---
title: I wish my head was as small as a snake’s head, then I could get it i… — Myths and Folk-lore of the Timiskaming Algonquin… · tree and pragmatics
description: I wish my head was as small as a snake’s head, then I could get it in.” Who acts: I, head. A sentence of «Myths and Folk-lore of the Timiskaming Algonquin and Timagami Ojibwa» by Frank G. Speck, Wiske·djak Cycle., part 1, with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of every clause.
---

<!-- md -->
[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg66509/5/131/)

<!-- crumbs -->
[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/) / [Myths and Folk-lore of the Timiskaming…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg66509/) / [Wiske·djak Cycle., part 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg66509/5/) / 131

# Myths and Folk-lore of the Timiskaming Algonquin and Timagami Ojibwa, Wiske·djak Cycle., part 1, sentence 131

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
I wish my head was as small as a snake’s head, then I could get it in.”

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** I, head · **What happens:** wish, be, get in · **To what, where:** snake · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is a sentence of «Myths and Folk-lore of the Timiskaming Algonquin and Timagami Ojibwa» by Frank G. Speck, Wiske·djak Cycle., part 1. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (I, head), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree.

<!-- .note-en -->
**Mova's own parse.** This tree may be wrong.

## The tree {#tree}

```conllu
# sent_id = book:pg66509:5:131
# text = I wish my head was as small as a snake’s head, then I could get it in.”
1	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	wish	wish	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	my	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	4	nmod:poss	_	_
4	head	head	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
5	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
6	as	as	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
7	small	small	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	ccomp	_	_
8	as	as	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
9	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	snake	snake	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	’s	's	PART	POS	_	10	case	_	_
12	head	head	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	17	punct	_	_
14	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	17	advmod	_	_
15	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	17	nsubj	_	_
16	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	17	aux	_	_
17	get	get	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	parataxis	_	_
18	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	17	obj	_	_
19	in	in	ADP	RP	_	17	compound:prt	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	”	"	PUNCT	''	_	2	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **wish** | present | I |  |  |  |  |  | vn wish-62 «NP V for NP S\_INF»: agent=Pivot |
| 2 | **is** | past | my head |  |  |  |  | as a snake's head; small *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **get in** | could | I | snake |  |  | then |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer it=Stimulus |

<!-- .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.

<!-- div src -->

**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.

<!-- /div -->

<!-- pn -->
- ← previous: [sentence 130](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg66509/5/130/)
- next →: [sentence 132](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg66509/5/132/)
- ↑ back to [Wiske·djak Cycle., part 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg66509/5/)