---
title: The Indians, when trying to speak English, often use very short sent… — Wigwam stories told by North American Indians · tree and pragmatics
description: The Indians, when trying to speak English, often use very short sentences with easy words, just as foreigners do. Who acts: Indians, foreigners. A sentence of «Wigwam stories told by North American Indians» by Mary Catherine Judd, Introductory—indian Stories, with its dependency tree and the pragmat
---

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# Wigwam stories told by North American Indians, Introductory—indian Stories, sentence 1

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The Indians, when trying to speak English, often use very short sentences with easy words, just as foreigners do.

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**Who acts:** Indians, foreigners · **What happens:** try, speak, use, do · **To what, where:** English, short sentences · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is a sentence of «Wigwam stories told by North American Indians» by Mary Catherine Judd, Introductory—indian Stories. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (Indians, foreigners), 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:pg73136:25:1
# text = The Indians, when trying to speak English, often use very short sentences with easy words, just as foreigners do.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	Indians	Indian	PROPN	NNPS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	5	punct	_	_
4	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	5	advmod	_	_
5	trying	try	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
7	speak	speak	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	xcomp	_	_
8	English	English	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
10	often	often	ADV	RB	_	11	advmod	_	_
11	use	use	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	parataxis	_	_
12	very	very	ADV	RB	_	13	advmod	_	_
13	short	short	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	14	amod	_	_
14	sentences	sentence	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	11	obj	_	_
15	with	with	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
16	easy	easy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	17	amod	_	_
17	words	word	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	11	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	22	punct	_	_
19	just	just	ADV	RB	_	22	advmod	_	_
20	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	22	mark	_	_
21	foreigners	foreigner	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	22	nsubj	_	_
22	do	do	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	11	advcl	_	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 | **try** | gerund | the Indians |  |  |  |  |  | vn try-61.1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality |
| 2 | **speak** *speech: other* *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | the Indians *not said here* | English |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **use** | present |  | short sentences |  |  |  | with easy words; often *property* | vn eat-39.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent sentence=Patient |
| 4 | **do** | present | foreigners |  |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

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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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