---
title: Su-yé-sai-pi had scarcely started a fire when the warriors from the… — The Punishment of the Stingy, and Other Indian S… · tree and pragmatics
description: Su-yé-sai-pi had scarcely started a fire when the warriors from the camp were seen to be approaching the little party from all directions, completely hemming them in. Who acts: yé sai pi. A sentence of «The Punishment of the Stingy, and Other Indian Stories» by George Bird Grinnell, Little Friend Co
---

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# The Punishment of the Stingy, and Other Indian Stories, Little Friend Coyote, sentence 26

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Su-yé-sai-pi had scarcely started a fire when the warriors from the camp were seen to be approaching the little party from all directions, completely hemming them in.

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**Who acts:** yé sai pi · **What happens:** start, see, approach, hem in · **To what, where:** fire, warriors, little party, directions, parties

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This is a sentence of «The Punishment of the Stingy, and Other Indian Stories» by George Bird Grinnell, Little Friend Coyote. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (yé sai pi), 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:pg66596:18:26
# text = Su-yé-sai-pi had scarcely started a fire when the warriors from the camp were seen to be approaching the little party from all directions, completely hemming them in.
1	Su	Su	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	1	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	yé	yé	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	5	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	sai	sai	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	5	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	pi	pi	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nsubj	_	_
8	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	10	aux	_	_
9	scarcely	scarcely	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	_
10	started	start	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
11	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	fire	fire	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obj	_	_
13	when	when	SCONJ	WRB	_	20	mark	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	warriors	warrior	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	20	nsubj:pass	_	_
16	from	from	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
17	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
18	camp	camp	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	nmod	_	_
19	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	20	aux:pass	_	_
20	seen	see	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	10	advcl	_	_
21	to	to	PART	TO	_	23	mark	_	_
22	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	23	aux	_	_
23	approaching	approach	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	20	advcl	_	_
24	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	26	det	_	_
25	little	little	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	26	amod	_	_
26	party	party	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	23	obj	_	_
27	from	from	ADP	IN	_	29	case	_	_
28	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	29	det	_	_
29	directions	direction	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	23	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
30	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	32	punct	_	_
31	completely	completely	ADV	RB	_	32	advmod	_	_
32	hemming	hem	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	23	conj	_	_
33	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	32	obj	_	_
34	in	in	ADP	RP	_	32	compound:prt	_	SpaceAfter=No
35	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	10	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **start** | past · perfect | yé sai pi | a fire |  |  |  | scarcely *property* | vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent fire=Eventuality |
| 2 | **see** | past · passive |  | the warriors from the camp |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Stimulus |
| 3 | **approach** | to-infinitive · progressive |  | the little party |  | all directions |  |  | vn confront-98 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent party=Theme |
| 4 | **hem in** | gerund |  | parties *= party* |  |  |  | completely *property* | vn nonverbal\_expression-40.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent they=Theme |

<!-- .note -->
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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