---
title: The Humuhumu-nukunuku-a-puaa was a fish with a sharp-pointed back, g… — Hawaiian Legends of Volcanoes (mythology) · tree and pragmatics
description: The Humuhumu-nukunuku-a-puaa was a fish with a sharp-pointed back, grunting like a pig. Who acts: Humuhumu, puaa. A sentence of «Hawaiian Legends of Volcanoes (mythology)» by W. D. Westervelt, How Hiiaka Found Wahine-omao, with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of every clause.
---

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# Hawaiian Legends of Volcanoes (mythology), How Hiiaka Found Wahine-omao, sentence 19

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The Humuhumu-nukunuku-a-puaa was a fish with a sharp-pointed back, grunting like a pig.

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**Who acts:** Humuhumu, puaa · **What happens:** puaa, be, point back, grunt · **To what, where:** fish

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This is a sentence of «Hawaiian Legends of Volcanoes (mythology)» by W. D. Westervelt, How Hiiaka Found Wahine-omao. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (Humuhumu, puaa), 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:pg66516:17:19
# text = The Humuhumu-nukunuku-a-puaa was a fish with a sharp-pointed back, grunting like a pig.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
2	Humuhumu	Humuhumu	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	2	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	nukunuku	nukunuku	X	FW	Foreign=Yes	2	dep	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	8	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	6	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	puaa	puaa	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nsubj	_	_
9	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	11	cop	_	_
10	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	fish	fish	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
12	with	with	SCONJ	IN	_	16	mark	_	_
13	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
14	sharp	sharp	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	16	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	14	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	pointed	point	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	11	acl:relcl	_	_
17	back	back	ADV	RB	_	16	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	19	punct	_	_
19	grunting	grunt	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	16	advcl	_	_
20	like	like	ADP	IN	_	22	case	_	_
21	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	22	det	_	_
22	pig	pig	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	19	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	11	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **puaa** |  | Humuhumu |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **is a** | past | the puaa | a fish |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **point back** | participle |  | a fish *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn wink-40.3.1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 4 | **grunt** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  | like a pig | vn animal\_sounds-38 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

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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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