---
title: The three Indians had said to their fathers that they would seek it;… — Wigwam stories told by North American Indians · tree and pragmatics
description: The three Indians had said to their fathers that they would seek it; now they sat on a little hill, and it was before them. Who acts: three Indians, Indians, way. A sentence of «Wigwam stories told by North American Indians» by Mary Catherine Judd, How He United the Five Nations, with its dependency
---

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# Wigwam stories told by North American Indians, How He United the Five Nations, sentence 5

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The three Indians had said to their fathers that they would seek it; now they sat on a little hill, and it was before them.

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**Who acts:** three Indians, Indians, way · **What happens:** say, seek, sit, be · **To what, where:** fathers, way, little hill · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is a sentence of «Wigwam stories told by North American Indians» by Mary Catherine Judd, How He United the Five Nations. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (three Indians, Indians, way), 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:pg73136:77:5
# text = The three Indians had said to their fathers that they would seek it; now they sat on a little hill, and it was before them.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	three	three	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	3	nummod	_	_
3	Indians	Indian	PROPN	NNPS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
4	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
5	said	say	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
6	to	to	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	8	nmod:poss	_	_
8	fathers	father	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obl	_	_
9	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	12	mark	_	_
10	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	12	nsubj	_	_
11	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	12	aux	_	_
12	seek	seek	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	advcl	_	_
13	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	12	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	;	;	PUNCT	,	_	17	punct	_	_
15	now	now	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	17	advmod	_	_
16	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	17	nsubj	_	_
17	sat	sit	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	parataxis	_	_
18	on	on	ADP	IN	_	21	case	_	_
19	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	21	det	_	_
20	little	little	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	21	amod	_	_
21	hill	hill	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	27	punct	_	_
23	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	27	cc	_	_
24	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	27	nsubj	_	_
25	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	27	cop	_	_
26	before	before	ADP	IN	_	27	case	_	_
27	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	17	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
28	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | past · perfect | the three Indians |  | Indians's fathers |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V PP.recipient S-Quote»: agent=Agent to father=Recipient |
| 2 | **seek** | would | Indians *= indian* | way |  |  |  |  | vn hunt-35.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Theme |
| 3 | **sit** | past | Indians *= indian* |  |  | a little hill | now |  | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent on hill=Location |
| 4 | **is** | past | way |  |  |  | before fathers *= father* |  | tree rules |

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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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