---
title: These may possibly be idols, but are not always, for both old and yo… — Wigwam stories told by North American Indians · tree and pragmatics
description: These may possibly be idols, but are not always, for both old and young sometimes play with them as toys. Who acts: These, both. A sentence of «Wigwam stories told by North American Indians» by Mary Catherine Judd, The Indians Who Live in Brick Houses, with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of 
---

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# Wigwam stories told by North American Indians, The Indians Who Live in Brick Houses, sentence 58

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These may possibly be idols, but are not always, for both old and young sometimes play with them as toys.

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**Who acts:** These, both · **What happens:** be, play · **To what, where:** idols, old

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This is a sentence of «Wigwam stories told by North American Indians» by Mary Catherine Judd, The Indians Who Live in Brick Houses. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (These, both), 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:pg73136:17:58
# text = These may possibly be idols, but are not always, for both old and young sometimes play with them as toys.
1	These	this	PRON	DT	Number=Plur|PronType=Dem	5	nsubj	_	_
2	may	may	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
3	possibly	possibly	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
4	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	cop	_	_
5	idols	idol	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	18	punct	_	_
7	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	18	cc	_	_
8	are	be	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	18	advcl	_	_
9	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	10	advmod	_	_
10	always	always	ADV	RB	PronType=Tot	8	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	18	punct	_	_
12	for	for	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
13	both	both	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	18	nsubj	_	_
14	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	18	obl	_	_
15	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	16	cc	_	_
16	young	young	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	14	conj	_	_
17	sometimes	sometimes	ADV	RB	PronType=Ind	18	advmod	_	_
18	play	play	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	conj	_	_
19	with	with	ADP	IN	_	20	case	_	_
20	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	18	obl	_	_
21	as	as	ADP	IN	_	22	case	_	_
22	toys	toy	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	18	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | may | These | idols |  |  |  | possibly *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **be** | present | both *not said here* |  |  |  |  | always *property* | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 3 | **play** | present | both | old |  |  |  | with idols *= idol*; as toys; sometimes *property* | vn play-114.2-1 «NP V PP.theme»: agent=Agent with they=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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