---
title: The butte here is topped by a rock formation so regular and resembli… — Maori folk-tales of the Port Hills, Canterbury,… · tree and pragmatics
description: The butte here is topped by a rock formation so regular and resembling a ruined fortification that the Boy Scout opines it would be a splendid place for a fight, and certainly the old shattered tor of the fire-kings, with its copses of wire-branched _koromiko_ and its thick flax-clumps, suggests its
---

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# Maori folk-tales of the Port Hills, Canterbury, New Zealand, “the Crest of the Rainbow.”, sentence 72

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The butte here is topped by a rock formation so regular and resembling a ruined fortification that the Boy Scout opines it would be a splendid place for a fight, and certainly the old shattered tor of the fire-kings, with its copses of wire-branched \_koromiko\_ and its thick flax-clumps, suggests itself as a first-rate natural redoubt, where a few riflemen might hold out among their rocks and shrubby cover against a score of times their number.

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**Who acts:** rock formation, Boy Scout, Scout, copses, few riflemen · **What happens:** top, resemble, ruin, opine, be, branch · **To what, where:** butte, ruined fortification, splendid place, koromiko, rocks, times

<!-- .vabout -->
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 (rock formation, Boy Scout, Scout, copses), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree.

<!-- .note-en -->
**Mova's own parse.** This tree may be wrong.

## The tree {#tree}

```conllu
# sent_id = book:pg73766:11:72
# text = The butte here is topped by a rock formation so regular and resembling a ruined fortification that the Boy Scout opines it would be a splendid place for a fight, and certainly the old shattered tor of the fire-kings, with its copses of wire-branched _koromiko_ and its thick flax-clumps, suggests itself as a first-rate natural redoubt, where a few riflemen might hold out among their rocks and shrubby cover against a score of times their number.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	butte	butte	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	here	here	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	2	advmod	_	_
4	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux:pass	_	_
5	topped	top	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
6	by	by	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	rock	rock	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	compound	_	_
9	formation	formation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
10	so	so	ADV	RB	_	11	advmod	_	_
11	regular	regular	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
12	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	13	cc	_	_
13	resembling	resemble	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	11	conj	_	_
14	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
15	ruined	ruin	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	16	amod	_	_
16	fortification	fortification	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obj	_	_
17	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	21	mark	_	_
18	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	20	det	_	_
19	Boy	Boy	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	20	compound	_	_
20	Scout	Scout	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	21	nsubj	_	_
21	opines	opine	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	16	acl:relcl	_	_
22	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	27	nsubj	_	_
23	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	27	aux	_	_
24	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	27	cop	_	_
25	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	27	det	_	_
26	splendid	splendid	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	27	amod	_	_
27	place	place	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	21	ccomp	_	_
28	for	for	ADP	IN	_	30	case	_	_
29	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	30	det	_	_
30	fight	fight	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	27	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
31	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	37	punct	_	_
32	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	37	cc	_	_
33	certainly	certainly	ADV	RB	_	37	advmod	_	_
34	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	37	det	_	_
35	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	37	amod	_	_
36	shattered	shattered	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	37	amod	_	_
37	tor	tor	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
38	of	of	ADP	IN	_	42	case	_	_
39	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	42	det	_	_
40	fire	fire	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	42	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
41	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	40	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
42	kings	king	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	37	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
43	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	46	punct	_	_
44	with	with	ADP	IN	_	46	case	_	_
45	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	46	nmod:poss	_	_
46	copses	copse	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obl	_	_
47	of	of	ADP	IN	_	48	case	_	_
48	wire	wire	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	46	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
49	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	50	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
50	branched	branch	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	46	acl	_	_
51	_	_	PUNCT	NFP	_	52	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
52	koromiko	koromiko	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	50	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
53	_	_	PUNCT	NFP	_	50	punct	_	_
54	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	59	cc	_	_
55	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	59	nmod:poss	_	_
56	thick	thick	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	59	amod	_	_
57	flax	flax	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	59	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
58	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	57	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
59	clumps	clump	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	46	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
60	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	61	punct	_	_
61	suggests	suggest	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	parataxis	_	_
62	itself	itself	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes	61	obj	_	_
63	as	as	ADP	IN	_	69	case	_	_
64	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	69	det	_	_
65	first	first	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos|NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord	67	amod	_	SpaceAfter=No
66	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	65	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
67	rate	rate	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	69	compound	_	_
68	natural	natural	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	69	amod	_	_
69	redoubt	redoubt	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	61	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
70	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	76	punct	_	_
71	where	where	ADV	WRB	PronType=Rel	76	advmod	_	_
72	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	74	det	_	_
73	few	few	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	74	amod	_	_
74	riflemen	rifleman	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	76	nsubj	_	_
75	might	might	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	76	aux	_	_
76	hold	hold	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	69	conj	_	_
77	out	out	ADP	RP	_	76	compound:prt	_	_
78	among	among	ADP	IN	_	80	case	_	_
79	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	80	nmod:poss	_	_
80	rocks	rock	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	76	obl	_	_
81	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	83	cc	_	_
82	shrubby	shrubby	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	83	amod	_	_
83	cover	cover	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	80	conj	_	_
84	against	against	ADP	IN	_	86	case	_	_
85	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	86	det	_	_
86	score	score	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	83	nmod	_	_
87	of	of	ADP	IN	_	88	case	_	_
88	times	time	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	86	nmod	_	_
89	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	90	nmod:poss	_	_
90	number	number	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	88	appos	_	SpaceAfter=No
91	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **top** | present · passive | a rock formation | the butte |  |  |  | with Scout's copses of wire and koromiko's thick flax clumps; the old shattered tor of the fire kings *obl* | vn butter-9.9 «NP V NP PP.theme»: agent=Agent subject=Destination with copse=Theme |
| 2 | **resemble** | gerund | a rock formation *not said here* | a ruined fortification |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **ruin** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn destroy-44 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 4 | **opine** | present | the Boy Scout | a ruined fortification *not said here* |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 5 | **is a** | would | Scout | a splendid place |  |  |  | for a fight | tree rules |
| 6 | **branch** | participle | Scout's copses of wire and koromiko's thick flax clumps *not said here* | koromiko |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 7 | **suggest** *speech: suggest* | present |  | koromiko |  |  |  | as a rate natural redoubt | vn say-37.7-1-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: agent=Agent itself=Topic |
| 8 | **hold out** | might | a few riflemen |  |  | riflemen's rocks and shrubby cover against a score of times |  |  | vn exist-47.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme among rock=Location |
| 9 | **score** |  |  | times |  |  |  |  | nom score «cognition transitive»: of=patient |

<!-- .note -->
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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