct _ _ 80 at at ADP IN _ 83 case _ _ 81 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 83 det _ _ 82 same same ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 83 amod _ _ 83 time time NOUN NN Number=Sing 74 obl:unmarked _ _ 84 by by ADP IN _ 87 case _ _ 85 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 87 det _ _ 86 whirlwind whirlwind ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 87 amod _ _ 87 motion motion NOUN NN Number=Sing 83 nmod _ _ 88 preserving preserve VERB VBG VerbForm=Ger 87 acl _ _ 89 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 91 nmod:poss _ _ 90 own own ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 91 amod _ _ 91 equilibrium equilibrium NOUN NN Number=Sing 88 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 92 . . PUNCT . _ 4 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **do** | gerund | | | | | | | vn act-114-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent | | 2 | **prevent** | to-infinitive | | betrayal | | any direction | | by any loosened grasp | vn forbid-64.4-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Causer betrayal=Theme | | 3 | **loosen** | participle | | | | | | | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient | | 4 | **sweep** | past | Opale | one foot | | | time | with terrific force against antagonist's antagonist's leg; suddenly *property* | vn run-51.3.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme foot=Trajectory | | 5 | **pull** | gerund | the same time *not said here* | Opale | | one side | | | vn carry-11.4 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent he=Theme to side=Destination | | 6 | **give** | past | the half second's unconscious loosening of the muscles preparatory to Opale's action | Makima notice | | | | | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent notice=Theme | | 7 | **strike** | past | Opale's foot | Opale | | | | | vn hit-18.1-1 «NP V NP PP»: agent=Agent he=Instrument | | 8 | **raise** | past | Opale | the unbalanced chief | | | | | vn put\_direction-9.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent chief=Theme | | 9 | **whirl** | past | Opale *not said here* | Opale | | antagonist's head | time | | vn coil-9.6 «NP V NP PP.location»: agent=Agent he=Theme over head=Destination | | 10 | **preserve** | gerund | a whirlwind motion *not said here* | antagonist's own equilibrium | | | | | vn defend-72.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent equilibrium=Beneficiary | | 12 | **loosen** | | the half second | the muscles preparatory to Opale's action | | | | | nom loosening «event transitive»: poss=agent of=patient | | 13 | **act** | | Opale | | | | | | nom action «act intransitive»: 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:** «Hawaiian Historical Legends» by W. D. Westervelt, Project Gutenberg book 66357 (public domain in the USA). **Tree:** Mova's own parse, Elamur Cosmic License. **Frames:** Mova's frames reader (`prag`), the chapter read in order. - ← previous: [sentence 111](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg66357/7/111/) - next →: [sentence 113](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg66357/7/113/) - ↑ back to [The Sons of Kii](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg66357/7/)