--- title: It was never known how Nanabush was born, only that he was working f… — Ojibwa myths and tales · tree and pragmatics description: It was never known how Nanabush was born, only that he was working for God for many years (York says 2,000 years, which is evidently his expression to denote a very long time) looking after the world, such as to regulate the weather, rain, snow, and other things. Who acts: Nanabush, York, 2,000 year --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg76755/22/2/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [tales](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/) / [Ojibwa myths and tales](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg76755/) / [Nanabush. (no. 6.)](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg76755/22/) / 2 # Ojibwa myths and tales, Nanabush. (no. 6.), sentence 2 It was never known how Nanabush was born, only that he was working for God for many years (York says 2,000 years, which is evidently his expression to denote a very long time) looking after the world, such as to regulate the weather, rain, snow, and other things. **Who acts:** Nanabush, York, 2,000 years · **What happens:** not know, bear, work, say, be, denote · **To what, where:** It, Nanabush, expression, weather · **Speech:** someone speaks here This is a sentence of «Ojibwa myths and tales» by Geo. E. Laidlaw, Nanabush. (no. 6.). The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (Nanabush, York, 2,000 years), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree. **Mova's own parse.** This tree may be wrong. ## The tree {#tree} ```conllu # sent_id = book:pg76755:22:2 # text = It was never known how Nanabush was born, only that he was working for God for many years (York says 2,000 years, which is evidently his expression to denote a very long time) looking after the world, such as to regulate the weather, rain, snow, and other things. 1 It it PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 4 nsubj:pass _ _ 2 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 4 aux:pass _ _ 3 never never ADV RB PronType=Neg 4 advmod _ _ 4 known know VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 0 root _ _ 5 how how ADV WRB PronType=Int 8 advmod _ _ 6 Nanabush Nanabush PROPN NNP Number=Sing 8 nsubj:pass _ _ 7 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 8 aux:pass _ _ 8 born bear VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 4 xcomp _ SpaceAfter=No 9 , , PUNCT , _ 14 punct _ _ 10 only only ADV RB _ 14 advmod _ _ 11 that that SCONJ IN _ 14 mark _ _ 12 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 14 nsubj _ _ 13 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 14 aux _ _ 14 working work VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 8 conj _ _ 15 for for ADP IN _ 16 case _ _ 16 God God PROPN NNP Number=Sing 14 obl _ _ 17 for for ADP IN _ 19 case _ _ 18 many many ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 19 amod _ _ 19 years year NOUN NNS Number=Plur 14 obl _ _ 20 ( ( PUNCT -LRB- _ 22 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 21 York York PROPN NNP Number=Sing 22 nsubj _ _ 22 says say VERB VBZ Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 4 conj _ _ 23 2,000 2000 NUM CD NumForm=Digit|NumType=Card 24 nummod _ _ 24 years year NOUN NNS Number=Plur 22 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 25 , , PUNCT , _ 30 punct _ _ 26 which which PRON WDT PronType=Rel 30 nsubj _ _ 27 is be AUX VBZ Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 30 cop _ _ 28 evidently evidently ADV RB _ 30 advmod _ _ 29 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 30 nmod:poss _ _ 30 expression expression NOUN NN Number=Sing 24 nmod _ _ 31 to to PART TO _ 32 mark _ _ 32 denote denote VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 30 acl _ _ 33 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 36 det _ _ 34 very very ADV RB _ 35 advmod _ _ 35 long long ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 36 amod _ _ 36 time time NOUN NN Number=Sing 32 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 37 ) ) PUNCT -RRB- _ 22 punct _ _ 38 looking look VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 22 advcl _ _ 39 after after ADP IN _ 41 case _ _ 40 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 41 det _ _ 41 world world NOUN NN Number=Sing 38 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 42 , , PUNCT , _ 56 punct _ _ 43 such such ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 56 amod _ _ 44 as as ADP IN _ 43 fixed _ _ 45 to to PART TO _ 46 mark _ _ 46 regulate regulate VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 43 advcl _ _ 47 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 48 det _ _ 48 weather weather NOUN NN Number=Sing 46 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 49 , , PUNCT , _ 50 punct _ _ 50 rain rain NOUN NN Number=Sing 48 conj _ SpaceAfter=No 51 , , PUNCT , _ 52 punct _ _ 52 snow snow NOUN NN Number=Sing 48 conj _ SpaceAfter=No 53 , , PUNCT , _ 56 punct _ _ 54 and and CCONJ CC _ 56 cc _ _ 55 other other ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 56 amod _ _ 56 things thing NOUN NNS Number=Plur 41 conj _ SpaceAfter=No 57 . . PUNCT . _ 4 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **not** **know** | past · passive | | It | | | | | tree rules | | 2 | **bear** | past · passive | | Nanabush | | | | | vn birth-28.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Patient | | 3 | **work** | past · progressive | Nanabush | | | | year | for God | vn employment-95.3 «NP V PP.beneficiary»: agent=Agent for god=Beneficiary | | 4 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | York | | | | year | | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent | | 5 | **is a** | present | 2,000 years | York's expression | | | | York *nmod:poss*; evidently *property* | tree rules | | 6 | **denote** | to-infinitive | York *not said here* | | | | time | | vn indicate-78 «NP V how S»: agent=Pivot | | 7 | **look** | gerund | York *not said here* | | | | after the world and such other things | | vn stimulus\_subject-30.4 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Stimulus | | 8 | **regulate** | to-infinitive | York *not said here* | the weather and rain and snow | | | | | tree rules | 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. **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. - ← previous: [sentence 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg76755/22/1/) - next →: [sentence 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg76755/22/3/) - ↑ back to [Nanabush. (no. 6.)](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg76755/22/)