---
title: “Why is it that your tail is so short and your ears are so long?” he… — Wigwam stories told by North American Indians · tree and pragmatics
description: “Why is it that your tail is so short and your ears are so long?” he asked. Who acts: side, ears, marten. A sentence of «Wigwam stories told by North American Indians» by Mary Catherine Judd, XII. the Marten and the White Rabbit, with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of every clause.
---

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# Wigwam stories told by North American Indians, XII. the Marten and the White Rabbit, sentence 52

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“Why is it that your tail is so short and your ears are so long?” he asked.

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**Who acts:** side, ears, marten · **What happens:** be, ask · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is a sentence of «Wigwam stories told by North American Indians» by Mary Catherine Judd, XII. the Marten and the White Rabbit. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (side, ears, marten), 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:pg73136:81:52
# text = “Why is it that your tail is so short and your ears are so long?” he asked.
1	“	"	PUNCT	``	_	10	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	Why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	10	advmod	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	10	cop	_	_
4	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	nsubj	_	_
5	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	10	mark	_	_
6	your	your	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	7	nmod:poss	_	_
7	tail	tail	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nsubj	_	_
8	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	10	cop	_	_
9	so	so	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	_
10	short	short	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	20	parataxis	_	_
11	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	16	cc	_	_
12	your	your	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	13	nmod:poss	_	_
13	ears	ear	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	16	nsubj	_	_
14	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	16	cop	_	_
15	so	so	ADV	RB	_	16	advmod	_	_
16	long	long	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	10	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	”	"	PUNCT	''	_	10	punct	_	_
19	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	20	nsubj	_	_
20	asked	ask	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	20	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** *in a quote* | present | side |  |  |  |  | your tail *nsubj*; short *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **is** *in a quote* | present | your ears |  |  |  |  | long *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **ask** *speech: ask* | past | marten |  |  |  |  |  | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |

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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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