---
title: Whatever was the first cause of their belief in such a being, there… — Wigwam stories told by North American Indians · tree and pragmatics
description: Whatever was the first cause of their belief in such a being, there is no way of knowing. Who acts: Whatever, names. A sentence of «Wigwam stories told by North American Indians» by Mary Catherine Judd, Menabozho, or the Great White Hare, with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of every clause.
---

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# Wigwam stories told by North American Indians, Menabozho, or the Great White Hare, sentence 4

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Whatever was the first cause of their belief in such a being, there is no way of knowing.

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**Who acts:** Whatever, names · **What happens:** be, know, believe · **To what, where:** first cause, way

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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 (Whatever, names), 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:pg73136:69:4
# text = Whatever was the first cause of their belief in such a being, there is no way of knowing.
1	Whatever	whatever	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	5	nsubj	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	first	first	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos|NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord	5	amod	_	_
5	cause	cause	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	8	nmod:poss	_	_
8	belief	belief	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	_
9	in	in	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
10	such	such	DET	PDT	PronType=Ind	17	det:predet	_	_
11	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
12	being	be	AUX	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	17	cop	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	15	punct	_	_
14	there	there	PRON	EX	PronType=Dem	15	expl	_	_
15	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	17	cop	_	_
16	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	17	det	_	_
17	way	way	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nmod	_	_
18	of	of	ADP	IN	_	19	case	_	_
19	knowing	know	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	17	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | past | Whatever | the first cause |  |  |  | of names's belief | tree rules |
| 2 | **is** | gerund |  |  |  | such way |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **know** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer |
| 4 | **believe** |  | names *= name* |  |  |  |  |  | nom belief «cognition transitive»: poss=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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