---
title: The sacred fire was saved and it was taken by the chiefs up the Wait… — Maori folk-tales of the Port Hills, Canterbury,… · tree and pragmatics
description: The sacred fire was saved and it was taken by the chiefs up the Waitaki River and placed there in the ground; and there until about forty-five years ago it was still actually burning, issuing from the earth in a little undying flame, and it was called “Te Ahi a Uenuku.” Who acts: chiefs, ground. A s
---

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# Maori folk-tales of the Port Hills, Canterbury, New Zealand, How the Sacred Fire Came to Witch Hill., sentence 28

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The sacred fire was saved and it was taken by the chiefs up the Waitaki River and placed there in the ground; and there until about forty-five years ago it was still actually burning, issuing from the earth in a little undying flame, and it was called “Te Ahi a Uenuku.”

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**Who acts:** chiefs, ground · **What happens:** save, take up, place, burn, issue, call · **To what, where:** sacred fire, it, ground, earth · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is a sentence of «Maori folk-tales of the Port Hills, Canterbury, New Zealand» by James Cowan, How the Sacred Fire Came to Witch Hill.. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (chiefs, ground), 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:pg73766:13:28
# text = The sacred fire was saved and it was taken by the chiefs up the Waitaki River and placed there in the ground; and there until about forty-five years ago it was still actually burning, issuing from the earth in a little undying flame, and it was called “Te Ahi a Uenuku.”
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	sacred	sacred	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	fire	fire	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj:pass	_	_
4	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux:pass	_	_
5	saved	save	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
7	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	nsubj:pass	_	_
8	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	9	aux:pass	_	_
9	taken	take	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	5	conj	_	_
10	by	by	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	chiefs	chief	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	obl	_	_
13	up	up	ADP	RP	_	9	compound:prt	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
15	Waitaki	Waitaki	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	16	compound	_	_
16	River	River	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	9	obj	_	_
17	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	18	cc	_	_
18	placed	place	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	9	conj	_	_
19	there	there	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	18	advmod	_	_
20	in	in	ADP	IN	_	22	case	_	_
21	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	22	det	_	_
22	ground	ground	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	25	punct	_	_
24	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	25	cc	_	_
25	there	there	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	5	advcl	_	_
26	until	until	ADP	IN	_	31	case	_	_
27	about	about	ADV	RB	_	28	advmod	_	_
28	forty	forty	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	31	nummod	_	SpaceAfter=No
29	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	28	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
30	five	five	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	28	flat	_	_
31	years	year	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obl	_	_
32	ago	ago	ADV	RB	_	31	advmod	_	_
33	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	37	nsubj	_	_
34	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	37	aux	_	_
35	still	still	ADV	RB	_	37	advmod	_	_
36	actually	actually	ADV	RB	_	37	advmod	_	_
37	burning	burn	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	5	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
38	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	39	punct	_	_
39	issuing	issue	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	37	advcl	_	_
40	from	from	ADP	IN	_	42	case	_	_
41	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	42	det	_	_
42	earth	earth	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	39	obl	_	_
43	in	in	ADP	IN	_	47	case	_	_
44	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	47	det	_	_
45	little	little	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	47	amod	_	_
46	undying	undying	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	47	amod	_	_
47	flame	flame	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	39	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
48	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	52	punct	_	_
49	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	52	cc	_	_
50	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	52	nsubj:pass	_	_
51	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	52	aux:pass	_	_
52	called	call	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	5	parataxis	_	_
53	“	"	PUNCT	``	_	57	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
54	Te	Te	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	57	compound	_	_
55	Ahi	Ahi	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	54	flat	_	_
56	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	57	det	_	_
57	Uenuku	Uenuku	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	52	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
58	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	57	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
59	”	"	PUNCT	''	_	57	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **save** | past · passive |  | the sacred fire |  |  | year |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **take up** | past · passive | the chiefs | it |  |  |  | the Waitaki River *obj* | vn bring-11.3 «NP V NP ADVP»: agent=Instrument subject=Theme river=Destination |
| 3 | **place** | participle | the chiefs *not said here* |  |  | the ground; there |  |  | vn put-9.1-2 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent in ground=Destination |
| 4 | **burn** | past · progressive | ground |  |  |  | still | actually *property* | vn light\_emission-43.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 5 | **issue** | gerund | ground *not said here* |  |  | the earth |  | in a little undying flame | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme in flame=Location |
| 6 | **call** | past · passive |  | ground |  |  |  | a Te Uenuku *xcomp* | vn initiate\_communication-37.4.2-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: subject=Recipient |

<!-- .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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