---
title: The Indians tell that, in a time so long ago no one can tell when, f… — Wigwam stories told by North American Indians · tree and pragmatics
description: The Indians tell that, in a time so long ago no one can tell when, four brothers were born on this earth. Who acts: Indians, one. A sentence of «Wigwam stories told by North American Indians» by Mary Catherine Judd, I. Menabozho and His Three Brothers, with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of 
---

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# Wigwam stories told by North American Indians, I. Menabozho and His Three Brothers, sentence 1

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The Indians tell that, in a time so long ago no one can tell when, four brothers were born on this earth.

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**Who acts:** Indians, one · **What happens:** tell, bear · **To what, where:** that, four brothers, earth · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is a sentence of «Wigwam stories told by North American Indians» by Mary Catherine Judd, I. Menabozho and His Three Brothers. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (Indians, one), 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:pg73136:70:1
# text = The Indians tell that, in a time so long ago no one can tell when, four brothers were born on this earth.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	Indians	Indian	PROPN	NNPS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	tell	tell	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	that	that	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	3	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
6	in	in	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	time	time	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
9	so	so	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	_
10	long	long	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	11	advmod	_	_
11	ago	ago	ADV	RB	_	15	advmod	_	_
12	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	13	det	_	_
13	one	one	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	nsubj	_	_
14	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	15	aux	_	_
15	tell	tell	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	parataxis	_	_
16	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	21	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	21	punct	_	_
18	four	four	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	19	nummod	_	_
19	brothers	brother	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	21	nsubj:pass	_	_
20	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	21	aux:pass	_	_
21	born	bear	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	15	advcl	_	_
22	on	on	ADP	IN	_	24	case	_	_
23	this	this	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	24	det	_	_
24	earth	earth	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	21	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
25	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **tell** *speech: assert* | present | the Indians | that |  |  | time |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent that=Recipient |
| 2 | **tell** *speech: assert* | can | no one |  |  |  |  | ago *property* | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **bear** | past · passive |  | four brothers |  | this earth |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Patient |

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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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