---
title: When the strangers approached, one of them, the chief, who had learn… — The Punishment of the Stingy, and Other Indian S… · tree and pragmatics
description: When the strangers approached, one of them, the chief, who had learned Blackfoot in other days, called out, “Don’t fire; we are friends; we will not harm you.” Who acts: strangers, chief, we. A sentence of «The Punishment of the Stingy, and Other Indian Stories» by George Bird Grinnell, Little Frien
---

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# The Punishment of the Stingy, and Other Indian Stories, Little Friend Coyote, sentence 28

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
When the strangers approached, one of them, the chief, who had learned Blackfoot in other days, called out, “Don’t fire; we are friends; we will not harm you.”

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**Who acts:** strangers, chief, we · **What happens:** approach, learn, call out, do, be, not harm · **To what, where:** one, Blackfoot, other days, fire, friends, you · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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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 (strangers, chief, we), 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:pg66596:18:28
# text = When the strangers approached, one of them, the chief, who had learned Blackfoot in other days, called out, “Don’t fire; we are friends; we will not harm you.”
1	When	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	4	advmod	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	strangers	stranger	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
4	approached	approach	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	6	punct	_	_
6	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	4	obj	_	_
7	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	chief	chief	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	15	punct	_	_
13	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	15	nsubj	_	_
14	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	15	aux	_	_
15	learned	learn	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	11	acl:relcl	_	_
16	Blackfoot	blackfoot	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	obj	_	_
17	in	in	ADP	IN	_	19	case	_	_
18	other	other	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	19	amod	_	_
19	days	day	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	15	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	21	punct	_	_
21	called	call	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	19	acl	_	_
22	out	out	ADP	RP	_	21	compound:prt	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	24	punct	_	_
24	“	"	PUNCT	``	_	15	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
25	Do	do	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	24	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
26	n’t	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	27	advmod	_	_
27	fire	fire	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	25	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
28	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	31	punct	_	_
29	we	we	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs	31	nsubj	_	_
30	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	31	cop	_	_
31	friends	friend	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
32	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	36	punct	_	_
33	we	we	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs	36	nsubj	_	_
34	will	will	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	36	aux	_	_
35	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	36	advmod	_	_
36	harm	harm	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	conj	_	_
37	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Person=2|PronType=Prs	36	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
38	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	36	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
39	”	"	PUNCT	''	_	36	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **approach** | past | the strangers | one of parties |  |  |  | the chief *obl* | vn confront-98 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent one=Theme |
| 2 | **learn** | past · perfect | the chief | Blackfoot |  |  | day |  | vn learn-14-2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent blackfoot=Topic |
| 3 | **call out** *speech: assert* | participle |  | other days *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn initiate\_communication-37.4.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 4 | **do** *in a quote* | infinitive | the chief *not said here* | fire |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent fire=Eventuality |
| 5 | **is a** *in a quote* | present | we | friends |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 6 | **not** **harm** *in a quote* | future | we | you |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus you=Experiencer |

<!-- .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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