--- title: The battle was evidently fierce, for the legends say that some of th… — Hawaiian Historical Legends · tree and pragmatics description: The battle was evidently fierce, for the legends say that some of the prophet friends who could not escape to their canoes, leaped from the precipitous cliffs to “fly” to the boats, and were dashed to pieces on the rocks below. Who acts: battle, legends, some. A sentence of «Hawaiian Historical Lege --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg66357/8/59/) [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/) / [Paao From Samoa](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg66357/8/) / 59 # Hawaiian Historical Legends, Paao From Samoa, sentence 59 The battle was evidently fierce, for the legends say that some of the prophet friends who could not escape to their canoes, leaped from the precipitous cliffs to “fly” to the boats, and were dashed to pieces on the rocks below. **Who acts:** battle, legends, some · **What happens:** be, say, not escape, leap, fly, dash · **To what, where:** canoes, precipitous cliffs, boats, rocks · **Speech:** someone speaks here This is a sentence of «Hawaiian Historical Legends» by W. D. Westervelt, Paao From Samoa. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (battle, legends, some), 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:pg66357:8:59 # text = The battle was evidently fierce, for the legends say that some of the prophet friends who could not escape to their canoes, leaped from the precipitous cliffs to “fly” to the boats, and were dashed to pieces on the rocks below. 1 The the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 2 det _ _ 2 battle battle NOUN NN Number=Sing 5 nsubj _ _ 3 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 5 cop _ _ 4 evidently evidently ADV RB _ 5 advmod _ _ 5 fierce fierce ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 0 root _ SpaceAfter=No 6 , , PUNCT , _ 10 punct _ _ 7 for for SCONJ IN _ 10 mark _ _ 8 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 9 det _ _ 9 legends legend NOUN NNS Number=Plur 10 nsubj _ _ 10 say say VERB VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 5 parataxis _ _ 11 that that SCONJ IN _ 20 mark _ _ 12 some some DET DT PronType=Ind 20 nsubj _ _ 13 of of ADP IN _ 16 case _ _ 14 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 16 det _ _ 15 prophet prophet NOUN NN Number=Sing 16 compound _ _ 16 friends friend NOUN NNS Number=Plur 12 nmod _ _ 17 who who PRON WP PronType=Rel 20 nsubj _ _ 18 could could AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 20 aux _ _ 19 not not PART RB Polarity=Neg 20 advmod _ _ 20 escape escape VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 10 ccomp _ _ 21 to to ADP IN _ 23 case _ _ 22 their their PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 23 nmod:poss _ _ 23 canoes canoe NOUN NNS Number=Plur 20 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 24 , , PUNCT , _ 25 punct _ _ 25 leaped leap VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 23 acl _ _ 26 from from ADP IN _ 29 case _ _ 27 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 29 det _ _ 28 precipitous precipitous ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 29 amod _ _ 29 cliffs cliff NOUN NNS Number=Plur 25 obl _ _ 30 to to ADP IN _ 32 case _ _ 31 “ " PUNCT `` _ 32 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 32 fly fly VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 25 advcl _ SpaceAfter=No 33 ” " PUNCT '' _ 32 punct _ _ 34 to to ADP IN _ 36 case _ _ 35 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 36 det _ _ 36 boats boat NOUN NNS Number=Plur 32 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 37 , , PUNCT , _ 40 punct _ _ 38 and and CCONJ CC _ 40 cc _ _ 39 were be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 40 aux:pass _ _ 40 dashed dash VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 10 conj _ _ 41 to to ADP IN _ 42 case _ _ 42 pieces piece NOUN NNS Number=Plur 40 obl _ _ 43 on on ADP IN _ 45 case _ _ 44 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 45 det _ _ 45 rocks rock NOUN NNS Number=Plur 40 obl _ _ 46 below below ADV RB _ 40 advmod _ SpaceAfter=No 47 . . PUNCT . _ 5 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **is** | past | the battle | | | | | evidently, fierce *property* | tree rules | | 2 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | the legends | | | | | | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic | | 3 | **not** **escape** | could | some of the prophet friends | | | legends's canoes | | who *nsubj* | vn escape-51.1-1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme to canoe=Initial\_Location | | 4 | **leap** | participle | | legends's canoes *not said here* | | the precipitous cliffs | | | vn run-51.3.2-1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme from cliff=Trajectory | | 5 | **fly** *in a quote* | infinitive | | | | the boats | | | vn run-51.3.2-2-1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme to boat=Destination | | 6 | **dash** | past · passive | the legends *not said here* | | | the rocks | | to pieces; below *property* | vn run-51.3.2-2 «NP V PP.location»: to piece=Destination | 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 58](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg66357/8/58/) - next →: [sentence 60](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg66357/8/60/) - ↑ back to [Paao From Samoa](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg66357/8/)