---
title: If the Northern Lights were white, it was believed that the frost wo… — Wigwam stories told by North American Indians · tree and pragmatics
description: If the Northern Lights were white, it was believed that the frost would shortly follow; if yellow, sickness and much trouble to the nation was feared; while if the lights were red, very red, war and bloodshed were on their way to harm the innocent. Who acts: Northern Lights, frost, lights, white. A 
---

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# Wigwam stories told by North American Indians, XXXIV. the Echo God and the Northern Lights, sentence 19

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If the Northern Lights were white, it was believed that the frost would shortly follow; if yellow, sickness and much trouble to the nation was feared; while if the lights were red, very red, war and bloodshed were on their way to harm the innocent.

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**Who acts:** Northern Lights, frost, lights, white · **What happens:** be, believe, follow, fear, harm · **To what, where:** color, yellow sickness, way, innocent

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This is a sentence of «Wigwam stories told by North American Indians» by Mary Catherine Judd, XXXIV. the Echo God and the Northern Lights. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (Northern Lights, frost, lights, white), 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:pg73136:59:19
# text = If the Northern Lights were white, it was believed that the frost would shortly follow; if yellow, sickness and much trouble to the nation was feared; while if the lights were red, very red, war and bloodshed were on their way to harm the innocent.
1	If	if	SCONJ	IN	_	6	mark	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	Northern	northern	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	Lights	Light	PROPN	NNPS	Number=Plur	6	nsubj	_	_
5	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
6	white	white	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	47	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
8	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	nsubj:pass	_	_
9	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	10	aux:pass	_	_
10	believed	believe	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	6	advcl	_	_
11	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	16	mark	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	frost	frost	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	nsubj	_	_
14	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	16	aux	_	_
15	shortly	shortly	ADV	RB	_	16	advmod	_	_
16	follow	follow	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	10	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	;	;	PUNCT	,	_	29	punct	_	_
18	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	29	mark	_	_
19	yellow	yellow	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	21	amod	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	21	punct	_	_
21	sickness	sickness	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	29	nsubj:pass	_	_
22	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	24	cc	_	_
23	much	much	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	24	amod	_	_
24	trouble	trouble	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	21	conj	_	_
25	to	to	ADP	IN	_	27	case	_	_
26	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	27	det	_	_
27	nation	nation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	24	nmod	_	_
28	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	29	aux:pass	_	_
29	feared	fear	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	10	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
30	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	36	punct	_	_
31	while	while	SCONJ	IN	_	36	mark	_	_
32	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	36	mark	_	_
33	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	34	det	_	_
34	lights	light	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	36	nsubj	_	_
35	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	36	cop	_	_
36	red	red	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
37	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	39	punct	_	_
38	very	very	ADV	RB	_	39	advmod	_	_
39	red	red	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	36	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
40	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	41	punct	_	_
41	war	war	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	39	conj	_	_
42	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	43	cc	_	_
43	bloodshed	bloodshed	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	41	conj	_	_
44	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	47	cop	_	_
45	on	on	ADP	IN	_	47	case	_	_
46	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	47	nmod:poss	_	_
47	way	way	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
48	to	to	PART	TO	_	49	mark	_	_
49	harm	harm	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	47	acl	_	_
50	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	51	det	_	_
51	innocent	innocent	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	49	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
52	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	47	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** *a condition, not said to happen* | past | the Northern Lights |  |  |  |  | white *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **believe** | past · passive |  | color |  |  |  |  | vn admire-31.2 «NP V NP»: subject=Stimulus |
| 3 | **follow** | would | the frost |  |  |  |  | shortly *property* | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 4 | **fear** *a condition, not said to happen* | past · passive |  | yellow sickness and much trouble to the nation |  |  |  |  | vn admire-31.2-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Stimulus |
| 5 | **is** *a condition, not said to happen* | past | the lights |  |  |  |  | red *property* | tree rules |
| 6 | **be** |  | the lights *not said here* |  |  |  |  | war and bloodshed *conj* | tree rules |
| 7 | **is** | past | white |  |  | Lights's way |  | Lights *= light* *nmod:poss* | tree rules |
| 8 | **harm** | to-infinitive |  | the innocent |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus innocent=Experiencer |

<!-- .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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