---
title: His name was Wheke, which means “Octopus,” and like his father he sp… — Maori folk-tales of the Port Hills, Canterbury,… · tree and pragmatics
description: His name was Wheke, which means “Octopus,” and like his father he spread terror among the Ngati-Mamoe. Who acts: name, Wheke, figure. A sentence of «Maori folk-tales of the Port Hills, Canterbury, New Zealand» by James Cowan, Rapaki: a Village By the Sea., with its dependency tree and the pragmatics
---

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# Maori folk-tales of the Port Hills, Canterbury, New Zealand, Rapaki: a Village By the Sea., sentence 33

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His name was Wheke, which means “Octopus,” and like his father he spread terror among the Ngati-Mamoe.

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**Who acts:** name, Wheke, figure · **What happens:** be, mean, spread, name · **To what, where:** Wheke, Octopus, terror

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This is a sentence of «Maori folk-tales of the Port Hills, Canterbury, New Zealand» by James Cowan, Rapaki: a Village By the Sea.. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (name, Wheke, figure), 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:pg73766:12:33
# text = His name was Wheke, which means “Octopus,” and like his father he spread terror among the Ngati-Mamoe.
1	His	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	name	name	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
4	Wheke	Wheke	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
6	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	7	nsubj	_	_
7	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	parataxis	_	_
8	“	"	PUNCT	``	_	9	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	Octopus	octopus	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	”	"	PUNCT	''	_	9	punct	_	_
12	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	17	cc	_	_
13	like	like	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
14	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	15	nmod:poss	_	_
15	father	father	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	obl	_	_
16	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	17	nsubj	_	_
17	spread	spread	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	conj	_	_
18	terror	terror	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	obj	_	_
19	among	among	ADP	IN	_	23	case	_	_
20	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	23	det	_	_
21	Ngati	Ngati	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	23	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	21	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	Mamoe	Mamoe	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	17	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
24	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | past | figure's name | Wheke |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **mean** | present | Wheke | Octopus |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent octopus=Topic |
| 3 | **spread** | past | figure | terror |  |  |  | like figure's father; among the Ngati Mamoe | vn spray-9.7-1 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent terror=Theme among mamoe=Destination |
| 4 | **name** |  | figure |  |  |  |  |  | nom name «communication transitive»: poss=agent |

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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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