---
title: When they saw the power of the sun in bringing life out of the earth… — Wigwam stories told by North American Indians · tree and pragmatics
description: When they saw the power of the sun in bringing life out of the earth in the shape of growing plants from hidden seeds, then the sun seemed like a living spirit to them. Who acts: Indians, shape, sun. A sentence of «Wigwam stories told by North American Indians» by Mary Catherine Judd, Menabozho, or 
---

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# Wigwam stories told by North American Indians, Menabozho, or the Great White Hare, sentence 12

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When they saw the power of the sun in bringing life out of the earth in the shape of growing plants from hidden seeds, then the sun seemed like a living spirit to them.

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**Who acts:** Indians, shape, sun · **What happens:** see, bring, grow, hide, seem · **To what, where:** power, life, earth, plants, hidden seeds

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This is a sentence of «Wigwam stories told by North American Indians» by Mary Catherine Judd, Menabozho, or the Great White Hare. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (Indians, shape, sun), 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:pg73136:69:12
# text = When they saw the power of the sun in bringing life out of the earth in the shape of growing plants from hidden seeds, then the sun seemed like a living spirit to them.
1	When	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	3	advmod	_	_
2	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
3	saw	see	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	power	power	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	sun	sun	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	_
9	in	in	SCONJ	IN	_	10	mark	_	_
10	bringing	bring	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	3	advcl	_	_
11	life	life	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obj	_	_
12	out	out	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
13	of	of	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	earth	earth	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obl	_	_
16	in	in	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
17	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
18	shape	shape	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	nmod	_	_
19	of	of	SCONJ	IN	_	20	mark	_	_
20	growing	grow	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	18	acl	_	_
21	plants	plant	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	20	obj	_	_
22	from	from	ADP	IN	_	24	case	_	_
23	hidden	hide	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	24	amod	_	_
24	seeds	seed	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	20	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
25	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	29	punct	_	_
26	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	29	advmod	_	_
27	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	28	det	_	_
28	sun	sun	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	29	nsubj	_	_
29	seemed	seem	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	parataxis	_	_
30	like	like	ADP	IN	_	33	case	_	_
31	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	33	det	_	_
32	living	living	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	33	compound	_	_
33	spirit	spirit	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	29	obl	_	_
34	to	to	ADP	IN	_	35	case	_	_
35	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	33	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
36	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **see** | past | Indians *= indian* | the power of the sun |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer power=Stimulus |
| 2 | **bring** | gerund | Indians *= indian* *not said here* | life |  | the earth in the shape |  |  | vn bring-11.3-1 «NP V NP PP.initial\_location»: agent=Agent life=Theme out earth=Initial\_Location |
| 3 | **grow** | gerund | the shape *not said here* | plants |  | hidden seeds |  |  | vn build-26.1 «NP V NP.product PP.material»: agent=Agent plant=Product from seed=Material |
| 4 | **hide** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn concealment-16-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 5 | **seem** | past | the sun |  |  |  | then | like a living spirit to Indians | vn seem-109-1-1-1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=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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