---
title: They were both strong men, and at length the shaft broke, and Shield… — The Punishment of the Stingy, and Other Indian S… · tree and pragmatics
description: They were both strong men, and at length the shaft broke, and Shield Quiver held the piece on which was the head. Who acts: Snakes, shaft, Shield, piece. A sentence of «The Punishment of the Stingy, and Other Indian Stories» by George Bird Grinnell, Shield Quiver’s Wife, with its dependency tree and
---

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# The Punishment of the Stingy, and Other Indian Stories, Shield Quiver’s Wife, sentence 78

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They were both strong men, and at length the shaft broke, and Shield Quiver held the piece on which was the head.

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**Who acts:** Snakes, shaft, Shield, piece · **What happens:** be, break, hold · **To what, where:** strong men, length, piece, head

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This is a sentence of «The Punishment of the Stingy, and Other Indian Stories» by George Bird Grinnell, Shield Quiver’s Wife. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (Snakes, shaft, Shield, piece), 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:pg66596:16:78
# text = They were both strong men, and at length the shaft broke, and Shield Quiver held the piece on which was the head.
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
2	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
3	both	both	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
4	strong	strong	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	men	man	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
8	at	at	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	length	length	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obl	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	shaft	shaft	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nsubj	_	_
12	broke	break	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	parataxis	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	17	punct	_	_
14	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	17	cc	_	_
15	Shield	Shield	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	17	nsubj	_	_
16	Quiver	Quiver	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	15	flat	_	_
17	held	hold	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	12	conj	_	_
18	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	19	det	_	_
19	piece	piece	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	obj	_	_
20	on	on	ADP	IN	_	21	case	_	_
21	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	24	nsubj	_	_
22	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	24	cop	_	_
23	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	24	det	_	_
24	head	head	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	19	acl:relcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
25	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | past | Snakes *= snake* | strong men |  |  |  | both *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **break** | past | the shaft |  |  | length |  |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme at length=Location |
| 3 | **hold** | past | Shield | the piece |  |  |  |  | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent piece=Theme |
| 4 | **is a** | past | the piece | the head |  |  |  |  | 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:** «The Punishment of the Stingy, and Other Indian Stories» by George Bird Grinnell, Project Gutenberg book 66596 (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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