---
title: The Hawaiians, it is safe to say, had no idea of reading nature-thou… — Hawaiian Legends of Volcanoes (mythology) · tree and pragmatics
description: The Hawaiians, it is safe to say, had no idea of reading nature-thoughts into these expressions, thus making them “nature-myths.” Who acts: it, Hawaiians, idea. A sentence of «Hawaiian Legends of Volcanoes (mythology)» by W. D. Westervelt, How Pele Came to Hawaii, with its dependency tree and the pr
---

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# Hawaiian Legends of Volcanoes (mythology), How Pele Came to Hawaii, sentence 48

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The Hawaiians, it is safe to say, had no idea of reading nature-thoughts into these expressions, thus making them “nature-myths.”

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**Who acts:** it, Hawaiians, idea · **What happens:** be, say, have, read, make · **To what, where:** idea, nature thoughts, expressions, Hawaiians · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is a sentence of «Hawaiian Legends of Volcanoes (mythology)» by W. D. Westervelt, How Pele Came to Hawaii. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (it, Hawaiians, idea), 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:pg66516:5:48
# text = The Hawaiians, it is safe to say, had no idea of reading nature-thoughts into these expressions, thus making them “nature-myths.”
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	Hawaiians	Hawaiian	PROPN	NNPS	Number=Plur	10	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	6	punct	_	_
4	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj	_	_
5	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
6	safe	safe	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	conj	_	_
7	to	to	PART	TO	_	8	mark	_	_
8	say	say	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	2	punct	_	_
10	had	have	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
11	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	12	det	_	_
12	idea	idea	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obj	_	_
13	of	of	SCONJ	IN	_	14	mark	_	_
14	reading	read	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	12	acl	_	_
15	nature	nature	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	15	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	thoughts	thought	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	14	obj	_	_
18	into	into	ADP	IN	_	20	case	_	_
19	these	this	DET	DT	Number=Plur|PronType=Dem	20	det	_	_
20	expressions	expression	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	14	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	23	punct	_	_
22	thus	thus	ADV	RB	_	23	advmod	_	_
23	making	make	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	14	conj	_	_
24	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	23	obj	_	_
25	“	"	PUNCT	``	_	28	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
26	nature	nature	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	28	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
27	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	26	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
28	myths	myth	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	23	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
29	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	10	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
30	”	"	PUNCT	''	_	10	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | it |  |  |  |  | safe *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **say** *speech: assert* | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **have** | past | the Hawaiians | no idea |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent idea=Patient |
| 4 | **read** | gerund | no idea *not said here* | nature thoughts |  | this expressions |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent thought=Topic |
| 5 | **make** | gerund | no idea *not said here* | Hawaiians *= hawaiian* |  |  |  | nature myths *conj*; thus *property* | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset they=Product |

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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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