---
title: So they sent a big snake to twist around it and to try to upset it,… — Myths and Folk-lore of the Timiskaming Algonquin… · tree and pragmatics
description: So they sent a big snake to twist around it and to try to upset it, but the snake did not succeed in doing this, for Nenebuc stood too firm. Who acts: Lions, snake, Nenebuc. A sentence of «Myths and Folk-lore of the Timiskaming Algonquin and Timagami Ojibwa» by Frank G. Speck, Myths and Folk-lore of
---

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# Myths and Folk-lore of the Timiskaming Algonquin and Timagami Ojibwa, Myths and Folk-lore of the Timagami Ojibwa., part 2, sentence 10

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So they sent a big snake to twist around it and to try to upset it, but the snake did not succeed in doing this, for Nenebuc stood too firm.

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**Who acts:** Lions, snake, Nenebuc · **What happens:** send, twist, try, upset, not succeed, do · **To what, where:** big snake, snake, this

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This is a sentence of «Myths and Folk-lore of the Timiskaming Algonquin and Timagami Ojibwa» by Frank G. Speck, Myths and Folk-lore of the Timagami Ojibwa., part 2. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (Lions, snake, Nenebuc), 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:pg66509:12:10
# text = So they sent a big snake to twist around it and to try to upset it, but the snake did not succeed in doing this, for Nenebuc stood too firm.
1	So	so	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
2	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
3	sent	send	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	big	big	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	snake	snake	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
7	to	to	PART	TO	_	8	mark	_	_
8	twist	twist	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	advcl	_	_
9	around	around	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	obl	_	_
11	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	13	cc	_	_
12	to	to	PART	TO	_	13	mark	_	_
13	try	try	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	8	conj	_	_
14	to	to	PART	TO	_	15	mark	_	_
15	upset	upset	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	13	xcomp	_	_
16	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	15	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	23	punct	_	_
18	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	23	cc	_	_
19	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	20	det	_	_
20	snake	snake	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	23	nsubj	_	_
21	did	do	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	23	aux	_	_
22	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	23	advmod	_	_
23	succeed	succeed	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	conj	_	_
24	in	in	SCONJ	IN	_	25	mark	_	_
25	doing	do	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	23	advcl	_	_
26	this	this	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	25	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
27	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	30	punct	_	_
28	for	for	SCONJ	IN	_	30	mark	_	_
29	Nenebuc	Nenebuc	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	30	nsubj	_	_
30	stood	stand	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
31	too	too	ADV	RB	_	32	advmod	_	_
32	firm	firm	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	30	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
33	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **send** | past | Lions *= lion* | a big snake |  |  |  |  | vn confine-92-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent snake=Theme |
| 2 | **twist** | to-infinitive | Lions *= lion* *not said here* |  |  |  |  | around snake | vn roll-51.3.1 «NP V PP.trajectory»: agent=Theme around it=Trajectory |
| 3 | **try** | to-infinitive | Lions *= lion* *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn try-61.1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality |
| 4 | **upset** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | Lions *= lion* *not said here* | snake |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus it=Experiencer |
| 5 | **not** **succeed** | past · do-support | the snake |  |  |  |  |  | vn succeed-74-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 6 | **do** | gerund | the snake *not said here* | this |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent this=Eventuality |
| 7 | **stand** | past | Nenebuc |  |  |  |  | firm *property* | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

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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:** «Myths and Folk-lore of the Timiskaming Algonquin and Timagami Ojibwa» by Frank G. Speck, Project Gutenberg book 66509 (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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