---
title: The riders of shorter sleds would grasp the sticks along the edges,… — Hawaiian Historical Legends · tree and pragmatics
description: The riders of shorter sleds would grasp the sticks along the edges, using them as handles, raise the sled and run along the brow of the hill, giving the sled a hard push down the declivity as they threw themselves flat on the narrow board. Who acts: riders, sticks. A sentence of «Hawaiian Historical
---

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# Hawaiian Historical Legends, The Sons of Kii, sentence 161

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The riders of shorter sleds would grasp the sticks along the edges, using them as handles, raise the sled and run along the brow of the hill, giving the sled a hard push down the declivity as they threw themselves flat on the narrow board.

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**Who acts:** riders, sticks · **What happens:** grasp, use, raise, run, give, throw · **To what, where:** sticks, sled, brow, narrow board

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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 (riders, sticks), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree.

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**Mova's own parse.** This tree may be wrong.

## The tree {#tree}

```conllu
# sent_id = book:pg66357:7:161
# text = The riders of shorter sleds would grasp the sticks along the edges, using them as handles, raise the sled and run along the brow of the hill, giving the sled a hard push down the declivity as they threw themselves flat on the narrow board.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	riders	rider	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nsubj	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	shorter	short	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	5	amod	_	_
5	sleds	sled	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nmod	_	_
6	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	7	aux	_	_
7	grasp	grasp	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	sticks	stick	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	obj	_	_
10	along	along	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	edges	edge	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
14	using	use	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	7	advcl	_	_
15	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	14	obj	_	_
16	as	as	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
17	handles	handle	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	14	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	19	punct	_	_
19	raise	raise	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	conj	_	_
20	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	21	det	_	_
21	sled	sled	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	19	obj	_	_
22	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	23	cc	_	_
23	run	run	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	19	conj	_	_
24	along	along	ADP	IN	_	26	case	_	_
25	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	26	det	_	_
26	brow	brow	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	23	obl	_	_
27	of	of	ADP	IN	_	29	case	_	_
28	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	29	det	_	_
29	hill	hill	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	26	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
30	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	31	punct	_	_
31	giving	give	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	23	advcl	_	_
32	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	33	det	_	_
33	sled	sled	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	31	obj	_	_
34	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	36	det	_	_
35	hard	hard	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	36	amod	_	_
36	push	push	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	31	obj	_	_
37	down	down	ADP	IN	_	39	case	_	_
38	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	39	det	_	_
39	declivity	declivity	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	31	obl	_	_
40	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	42	mark	_	_
41	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	42	nsubj	_	_
42	threw	throw	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	31	advcl	_	_
43	themselves	themselves	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes	42	obj	_	_
44	flat	flat	ADV	RB	_	42	advmod	_	_
45	on	on	ADP	IN	_	48	case	_	_
46	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	48	det	_	_
47	narrow	narrow	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	48	amod	_	_
48	board	board	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	42	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
49	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **grasp** | would | the riders of shorter sleds | the sticks |  |  |  | along the edges | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer stick=Stimulus |
| 2 | **use** | gerund | the riders of shorter sleds *not said here* | sticks *= stick* |  |  |  | as handles | vn spend\_time-104 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Agent they=Duration as handle=Attribute |
| 3 | **raise** | infinitive | the riders of shorter sleds *not said here* | the sled |  |  |  |  | vn put\_direction-9.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent sled=Theme |
| 4 | **run** | infinitive | the riders of shorter sleds *not said here* |  |  | the brow of the hill |  |  | vn run-51.3.2-2-1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme along brow=Trajectory |
| 5 | **give** | gerund | the riders of shorter sleds *not said here* | the sled |  |  |  | down the declivity; a hard push *obj* | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP-Dative NP»: agent=Agent sled=Recipient push=Theme |
| 6 | **throw** | past | sticks *= stick* | sticks *= stick* |  | the narrow board |  | flat *property* | vn throw-17.1-1-1 «NP V NP PP.destinations»: agent=Agent themselves=Theme on board=Destination |

<!-- .note -->
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.

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**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.

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