---
title: The sticks were about the same distance from the ring, and for a lon… — The Punishment of the Stingy, and Other Indian S… · tree and pragmatics
description: The sticks were about the same distance from the ring, and for a long time it seemed that he could not make up his mind which was the nearer. Who acts: sticks, it, Coyote, mind. A sentence of «The Punishment of the Stingy, and Other Indian Stories» by George Bird Grinnell, The Girl Who Was the Ring 
---

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# The Punishment of the Stingy, and Other Indian Stories, The Girl Who Was the Ring \[1\], sentence 120

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The sticks were about the same distance from the ring, and for a long time it seemed that he could not make up his mind which was the nearer.

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**Who acts:** sticks, it, Coyote, mind · **What happens:** be, seem, not make up, mind · **To what, where:** ring, same distance, mind

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This is a sentence of «The Punishment of the Stingy, and Other Indian Stories» by George Bird Grinnell, The Girl Who Was the Ring \[1\]. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (sticks, it, Coyote, mind), 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:pg66596:7:120
# text = The sticks were about the same distance from the ring, and for a long time it seemed that he could not make up his mind which was the nearer.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	sticks	stick	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nsubj	_	_
3	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
4	about	about	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	same	same	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	distance	distance	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
8	from	from	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	ring	ring	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	18	punct	_	_
12	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	18	cc	_	_
13	for	for	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
14	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
15	long	long	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	16	amod	_	_
16	time	time	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	obl	_	_
17	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	18	nsubj	_	_
18	seemed	seem	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	acl:relcl	_	_
19	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	23	mark	_	_
20	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	23	nsubj	_	_
21	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	23	aux	_	_
22	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	23	advmod	_	_
23	make	make	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	18	xcomp	_	_
24	up	up	ADP	RP	_	23	compound:prt	_	_
25	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	26	nmod:poss	_	_
26	mind	mind	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	23	obj	_	_
27	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	30	nsubj	_	_
28	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	30	cop	_	_
29	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	30	det	_	_
30	nearer	near	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	26	amod	_	SpaceAfter=No
31	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | the sticks |  |  | the ring |  | about the same distance | tree rules |
| 2 | **seem** | past | it | the same distance *not said here* |  |  | time |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **not** **make up** | could | Coyote | Coyote's mind |  |  |  |  | vn comprise-107.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme mind=Pivot |
| 4 | **is** | past | Coyote's mind |  |  |  |  | near *property* | tree rules |
| 5 | **mind** |  | Coyote |  |  |  |  |  | nom mind «cognition transitive»: poss=agent |

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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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