---
title: A few years ago the courts wanted several of the Leech Lake Indians… — Wigwam stories told by North American Indians · tree and pragmatics
description: A few years ago the courts wanted several of the Leech Lake Indians for witnesses in a trial. Who acts: courts. A sentence of «Wigwam stories told by North American Indians» by Mary Catherine Judd, Sioux and Chippewas of Minnesota, with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of every clause.
---

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# Wigwam stories told by North American Indians, Sioux and Chippewas of Minnesota, sentence 35

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A few years ago the courts wanted several of the Leech Lake Indians for witnesses in a trial.

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**Who acts:** courts · **What happens:** want · **To what, where:** trial

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This is a sentence of «Wigwam stories told by North American Indians» by Mary Catherine Judd, Sioux and Chippewas of Minnesota. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (courts), 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:pg73136:21:35
# text = A few years ago the courts wanted several of the Leech Lake Indians for witnesses in a trial.
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	few	few	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	years	year	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	obl:unmarked	_	_
4	ago	ago	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	courts	court	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nsubj	_	_
7	wanted	want	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
8	several	several	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	xcomp	_	_
9	of	of	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
11	Leech	Leech	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	12	compound	_	_
12	Lake	Lake	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	13	compound	_	_
13	Indians	Indian	PROPN	NNPS	Number=Plur	8	obl	_	_
14	for	for	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
15	witnesses	witness	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	obl	_	_
16	in	in	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
17	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
18	trial	trial	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **want** | past | the courts |  |  | a trial | year | for witnesses; several *property* | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP ADJ»: agent=Pivot |

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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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