---
title: When the people first saw these strange plants growing they wondered… — The Punishment of the Stingy, and Other Indian S… · tree and pragmatics
description: When the people first saw these strange plants growing they wondered at them, for they were new and different from anything that they had ever seen growing on the prairie. Who acts: people, strange plants, boys. A sentence of «The Punishment of the Stingy, and Other Indian Stories» by George Bird Gr
---

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# The Punishment of the Stingy, and Other Indian Stories, The First Corn, sentence 68

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When the people first saw these strange plants growing they wondered at them, for they were new and different from anything that they had ever seen growing on the prairie.

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**Who acts:** people, strange plants, boys · **What happens:** see, grow, wonder, be · **To what, where:** strange plants, anything, prairie

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This is a sentence of «The Punishment of the Stingy, and Other Indian Stories» by George Bird Grinnell, The First Corn. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (people, strange plants, boys), 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:pg66596:8:68
# text = When the people first saw these strange plants growing they wondered at them, for they were new and different from anything that they had ever seen growing on the prairie.
1	When	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	5	advmod	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	people	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
4	first	first	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord	5	advmod	_	_
5	saw	see	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	these	this	DET	DT	Number=Plur|PronType=Dem	8	det	_	_
7	strange	strange	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	plants	plant	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obj	_	_
9	growing	grow	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	8	acl	_	_
10	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	11	nsubj	_	_
11	wondered	wonder	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	9	ccomp	_	_
12	at	at	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
13	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	11	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	18	punct	_	_
15	for	for	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
16	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	18	nsubj	_	_
17	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	18	cop	_	_
18	new	new	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	parataxis	_	_
19	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	20	cc	_	_
20	different	different	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	18	conj	_	_
21	from	from	ADP	IN	_	22	case	_	_
22	anything	anything	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	20	obl	_	_
23	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	27	mark	_	_
24	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	27	nsubj	_	_
25	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	27	aux	_	_
26	ever	ever	ADV	RB	PronType=Ind	27	advmod	_	_
27	seen	see	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	22	acl:relcl	_	_
28	growing	grow	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	27	xcomp	_	_
29	on	on	ADP	IN	_	31	case	_	_
30	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	31	det	_	_
31	prairie	prairie	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	28	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
32	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **see** | past | the people | this strange plants |  |  |  | first *property* | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer plant=Stimulus |
| 2 | **grow** | gerund | this strange plants *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **wonder** *speech: ask* | past | people |  |  |  |  | at boys *= boy* | vn care-88.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer |
| 4 | **is** | past | boys *= boy* |  |  |  |  | new *property* | tree rules |
| 5 | **be** |  | boys *= boy* *not said here* |  |  | anything |  |  | tree rules |
| 6 | **see** | past · perfect | boys *= boy* |  |  |  | ever |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Experiencer clause=Stimulus |
| 7 | **grow** | gerund | boys *= boy* *not said here* |  |  | the prairie |  |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme on prairie=Location |

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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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