---
title: It is not proper to tell stories in summer, lest one die; but, if st… — Myths and Folk-lore of the Timiskaming Algonquin… · tree and pragmatics
description: It is not proper to tell stories in summer, lest one die; but, if stories are told, they must be told for ten successive evenings in order to prevent the evil. Who acts: It. A sentence of «Myths and Folk-lore of the Timiskaming Algonquin and Timagami Ojibwa» by Frank G. Speck, Timagami Folk-lore., w
---

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

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It is not proper to tell stories in summer, lest one die; but, if stories are told, they must be told for ten successive evenings in order to prevent the evil.

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**Who acts:** It · **What happens:** not be, tell, prevent · **To what, where:** stories, evil · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is a sentence of «Myths and Folk-lore of the Timiskaming Algonquin and Timagami Ojibwa» by Frank G. Speck, Timagami Folk-lore.. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (It), 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:pg66509:19:2
# text = It is not proper to tell stories in summer, lest one die; but, if stories are told, they must be told for ten successive evenings in order to prevent the evil.
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	4	advmod	_	_
4	proper	proper	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
5	to	to	PART	TO	_	6	mark	_	_
6	tell	tell	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	xcomp	_	_
7	stories	story	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	obj	_	_
8	in	in	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	summer	summer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
11	lest	lest	SCONJ	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	13	nummod	_	_
13	die	die	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	;	;	PUNCT	,	_	25	punct	_	_
15	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	25	cc	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	15	punct	_	_
17	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	20	mark	_	_
18	stories	story	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	20	nsubj:pass	_	_
19	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	20	aux:pass	_	_
20	told	tell	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	25	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	20	punct	_	_
22	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	25	nsubj:pass	_	_
23	must	must	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	25	aux	_	_
24	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	25	aux:pass	_	_
25	told	tell	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	parataxis	_	_
26	for	for	ADP	IN	_	29	case	_	_
27	ten	ten	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	29	nummod	_	_
28	successive	successive	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	29	amod	_	_
29	evenings	evening	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	25	obl	_	_
30	in	in	ADP	IN	_	31	case	_	_
31	order	order	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	29	nmod	_	_
32	to	to	PART	TO	_	33	mark	_	_
33	prevent	prevent	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	25	advcl	_	_
34	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	35	det	_	_
35	evil	evil	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	33	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
36	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **is** | present | It |  |  |  |  | proper *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **tell** *speech: assert* | to-infinitive |  | stories |  |  | summer | lest one die | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent story=Recipient |
| 3 | **tell** *speech: assert* *a condition, not said to happen* | present · passive |  | stories |  |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: subject=Recipient |
| 4 | **tell** *speech: assert* | must · passive |  | stories *= story* |  |  | evening |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: subject=Recipient |
| 5 | **prevent** | to-infinitive |  | the evil |  |  |  |  | vn forbid-64.4-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Causer evil=Theme |

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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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