---
title: An Indian was alone in the thick woods when he heard a strange sound… — Wigwam stories told by North American Indians · tree and pragmatics
description: An Indian was alone in the thick woods when he heard a strange sound, and looking sharply through the branches and leaves saw a large bird. Who acts: Indian, he, looking. A sentence of «Wigwam stories told by North American Indians» by Mary Catherine Judd, XXXIX. Legend of the Wampum-bird and the Bo
---

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# Wigwam stories told by North American Indians, XXXIX. Legend of the Wampum-bird and the Boy, sentence 2

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An Indian was alone in the thick woods when he heard a strange sound, and looking sharply through the branches and leaves saw a large bird.

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**Who acts:** Indian, he, looking · **What happens:** be, hear, look, see · **To what, where:** thick woods, strange sound, large bird · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is a sentence of «Wigwam stories told by North American Indians» by Mary Catherine Judd, XXXIX. Legend of the Wampum-bird and the Boy. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (Indian, he, looking), 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:pg73136:64:2
# text = An Indian was alone in the thick woods when he heard a strange sound, and looking sharply through the branches and leaves saw a large bird.
1	An	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	Indian	Indian	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	nsubj	_	_
3	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
4	alone	alone	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
5	in	in	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	thick	thick	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	woods	wood	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	_
9	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	11	advmod	_	_
10	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	11	nsubj	_	_
11	heard	hear	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	parataxis	_	_
12	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
13	strange	strange	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	14	amod	_	_
14	sound	sound	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	24	punct	_	_
16	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	24	cc	_	_
17	looking	look	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	24	csubj	_	_
18	sharply	sharply	ADV	RB	_	17	advmod	_	_
19	through	through	ADP	IN	_	21	case	_	_
20	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	21	det	_	_
21	branches	branch	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	17	obl	_	_
22	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	23	cc	_	_
23	leaves	leaf	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	21	conj	_	_
24	saw	see	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	11	conj	_	_
25	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	27	det	_	_
26	large	large	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	27	amod	_	_
27	bird	bird	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	24	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
28	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | a Indian |  |  | the thick woods |  | alone *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **hear** | past | he | a strange sound |  |  |  |  | vn see-30.1-1-1 «NP V S»: agent=Experiencer sound=Stimulus |
| 3 | **look** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  | through the branches and leaves; sharply *property* | vn peer-30.3 «NP V PP.theme»: agent=Agent through branch=Theme |
| 4 | **see** | past | looking | a large bird |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer bird=Stimulus |

<!-- .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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