---
title: Then his head began to get small like a snake’s head and he poked it… — Myths and Folk-lore of the Timiskaming Algonquin… · tree and pragmatics
description: Then his head began to get small like a snake’s head and he poked it inside the skull and began eating a great snack. Who acts: 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 pr
---

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# Myths and Folk-lore of the Timiskaming Algonquin and Timagami Ojibwa, Wiske·djak Cycle., part 1, sentence 132

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Then his head began to get small like a snake’s head and he poked it inside the skull and began eating a great snack.

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**Who acts:** head · **What happens:** begin, get, poke, eat · **To what, where:** snake, skull, great snack

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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 (head), 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:pg66509:5:132
# text = Then his head began to get small like a snake’s head and he poked it inside the skull and began eating a great snack.
1	Then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	4	advmod	_	_
2	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	3	nmod:poss	_	_
3	head	head	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	began	begin	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	to	to	PART	TO	_	6	mark	_	_
6	get	get	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	xcomp	_	_
7	small	small	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	xcomp	_	_
8	like	like	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	_	_
13	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	15	cc	_	_
14	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	15	nsubj	_	_
15	poked	poke	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	conj	_	_
16	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	15	obj	_	_
17	inside	inside	ADP	IN	_	19	case	_	_
18	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	19	det	_	_
19	skull	skull	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	obl	_	_
20	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	21	cc	_	_
21	began	begin	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	conj	_	_
22	eating	eat	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	21	xcomp	_	_
23	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	25	det	_	_
24	great	great	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	25	amod	_	_
25	snack	snack	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	22	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
26	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **begin** | past | Head's head |  |  |  | then |  | vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality |
| 2 | **get** | to-infinitive | Head's head *not said here* |  |  |  |  | small *property* | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Experiencer |
| 3 | **poke** | past | Head | snake |  | the skull |  |  | vn poke-19-1-1-1 «NP V NP.theme»: agent=Agent it=Theme |
| 4 | **begin** | past | Head's head *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality |
| 5 | **eat** | gerund | Head's head *not said here* | a great snack |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent snack=Patient |

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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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