---
title: If the Fox Indian had been asked why he used the fox picture, he wou… — Wigwam stories told by North American Indians · tree and pragmatics
description: If the Fox Indian had been asked why he used the fox picture, he would have said, if ready to talk: “My grandfather was a fox.” Who acts: fox, grandfather. A sentence of «Wigwam stories told by North American Indians» by Mary Catherine Judd, Meaning of Indian Totems and Names, with its dependency tr
---

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# Wigwam stories told by North American Indians, Meaning of Indian Totems and Names, sentence 10

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
If the Fox Indian had been asked why he used the fox picture, he would have said, if ready to talk: “My grandfather was a fox.”

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** fox, grandfather · **What happens:** ask, use, say, talk, be · **To what, where:** Fox, fox picture · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is a sentence of «Wigwam stories told by North American Indians» by Mary Catherine Judd, Meaning of Indian Totems and Names. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (fox, grandfather), 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:pg73136:14:10
# text = If the Fox Indian had been asked why he used the fox picture, he would have said, if ready to talk: “My grandfather was a fox.”
1	If	if	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	Fox	Fox	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
4	Indian	Indian	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
5	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	aux	_	_
6	been	be	AUX	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	7	aux:pass	_	_
7	asked	ask	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	18	advcl	_	_
8	why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	10	advmod	_	_
9	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	nsubj	_	_
10	used	use	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	advcl	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
12	fox	fox	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	compound	_	_
13	picture	picture	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
15	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	18	nsubj	_	_
16	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	18	aux	_	_
17	have	have	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	18	aux	_	_
18	said	say	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	21	punct	_	_
20	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	21	mark	_	_
21	ready	ready	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	18	conj	_	_
22	to	to	PART	TO	_	23	mark	_	_
23	talk	talk	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	21	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
24	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	30	punct	_	_
25	“	"	PUNCT	``	_	30	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
26	My	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	27	nmod:poss	_	_
27	grandfather	grandfather	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	30	nsubj	_	_
28	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	30	cop	_	_
29	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	30	det	_	_
30	fox	fox	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	parataxis	_	SpaceAfter=No
31	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	30	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
32	”	"	PUNCT	''	_	30	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ask** *speech: ask* *a condition, not said to happen* | past · perfect · passive |  | the Fox |  |  |  |  | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V NP.recipient»: subject=Recipient |
| 2 | **use** | past | fox | the fox picture |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent picture=Patient |
| 3 | **say** *speech: assert* | would · perfect | fox |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 4 | **talk** | to-infinitive | fox *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn talk-37.5 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 5 | **is a** *in a quote* | past | My grandfather | a fox |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

<!-- .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:** «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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