---
title: A myth which to the Maori quite satisfactorily accounts for the read… — Maori folk-tales of the Port Hills, Canterbury,… · tree and pragmatics
description: A myth which to the Maori quite satisfactorily accounts for the readiness with which fire can be obtained from the _kaikomako_ by the simple process of taking a dry block of the wood and rubbing a groove in it with a stick of hardwood--with, of course an incantation to give more power to the elbow--
---

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# Maori folk-tales of the Port Hills, Canterbury, New Zealand, The Port Hills and Their Names., sentence 76

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A myth which to the Maori quite satisfactorily accounts for the readiness with which fire can be obtained from the \_kaikomako\_ by the simple process of taking a dry block of the wood and rubbing a groove in it with a stick of hardwood--with, of course an incantation to give more power to the elbow--until the dust and the shavings become ignited.

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**Who acts:** myth, simple process, dust · **What happens:** account, obtain, take, rub, give, become · **To what, where:** myth, kaikomako, dry block, groove, more power, elbow

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This is a sentence of «Maori folk-tales of the Port Hills, Canterbury, New Zealand» by James Cowan, The Port Hills and Their Names.. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (myth, simple process, dust), 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:pg73766:10:76
# text = A myth which to the Maori quite satisfactorily accounts for the readiness with which fire can be obtained from the _kaikomako_ by the simple process of taking a dry block of the wood and rubbing a groove in it with a stick of hardwood--with, of course an incantation to give more power to the elbow--until the dust and the shavings become ignited.
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	myth	myth	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	9	nsubj	_	_
4	to	to	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	Maori	Maori	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
7	quite	quite	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
8	satisfactorily	satisfactorily	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	_
9	accounts	account	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nmod	_	_
10	for	for	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	readiness	readiness	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nmod	_	_
13	with	with	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
14	which	which	DET	WDT	PronType=Int	15	det	_	_
15	fire	fire	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nmod	_	_
16	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	18	aux	_	_
17	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	18	aux:pass	_	_
18	obtained	obtain	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
19	from	from	ADP	IN	_	22	case	_	_
20	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	22	det	_	_
21	_	_	PUNCT	``	_	22	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	kaikomako	kaikomako	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	_	_	PUNCT	NFP	_	18	punct	_	_
24	by	by	ADP	IN	_	27	case	_	_
25	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	27	det	_	_
26	simple	simple	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	27	amod	_	_
27	process	process	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	obl	_	_
28	of	of	SCONJ	IN	_	29	mark	_	_
29	taking	take	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	27	acl	_	_
30	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	32	det	_	_
31	dry	dry	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	32	amod	_	_
32	block	block	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	29	obj	_	_
33	of	of	ADP	IN	_	35	case	_	_
34	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	35	det	_	_
35	wood	wood	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	32	nmod	_	_
36	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	37	cc	_	_
37	rubbing	rub	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	29	conj	_	_
38	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	39	det	_	_
39	groove	groove	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	37	obj	_	_
40	in	in	ADP	IN	_	41	case	_	_
41	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	37	obl	_	_
42	with	with	ADP	IN	_	44	case	_	_
43	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	44	det	_	_
44	stick	stick	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	37	obl	_	_
45	of	of	ADP	IN	_	46	case	_	_
46	hardwood	hardwood	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	44	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
47	--	--	PUNCT	,	_	53	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
48	with	with	ADP	IN	_	53	case	_	SpaceAfter=No
49	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	53	punct	_	_
50	of	of	ADP	IN	_	53	case	_	_
51	course	course	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	50	fixed	_	_
52	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	53	det	_	_
53	incantation	incantation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	obl	_	_
54	to	to	PART	TO	_	55	mark	_	_
55	give	give	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	53	acl	_	_
56	more	more	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	57	amod	_	_
57	power	power	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	55	obj	_	_
58	to	to	ADP	IN	_	60	case	_	_
59	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	60	det	_	_
60	elbow	elbow	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	55	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
61	--	--	PUNCT	,	_	68	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
62	until	until	SCONJ	IN	_	68	mark	_	_
63	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	64	det	_	_
64	dust	dust	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	68	nsubj	_	_
65	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	67	cc	_	_
66	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	67	det	_	_
67	shavings	shaving	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	64	conj	_	_
68	become	become	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	55	parataxis	_	_
69	ignited	ignite	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	68	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
70	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	18	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **account** |  | a myth |  |  |  |  | for the readiness with which fire; satisfactorily *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **obtain** | can · passive | the simple process | a myth |  | the kaikomako |  | with a incantation | vn obtain-13.5.2-1 «NP V NP PP.source»: agent=Agent subject=Theme from kaikomako=Source |
| 3 | **take** | gerund | the simple process *not said here* | a dry block of the wood |  |  |  |  | vn bring-11.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent block=Theme |
| 4 | **rub** | gerund | the simple process *not said here* | a groove |  | kaikomako |  | with a stick of hardwood | vn spray-9.7-1 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent groove=Theme in it=Destination |
| 5 | **give** | to-infinitive | the simple process *not said here* | more power | the elbow |  |  |  | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP PP.recipient»: agent=Agent power=Theme to elbow=Recipient |
| 6 | **become** | present | the dust and the shavings |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 7 | **ignite** | participle | the dust and the shavings *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP.patient V»: agent=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:** «Maori folk-tales of the Port Hills, Canterbury, New Zealand» by James Cowan, Project Gutenberg book 73766 (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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