---
title: On the last day before reaching home the man who had Nanabush’s daug… — Ojibwa myths and tales · tree and pragmatics
description: On the last day before reaching home the man who had Nanabush’s daughter wanted to talk to her, so he spoke to her, but before he had finished his words the girl was missing and could not be found, so he got home without a wife. Who acts: man, Nanabush, words. A sentence of «Ojibwa myths and tales» 
---

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# Ojibwa myths and tales, Nanabush and the Four Men. (no. 4.), sentence 30

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On the last day before reaching home the man who had Nanabush’s daughter wanted to talk to her, so he spoke to her, but before he had finished his words the girl was missing and could not be found, so he got home without a wife.

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**Who acts:** man, Nanabush, words · **What happens:** reach, have, want, talk, speak, finish · **To what, where:** daughter, wife · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is a sentence of «Ojibwa myths and tales» by Geo. E. Laidlaw, Nanabush and the Four Men. (no. 4.). The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (man, Nanabush, words), 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:pg76755:17:30
# text = On the last day before reaching home the man who had Nanabush’s daughter wanted to talk to her, so he spoke to her, but before he had finished his words the girl was missing and could not be found, so he got home without a wife.
1	On	on	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	last	last	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	day	day	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	obl:unmarked	_	_
5	before	before	SCONJ	IN	_	6	mark	_	_
6	reaching	reach	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	4	advcl	_	_
7	home	home	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	man	man	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	nsubj	_	_
10	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	11	nsubj	_	_
11	had	have	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	9	acl:relcl	_	_
12	Nanabush	Nanabush	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	14	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	’s	's	PART	POS	_	12	case	_	_
14	daughter	daughter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obj	_	_
15	wanted	want	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
16	to	to	PART	TO	_	17	mark	_	_
17	talk	talk	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	15	xcomp	_	_
18	to	to	ADP	IN	_	19	case	_	_
19	her	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	17	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	23	punct	_	_
21	so	so	ADV	RB	_	23	advmod	_	_
22	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	23	nsubj	_	_
23	spoke	speak	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	15	conj	_	_
24	to	to	ADP	IN	_	25	case	_	_
25	her	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	23	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
26	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	31	punct	_	_
27	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	31	cc	_	_
28	before	before	SCONJ	IN	_	31	mark	_	_
29	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	31	nsubj	_	_
30	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	31	aux	_	_
31	finished	finish	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	15	xcomp	_	_
32	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	33	nmod:poss	_	_
33	words	word	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	37	nsubj	_	_
34	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	35	det	_	_
35	girl	girl	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	37	nsubj	_	_
36	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	37	cop	_	_
37	missing	missing	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	31	parataxis	_	_
38	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	42	cc	_	_
39	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	42	aux	_	_
40	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	42	advmod	_	_
41	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	42	aux:pass	_	_
42	found	find	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	37	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
43	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	46	punct	_	_
44	so	so	ADV	RB	_	46	advmod	_	_
45	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	46	nsubj	_	_
46	got	get	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	15	conj	_	_
47	home	home	ADV	RB	_	46	advmod	_	_
48	without	without	ADP	IN	_	50	case	_	_
49	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	50	det	_	_
50	wife	wife	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	46	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
51	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	15	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **reach** | gerund | the man *not said here* |  |  |  |  | home *property* | vn body\_motion-49.2-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **have** | past | the man | Nanabush's daughter |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent daughter=Patient |
| 3 | **want** | past | the man |  |  |  | day |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Pivot clause=Theme |
| 4 | **talk** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | the man *not said here* |  | wife |  |  |  | vn talk-37.5 «NP V PP.co-agent»: agent=Agent to she=Co-Agent |
| 5 | **speak** *speech: other* | past | Nanabush |  | wife |  |  |  | vn talk-37.5 «NP V PP.co-agent»: agent=Agent to she=Co-Agent |
| 6 | **finish** *not said to happen* | past · perfect | Nanabush |  |  |  |  |  | vn stop-55.4-1-1 «NP.eventuality V»: agent=Eventuality |
| 7 | **is** | past | Nanabush's words |  |  |  |  | the girl *nsubj*; missing *property* | tree rules |
| 8 | **not** **find** | could · passive | Nanabush's words *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn declare-29.4-1-1 «NP V what S\_INF» |
| 9 | **get** | past | Nanabush |  |  |  |  | without a wife; home *property* | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Experiencer |
| 10 | **word** |  | Nanabush |  |  |  |  |  | nom word «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:** «Ojibwa myths and tales» by Geo. E. Laidlaw, Project Gutenberg book 76755 (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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