---
title: In some tribes the little ones are named after the first object that… — Wigwam stories told by North American Indians · tree and pragmatics
description: In some tribes the little ones are named after the first object that is seen, as Buffalo Horn, White Pony, Lame Dog, and names that are sometimes better but more often seem to us not so good. Who acts: names. A sentence of «Wigwam stories told by North American Indians» by Mary Catherine Judd, Meani
---

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# Wigwam stories told by North American Indians, Meaning of Indian Totems and Names, sentence 24

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In some tribes the little ones are named after the first object that is seen, as Buffalo Horn, White Pony, Lame Dog, and names that are sometimes better but more often seem to us not so good.

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**Who acts:** names · **What happens:** name, see, be, seem · **To what, where:** little ones, tribes, first object, us

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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 (names), 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:pg73136:14:24
# text = In some tribes the little ones are named after the first object that is seen, as Buffalo Horn, White Pony, Lame Dog, and names that are sometimes better but more often seem to us not so good.
1	In	in	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
2	some	some	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	3	det	_	_
3	tribes	tribe	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	obl	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	little	little	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	ones	one	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	nsubj:pass	_	_
7	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	aux:pass	_	_
8	named	name	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
9	after	after	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
11	first	first	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos|NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord	12	amod	_	_
12	object	object	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	_
13	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	15	nsubj	_	_
14	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	15	aux:pass	_	_
15	seen	see	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	12	acl:relcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	19	punct	_	_
17	as	as	ADP	IN	_	19	case	_	_
18	Buffalo	Buffalo	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	19	compound	_	_
19	Horn	Horn	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	15	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	22	punct	_	_
21	White	white	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	22	amod	_	_
22	Pony	Pony	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	19	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	25	punct	_	_
24	Lame	Lame	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	25	compound	_	_
25	Dog	Dog	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	19	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
26	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	28	punct	_	_
27	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	28	cc	_	_
28	names	name	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	obl	_	_
29	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	32	nsubj	_	_
30	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	32	cop	_	_
31	sometimes	sometimes	ADV	RB	PronType=Ind	32	advmod	_	_
32	better	good	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	28	acl:relcl	_	_
33	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	36	cc	_	_
34	more	more	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	35	advmod	_	_
35	often	often	ADV	RB	_	36	advmod	_	_
36	seem	seem	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	conj	_	_
37	to	to	ADP	IN	_	38	case	_	_
38	us	we	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs	36	obl	_	_
39	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	41	advmod	_	_
40	so	so	ADV	RB	_	41	advmod	_	_
41	good	good	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	36	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
42	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	8	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **name** | present · passive |  | the little ones |  | some tribes | after the first object | names *obl* | vn appoint-29.1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |
| 2 | **see** | present · passive |  | the first object |  |  |  | as Buffalo Horn and White Pony and Lame Dog | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: subject=Stimulus as horn=Attribute |
| 3 | **is** | present | names |  |  |  |  | good, sometimes *property* | tree rules |
| 4 | **seem** | present |  |  | us |  |  | good, often *property* | vn seem-109-1-1-1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Theme |

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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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