---
title: In the long ago, before water-races and artesian wells, the trails a… — Maori folk-tales of the Port Hills, Canterbury,… · tree and pragmatics
description: In the long ago, before water-races and artesian wells, the trails across the Plains from the Waimakariri to the Selwyn and the Selwyn to the Rakaia and the Ashburton were weary and thirsty tracks, for there were very few springs of drinking water and the Maori disliked the water of the cold glacial
---

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# Maori folk-tales of the Port Hills, Canterbury, New Zealand, The Port Hills and Their Names., sentence 93

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In the long ago, before water-races and artesian wells, the trails across the Plains from the Waimakariri to the Selwyn and the Selwyn to the Rakaia and the Ashburton were weary and thirsty tracks, for there were very few springs of drinking water and the Maori disliked the water of the cold glacial torrents.

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**Who acts:** few springs · **What happens:** be, drink, dislike · **To what, where:** water

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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 (few springs), 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:pg73766:10:93
# text = In the long ago, before water-races and artesian wells, the trails across the Plains from the Waimakariri to the Selwyn and the Selwyn to the Rakaia and the Ashburton were weary and thirsty tracks, for there were very few springs of drinking water and the Maori disliked the water of the cold glacial torrents.
1	In	in	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	long	long	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	4	advmod	_	_
4	ago	ago	ADV	RB	_	35	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	4	punct	_	_
6	before	before	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
7	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	7	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	races	race	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	35	obl	_	_
10	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
11	artesian	artesian	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	amod	_	_
12	wells	well	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	15	punct	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	trails	trail	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	conj	_	_
16	across	across	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
17	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
18	Plains	Plain	PROPN	NNPS	Number=Plur	15	nmod	_	_
19	from	from	ADP	IN	_	21	case	_	_
20	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	21	det	_	_
21	Waimakariri	Waimakariri	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	18	nmod	_	_
22	to	to	ADP	IN	_	24	case	_	_
23	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	24	det	_	_
24	Selwyn	Selwyn	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	9	nmod	_	_
25	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	27	cc	_	_
26	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	27	det	_	_
27	Selwyn	Selwyn	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	24	conj	_	_
28	to	to	ADP	IN	_	30	case	_	_
29	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	30	det	_	_
30	Rakaia	Rakaia	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	27	nmod	_	_
31	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	33	cc	_	_
32	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	33	det	_	_
33	Ashburton	Ashburton	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	24	conj	_	_
34	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	35	cop	_	_
35	weary	weary	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
36	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	38	cc	_	_
37	thirsty	thirsty	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	38	amod	_	_
38	tracks	track	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	35	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
39	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	42	punct	_	_
40	for	for	SCONJ	IN	_	42	mark	_	_
41	there	there	PRON	EX	PronType=Dem	42	expl	_	_
42	were	be	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	52	advcl	_	_
43	very	very	ADV	RB	_	44	advmod	_	_
44	few	few	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	45	amod	_	_
45	springs	spring	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	52	nsubj	_	_
46	of	of	ADP	IN	_	48	case	_	_
47	drinking	drink	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	48	amod	_	_
48	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	45	nmod	_	_
49	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	51	cc	_	_
50	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	51	det	_	_
51	Maori	Maori	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	48	conj	_	_
52	disliked	dislike	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	35	conj	_	_
53	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	54	det	_	_
54	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	52	obj	_	_
55	of	of	ADP	IN	_	59	case	_	_
56	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	59	det	_	_
57	cold	cold	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	59	amod	_	_
58	glacial	glacial	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	59	amod	_	_
59	torrents	torrent	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	54	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
60	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	35	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past |  |  |  |  | before water races to the Selwyn and the Selwyn to the Rakaia and the Ashburton and artesian wells and the trails across the Plains from the Waimakariri | thirsty tracks *conj*; ago, weary *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **be** | past | few springs of drinking water and the Maori *not said here* |  |  | there |  |  | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 3 | **drink** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 4 | **dislike** | past | few springs of drinking water and the Maori | the water of the cold glacial torrents |  |  |  |  | vn admire-31.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer water=Stimulus |

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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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