---
title: Like the crater-topped cones of the Tamaki Isthmus, it is softly gra… — Maori folk-tales of the Port Hills, Canterbury,… · tree and pragmatics
description: Like the crater-topped cones of the Tamaki Isthmus, it is softly grassed; a stray _ngaio_ is the one remnant of the bush that once covered the volcanic detritus; but the hugely ramparted and square-hewn rim of the basin stands indomitable and unchangeable, unmistakable memorial of the active volcani
---

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# Maori folk-tales of the Port Hills, Canterbury, New Zealand, The Story of the Rocks., sentence 20

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Like the crater-topped cones of the Tamaki Isthmus, it is softly grassed; a stray \_ngaio\_ is the one remnant of the bush that once covered the volcanic detritus; but the hugely ramparted and square-hewn rim of the basin stands indomitable and unchangeable, unmistakable memorial of the active volcanic age.

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**Who acts:** stray \_ ngaio · **What happens:** top, grass, be, cover, rampart, stand · **To what, where:** Isthmus, one remnant, bush

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This is a sentence of «Maori folk-tales of the Port Hills, Canterbury, New Zealand» by James Cowan, The Story of the Rocks.. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (stray \_ ngaio), 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:pg73766:9:20
# text = Like the crater-topped cones of the Tamaki Isthmus, it is softly grassed; a stray _ngaio_ is the one remnant of the bush that once covered the volcanic detritus; but the hugely ramparted and square-hewn rim of the basin stands indomitable and unchangeable, unmistakable memorial of the active volcanic age.
1	Like	like	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
3	crater	crater	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	3	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	topped	top	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	6	amod	_	_
6	cones	cone	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	15	obl	_	_
7	of	of	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
9	Tamaki	Tamaki	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	10	compound	_	_
10	Isthmus	Isthmus	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	6	punct	_	_
12	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	15	nsubj:pass	_	_
13	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	15	aux:pass	_	_
14	softly	softly	ADV	RB	_	15	advmod	_	_
15	grassed	grass	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	25	punct	_	_
17	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	20	det	_	_
18	stray	stray	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	20	amod	_	_
19	_	_	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	20	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	ngaio	ngaio	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	25	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	_	_	PUNCT	NFP	_	20	punct	_	_
22	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	25	cop	_	_
23	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	25	det	_	_
24	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	25	nummod	_	_
25	remnant	remnant	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	obl	_	_
26	of	of	ADP	IN	_	28	case	_	_
27	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	28	det	_	_
28	bush	bush	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	25	nmod	_	_
29	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	31	obj	_	_
30	once	once	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Mult	31	advmod	_	_
31	covered	cover	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	28	acl:relcl	_	_
32	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	34	det	_	_
33	volcanic	volcanic	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	34	amod	_	_
34	detritus	detritus	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	31	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
35	;	;	PUNCT	,	_	39	punct	_	_
36	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	39	cc	_	_
37	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	39	det	_	_
38	hugely	hugely	ADV	RB	_	39	advmod	_	_
39	ramparted	rampart	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	48	nsubj	_	_
40	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	44	cc	_	_
41	square	square	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	44	amod	_	SpaceAfter=No
42	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	41	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
43	hewn	hewn	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	44	amod	_	_
44	rim	rim	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	39	conj	_	_
45	of	of	ADP	IN	_	47	case	_	_
46	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	47	det	_	_
47	basin	basin	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	44	nmod	_	_
48	stands	stand	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	15	parataxis	_	_
49	indomitable	indomitable	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	48	xcomp	_	_
50	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	51	cc	_	_
51	unchangeable	unchangeable	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	49	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
52	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	54	punct	_	_
53	unmistakable	unmistakable	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	54	amod	_	_
54	memorial	memorial	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	49	obl	_	_
55	of	of	ADP	IN	_	59	case	_	_
56	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	59	det	_	_
57	active	active	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	59	amod	_	_
58	volcanic	volcanic	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	59	amod	_	_
59	age	age	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	54	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
60	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	15	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **top** | participle |  |  |  |  |  | crater *compound* | vn contiguous\_location-47.8 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **grass** | present · passive |  | Isthmus |  |  |  | like the topped cones of the Tamaki Isthmus; softly *property* | vn butter-9.9 «NP V NP.destination»: subject=Destination |
| 3 | **is a** | present | a stray \_ ngaio | the one remnant |  |  |  | of the bush | tree rules |
| 4 | **cover** | past |  | the bush |  |  |  | the volcanic detritus *obj*; once *property* | tree rules |
| 5 | **rampart** | participle |  |  |  |  |  | square hewn rim of the basin *conj*; hugely *property* | tree rules |
| 6 | **stand** | present |  |  |  |  |  | indomitable *property* | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

<!-- .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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