---
title: The Polynesian ear is as nice in marking the slightest variations in… — Hawaiian Legends of Volcanoes (mythology) · tree and pragmatics
description: The Polynesian ear is as nice in marking the slightest variations in vowel sound as it is dull in distinguishing consonants. Who acts: Polynesian ear, ear. A sentence of «Hawaiian Legends of Volcanoes (mythology)» by W. D. Westervelt, Polynesian Language, with its dependency tree and the pragmatics 
---

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# Hawaiian Legends of Volcanoes (mythology), Polynesian Language, sentence 4

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The Polynesian ear is as nice in marking the slightest variations in vowel sound as it is dull in distinguishing consonants.

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**Who acts:** Polynesian ear, ear · **What happens:** be, mark · **To what, where:** slightest variations, vowel sound, distinguishing consonants

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This is a sentence of «Hawaiian Legends of Volcanoes (mythology)» by W. D. Westervelt, Polynesian Language. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (Polynesian ear, ear), 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:pg66516:31:4
# text = The Polynesian ear is as nice in marking the slightest variations in vowel sound as it is dull in distinguishing consonants.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	Polynesian	polynesian	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	ear	ear	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
4	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
5	as	as	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	nice	nice	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
7	in	in	SCONJ	IN	_	8	mark	_	_
8	marking	mark	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	6	advcl	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
10	slightest	slight	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	11	amod	_	_
11	variations	variation	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	obj	_	_
12	in	in	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	vowel	vowel	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	compound	_	_
14	sound	sound	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	_
15	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	18	mark	_	_
16	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	18	nsubj	_	_
17	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	18	cop	_	_
18	dull	dull	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	advcl	_	_
19	in	in	ADP	IN	_	21	case	_	_
20	distinguishing	distinguishing	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	21	amod	_	_
21	consonants	consonant	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	18	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | the Polynesian ear |  |  |  |  | nice *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **mark** | gerund | the Polynesian ear *not said here* | the slightest variations |  | vowel sound |  |  | vn image\_impression-25.1 «NP V NP.theme PP.destination»: agent=Agent variation=Theme in sound=Destination |
| 3 | **is** | present | ear |  |  | distinguishing consonants |  | dull *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:** «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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