--- title: There is a venerable _kotukutuku_, a wizard of a tree, its whitened… — Maori folk-tales of the Port Hills, Canterbury,… · tree and pragmatics description: There is a venerable _kotukutuku_, a wizard of a tree, its whitened bark hanging in strips like shaggy bits of beard, its trunk all knotted and twisted, standing sentry at the entrance to a little dusky cavern; its misshapen branches, storm-battered, go searching around the broken top of the black a --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg73766/11/64/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [tales](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/) / [Maori folk-tales of the Port Hills, Ca…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg73766/) / [“the Crest of the Rainbow.”](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg73766/11/) / 64 # Maori folk-tales of the Port Hills, Canterbury, New Zealand, “the Crest of the Rainbow.”, sentence 64 There is a venerable \_kotukutuku\_, a wizard of a tree, its whitened bark hanging in strips like shaggy bits of beard, its trunk all knotted and twisted, standing sentry at the entrance to a little dusky cavern; its misshapen branches, storm-battered, go searching around the broken top of the black and grey rock. **Who acts:** a, whitened bark, trunk · **What happens:** be, whiten, hang, knot, twist, stand · **To what, where:** strips, sentry, entrance, misshapen branches, broken top This is a sentence of «Maori folk-tales of the Port Hills, Canterbury, New Zealand» by James Cowan, “the Crest of the Rainbow.”. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (a, whitened bark, trunk), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree. **Mova's own parse.** This tree may be wrong. ## The tree {#tree} ```conllu # sent_id = book:pg73766:11:64 # text = There is a venerable _kotukutuku_, a wizard of a tree, its whitened bark hanging in strips like shaggy bits of beard, its trunk all knotted and twisted, standing sentry at the entrance to a little dusky cavern; its misshapen branches, storm-battered, go searching around the broken top of the black and grey rock. 1 There there PRON EX PronType=Dem 2 expl _ _ 2 is be VERB VBZ Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 3 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 2 nsubj _ _ 4 venerable venerable ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 3 acl _ _ 5 _ _ PUNCT NFP _ 6 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 6 kotukutuku kotukutuku X FW Foreign=Yes 4 dep _ SpaceAfter=No 7 _ _ PUNCT NFP _ 6 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 8 , , PUNCT , _ 10 punct _ _ 9 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 10 det _ _ 10 wizard wizard NOUN NN Number=Sing 6 appos _ _ 11 of of ADP IN _ 13 case _ _ 12 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 13 det _ _ 13 tree tree NOUN NN Number=Sing 10 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 14 , , PUNCT , _ 17 punct _ _ 15 its its PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 17 nmod:poss _ _ 16 whitened whiten VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 17 amod _ _ 17 bark bark NOUN NN Number=Sing 10 conj _ _ 18 hanging hang VERB VBG VerbForm=Ger 17 acl _ _ 19 in in ADP IN _ 20 case _ _ 20 strips strip NOUN NNS Number=Plur 18 obl _ _ 21 like like ADP IN _ 23 case _ _ 22 shaggy shaggy ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 23 amod _ _ 23 bits bit NOUN NNS Number=Plur 20 nmod _ _ 24 of of ADP IN _ 25 case _ _ 25 beard beard NOUN NN Number=Sing 23 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 26 , , PUNCT , _ 30 punct _ _ 27 its its PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 28 nmod:poss _ _ 28 trunk trunk NOUN NN Number=Sing 30 nsubj _ _ 29 all all ADV RB _ 30 advmod _ _ 30 knotted knot VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 18 parataxis _ _ 31 and and CCONJ CC _ 32 cc _ _ 32 twisted twist VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 30 conj _ SpaceAfter=No 33 , , PUNCT , _ 34 punct _ _ 34 standing stand VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 32 advcl _ _ 35 sentry sentry NOUN NN Number=Sing 34 obj _ _ 36 at at ADP IN _ 38 case _ _ 37 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 38 det _ _ 38 entrance entrance NOUN NN Number=Sing 34 obl _ _ 39 to to ADP IN _ 43 case _ _ 40 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 43 det _ _ 41 little little ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 43 amod _ _ 42 dusky dusky ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 43 amod _ _ 43 cavern cavern NOUN NN Number=Sing 34 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 44 ; ; PUNCT : _ 51 punct _ _ 45 its its PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 47 nmod:poss _ _ 46 misshapen misshapen ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 47 amod _ _ 47 branches branch NOUN NNS Number=Plur 51 nsubj:pass _ SpaceAfter=No 48 , , PUNCT , _ 51 punct _ _ 49 storm storm NOUN NN Number=Sing 51 compound _ SpaceAfter=No 50 - - PUNCT HYPH _ 49 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 51 battered batter VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 6 parataxis _ SpaceAfter=No 52 , , PUNCT , _ 53 punct _ _ 53 go go VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 51 conj _ _ 54 searching search VERB VBG VerbForm=Ger 53 xcomp _ _ 55 around around ADP IN _ 58 case _ _ 56 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 58 det _ _ 57 broken break VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 58 amod _ _ 58 top top NOUN NN Number=Sing 54 obl _ _ 59 of of ADP IN _ 64 case _ _ 60 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 64 det _ _ 61 black black ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 64 amod _ _ 62 and and CCONJ CC _ 63 cc _ _ 63 grey grey ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 61 conj _ _ 64 rock rock NOUN NN Number=Sing 58 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 65 . . PUNCT . _ 2 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **be** | present | a | | | there | | | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 2 | **whiten** | participle | | | | | | | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient | | 3 | **hang** | gerund | wildness's whitened bark *not said here* | | | strips like shaggy bits of beard | | | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent in strip=Location | | 4 | **knot** | past | wildness's trunk | | | | | all *property* | vn tape-22.4 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Patient | | 5 | **twist** | past | wildness's trunk *not said here* | | | | | | vn roll-51.3.1 «NP.theme V»: agent=Theme | | 6 | **stand** | gerund | wildness's trunk *not said here* | sentry | | the entrance | | to a little dusky cavern | vn put\_spatial-9.2 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent sentry=Theme at entrance=Destination | | 7 | **batter** | participle · passive | | trunk's misshapen branches | | | | storm *compound* | vn hit-18.1-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Patient | | 8 | **go** | infinitive | | | | | | | vn say-37.7 «NP V S-Quote»: agent=Agent clause=Topic | | 9 | **search** | gerund | | | | the broken top of the black rock | | | vn search-35.2 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent around top=Location | | 10 | **break** | participle | | | | | | | vn hurt-40.8.3-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Patient | 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. **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. - ← previous: [sentence 63](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg73766/11/63/) - next →: [sentence 65](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg73766/11/65/) - ↑ back to [“the Crest of the Rainbow.”](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg73766/11/)