---
title: A wise old Indian was once told that white men were beginning to thi… — Wigwam stories told by North American Indians · tree and pragmatics
description: A wise old Indian was once told that white men were beginning to think they had found where the Indian came from; that the place was northern China. Who acts: that, white men, Indians, Indian. A sentence of «Wigwam stories told by North American Indians» by Mary Catherine Judd, Indian Traits, with i
---

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# Wigwam stories told by North American Indians, Indian Traits, sentence 49

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A wise old Indian was once told that white men were beginning to think they had found where the Indian came from; that the place was northern China.

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**Who acts:** that, white men, Indians, Indian, place · **What happens:** tell, man, begin, think, find, come · **To what, where:** wise old Indian, northern China · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is a sentence of «Wigwam stories told by North American Indians» by Mary Catherine Judd, Indian Traits. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (that, white men, Indians, Indian), 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:pg73136:10:49
# text = A wise old Indian was once told that white men were beginning to think they had found where the Indian came from; that the place was northern China.
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
2	wise	wise	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
3	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	Indian	Indian	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	nsubj:pass	_	_
5	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	aux:pass	_	_
6	once	once	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Mult	7	advmod	_	_
7	told	tell	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
8	that	that	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	10	nsubj	_	_
9	white	white	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	men	man	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	12	nsubj	_	_
11	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	12	aux	_	_
12	beginning	begin	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	7	ccomp	_	_
13	to	to	PART	TO	_	14	mark	_	_
14	think	think	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	12	xcomp	_	_
15	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	17	nsubj	_	_
16	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	17	aux	_	_
17	found	find	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	14	ccomp	_	_
18	where	where	ADV	WRB	PronType=Rel	21	advmod	_	_
19	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	20	det	_	_
20	Indian	Indian	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	21	nsubj	_	_
21	came	come	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	17	advcl	_	_
22	from	from	ADP	IN	_	21	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	29	punct	_	_
24	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	29	mark	_	_
25	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	26	det	_	_
26	place	place	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	29	nsubj	_	_
27	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	29	cop	_	_
28	northern	northern	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	29	amod	_	_
29	China	China	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
30	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **tell** *speech: assert* | past · passive |  | a wise old Indian |  |  |  | once *property* | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: subject=Recipient clause=Topic |
| 2 | **man** |  | that |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **begin** | past · progressive | white men |  |  |  |  |  | vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality |
| 4 | **think** *speech: other* | to-infinitive | white men *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn consider-29.9-2 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent clause=Theme |
| 5 | **find** | past · perfect | Indians *= indian* |  |  |  |  |  | vn declare-29.4-1-1 «NP V what S\_INF»: agent=Agent |
| 6 | **come** | past | the Indian |  |  |  |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 7 | **is a** | past | the place | northern China |  |  |  |  | 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:** «Wigwam stories told by North American Indians» by Mary Catherine Judd, Project Gutenberg book 73136 (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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