---
title: These shells were carefully cut into small pieces by means of sharp-… — Wigwam stories told by North American Indians · tree and pragmatics
description: These shells were carefully cut into small pieces by means of sharp-edged stone knives, and a hole was bored through the pieces, making them like little tubes. A sentence of «Wigwam stories told by North American Indians» by Mary Catherine Judd, Wampum Money, with its dependency tree and the pragmat
---

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# Wigwam stories told by North American Indians, Wampum Money, sentence 3

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These shells were carefully cut into small pieces by means of sharp-edged stone knives, and a hole was bored through the pieces, making them like little tubes.

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**What happens:** cut, mean, edge, bore, make · **To what, where:** shells, small pieces, hole, pieces

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This is a sentence of «Wigwam stories told by North American Indians» by Mary Catherine Judd, Wampum Money. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: 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:pg73136:9:3
# text = These shells were carefully cut into small pieces by means of sharp-edged stone knives, and a hole was bored through the pieces, making them like little tubes.
1	These	this	DET	DT	Number=Plur|PronType=Dem	2	det	_	_
2	shells	shell	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux:pass	_	_
4	carefully	carefully	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	cut	cut	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
6	into	into	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	small	small	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	pieces	piece	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obl	_	_
9	by	by	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	advcl	_	_
11	of	of	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
12	sharp	sharp	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	14	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	12	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	edged	edge	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	16	amod	_	_
15	stone	stone	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	compound	_	_
16	knives	knife	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	22	punct	_	_
18	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	22	cc	_	_
19	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	20	det	_	_
20	hole	hole	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	22	nsubj:pass	_	_
21	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	22	aux:pass	_	_
22	bored	bore	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	5	conj	_	_
23	through	through	ADP	IN	_	25	case	_	_
24	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	25	det	_	_
25	pieces	piece	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	22	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
26	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	27	punct	_	_
27	making	make	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	22	advcl	_	_
28	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	27	obj	_	_
29	like	like	ADP	IN	_	31	case	_	_
30	little	little	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	31	amod	_	_
31	tubes	tube	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	27	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
32	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **cut** | past · passive |  | this shells |  | small pieces |  | carefully *property* | vn build-26.1-1 «NP V NP.material PP.product»: subject=Material into piece=Product |
| 2 | **mean** | present |  |  |  |  |  | of edged stone knives | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **edge** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn meander-47.7 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme |
| 4 | **bore** | past · passive |  | a hole |  | the pieces |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: subject=Experiencer |
| 5 | **make** | gerund |  | shells *= shell* |  |  |  | like little tubes | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset they=Product |

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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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