---
title: He said that the markings on the birch bark were caused by Whisky Ja… — Myths and Folk-lore of the Timiskaming Algonquin… · tree and pragmatics
description: He said that the markings on the birch bark were caused by Whisky Jack when he struck the bark, which was once clear, with a balsam bough and then threw a bird at the tree. Who acts: Bark, Whisky Jack. A sentence of «Myths and Folk-lore of the Timiskaming Algonquin and Timagami Ojibwa» by Frank G. S
---

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# Myths and Folk-lore of the Timiskaming Algonquin and Timagami Ojibwa, Appendix: Notes on Timagami Folk-lore., sentence 10

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He said that the markings on the birch bark were caused by Whisky Jack when he struck the bark, which was once clear, with a balsam bough and then threw a bird at the tree.

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**Who acts:** Bark, Whisky Jack · **What happens:** say, cause, strike, be, throw · **To what, where:** markings, bark, bird, tree · **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, Appendix: Notes on 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 (Bark, Whisky Jack), 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:pg66509:20:10
# text = He said that the markings on the birch bark were caused by Whisky Jack when he struck the bark, which was once clear, with a balsam bough and then threw a bird at the tree.
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	11	mark	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	markings	marking	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	11	nsubj:pass	_	_
6	on	on	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	birch	birch	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	compound	_	_
9	bark	bark	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	_
10	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	11	aux:pass	_	_
11	caused	cause	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	2	ccomp	_	_
12	by	by	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	Whisky	Whisky	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	14	compound	_	_
14	Jack	Jack	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	11	obl:agent	_	_
15	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	17	advmod	_	_
16	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	17	nsubj	_	_
17	struck	strike	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	11	conj	_	_
18	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	19	det	_	_
19	bark	bark	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	24	punct	_	_
21	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	24	nsubj	_	_
22	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	24	cop	_	_
23	once	once	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Mult	24	advmod	_	_
24	clear	clear	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	19	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
25	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	29	punct	_	_
26	with	with	ADP	IN	_	29	case	_	_
27	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	29	det	_	_
28	balsam	balsam	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	29	compound	_	_
29	bough	bough	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	24	conj	_	_
30	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	32	cc	_	_
31	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	32	advmod	_	_
32	threw	throw	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	17	conj	_	_
33	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	34	det	_	_
34	bird	bird	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	32	obj	_	_
35	at	at	ADP	IN	_	37	case	_	_
36	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	37	det	_	_
37	tree	tree	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	32	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
38	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | Bark |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **cause** | past · passive | Whisky Jack | the markings on the birch bark |  |  |  |  | vn engender-27.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Precondition subject=Patient |
| 3 | **strike** | past | Bark | the bark |  |  |  |  | vn hit-18.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent bark=Patient |
| 4 | **is** | past | the bark |  |  |  |  | a balsam bough *conj*; clear, once *property* | tree rules |
| 5 | **throw** | past | Bark *not said here* | a bird |  | the tree | then |  | vn throw-17.1-1-1 «NP V NP PP.destinations»: agent=Agent bird=Theme at tree=Destination |

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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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