---
title: But when he tried to get his head clear of the skull, he could not,… — Myths and Folk-lore of the Timiskaming Algonquin… · tree and pragmatics
description: But when he tried to get his head clear of the skull, he could not, because his head had turned back to its original size and was fast inside the skull. 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, 
---

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# Myths and Folk-lore of the Timiskaming Algonquin and Timagami Ojibwa, Wiske·djak Cycle., part 1, sentence 135

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But when he tried to get his head clear of the skull, he could not, because his head had turned back to its original size and was fast inside the skull.

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**Who acts:** Head · **What happens:** try, get, turn back, be · **To what, where:** head, original size, skull

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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:pg66509:5:135
# text = But when he tried to get his head clear of the skull, he could not, because his head had turned back to its original size and was fast inside the skull.
1	But	but	CCONJ	CC	_	4	cc	_	_
2	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	4	advmod	_	_
3	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
4	tried	try	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	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	8	nmod:poss	_	_
8	head	head	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	_
9	clear	clear	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	xcomp	_	_
10	of	of	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	skull	skull	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	4	punct	_	_
14	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	15	nsubj	_	_
15	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	obj	_	_
16	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	15	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	22	punct	_	_
18	because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	22	mark	_	_
19	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	20	nmod:poss	_	_
20	head	head	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	22	nsubj	_	_
21	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	22	aux	_	_
22	turned	turn	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	4	parataxis	_	_
23	back	back	ADV	RB	_	22	advmod	_	_
24	to	to	ADP	IN	_	27	case	_	_
25	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	27	nmod:poss	_	_
26	original	original	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	27	amod	_	_
27	size	size	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	22	obl	_	_
28	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	30	cc	_	_
29	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	30	cop	_	_
30	fast	fast	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	22	conj	_	_
31	inside	inside	ADP	IN	_	33	case	_	_
32	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	33	det	_	_
33	skull	skull	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	30	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
34	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **try** | past | Head |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **get** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | Head *not said here* | Head's head |  |  |  | clear *property* | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer head=Stimulus |
| 3 | **turn back** | past · perfect | Head's head |  |  | Skull's original size |  |  | vn banish-10.2 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent to size=Destination |
| 4 | **is** | past | Head's head *not said here* |  |  | the skull |  | fast *property* | tree rules |

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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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