---
title: The general rule, then, is that the accent falls on the penult; but… — Hawaiian Legends of Volcanoes (mythology) · tree and pragmatics
description: The general rule, then, is that the accent falls on the penult; but there are many exceptions and some words which look the same to the eye take on entirely different meanings by different tones, accents, or inflections. Who acts: general rule, words, many exceptions. A sentence of «Hawaiian Legends
---

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# Hawaiian Legends of Volcanoes (mythology), Opening, sentence 47

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The general rule, then, is that the accent falls on the penult; but there are many exceptions and some words which look the same to the eye take on entirely different meanings by different tones, accents, or inflections.

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**Who acts:** general rule, words, many exceptions · **What happens:** be, look, take on · **To what, where:** penult, same, different meanings

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This is a sentence of «Hawaiian Legends of Volcanoes (mythology)» by W. D. Westervelt, Opening. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (general rule, words, many exceptions), 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:pg66516:1:47
# text = The general rule, then, is that the accent falls on the penult; but there are many exceptions and some words which look the same to the eye take on entirely different meanings by different tones, accents, or inflections.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	general	general	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	rule	rule	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	3	punct	_	_
5	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	11	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	5	punct	_	_
7	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	11	cop	_	_
8	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	11	mark	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	accent	accent	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nsubj	_	_
11	falls	fall	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
12	on	on	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	penult	penult	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	18	punct	_	_
16	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	18	cc	_	_
17	there	there	PRON	EX	PronType=Dem	18	expl	_	_
18	are	be	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	11	conj	_	_
19	many	many	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	20	amod	_	_
20	exceptions	exception	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	31	nsubj	_	_
21	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	23	cc	_	_
22	some	some	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	23	det	_	_
23	words	word	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	20	conj	_	_
24	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	25	nsubj	_	_
25	look	look	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	23	acl:relcl	_	_
26	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	27	det	_	_
27	same	same	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	25	obj	_	_
28	to	to	ADP	IN	_	30	case	_	_
29	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	30	det	_	_
30	eye	eye	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	25	obl	_	_
31	take	take	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	18	ccomp	_	_
32	on	on	ADP	RP	_	31	compound:prt	_	_
33	entirely	entirely	ADV	RB	_	34	advmod	_	_
34	different	different	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	35	amod	_	_
35	meanings	meaning	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	31	obj	_	_
36	by	by	ADP	IN	_	38	case	_	_
37	different	different	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	38	amod	_	_
38	tones	tone	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	31	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
39	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	40	punct	_	_
40	accents	accent	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	38	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
41	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	43	punct	_	_
42	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	43	cc	_	_
43	inflections	inflection	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	38	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
44	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	11	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | the general rule |  |  | the penult | then | the accent *nsubj*; fall *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **be** | present | the general rule *not said here* |  |  | there |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **look** | present | some words | the same |  |  |  | to the eye | vn seem-109-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme same=Attribute |
| 4 | **take on** | present | many exceptions and some words | different meanings |  |  |  | by different tones and accents or inflections | vn adopt-93.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent meaning=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:** «Hawaiian Legends of Volcanoes (mythology)» by W. D. Westervelt, Project Gutenberg book 66516 (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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