---
title: After a while he saw something ahead, which was a rock, and the big… — Ojibwa myths and tales · tree and pragmatics
description: After a while he saw something ahead, which was a rock, and the big bird lit on the rock and let the man go and flew away again. Who acts: John, big bird, man. A sentence of «Ojibwa myths and tales» by Geo. E. Laidlaw, Thunderbirds. (no. 2.), with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of every clau
---

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# Ojibwa myths and tales, Thunderbirds. (no. 2.), sentence 8

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After a while he saw something ahead, which was a rock, and the big bird lit on the rock and let the man go and flew away again.

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**Who acts:** John, big bird, man · **What happens:** see, be, lit, let, go, fly away · **To what, where:** something, rock, man

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This is a sentence of «Ojibwa myths and tales» by Geo. E. Laidlaw, Thunderbirds. (no. 2.). The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (John, big bird, man), 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:pg76755:5:8
# text = After a while he saw something ahead, which was a rock, and the big bird lit on the rock and let the man go and flew away again.
1	After	after	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
2	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	while	while	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
4	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
5	saw	see	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	something	something	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	5	obj	_	_
7	ahead	ahead	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
9	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	12	nsubj	_	_
10	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	12	cop	_	_
11	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	rock	rock	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	18	punct	_	_
14	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	18	cc	_	_
15	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
16	big	big	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	17	amod	_	_
17	bird	bird	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	nsubj	_	_
18	lit	lit	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	5	conj	_	_
19	on	on	ADP	IN	_	21	case	_	_
20	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	21	det	_	_
21	rock	rock	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	obl	_	_
22	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	23	cc	_	_
23	let	let	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	18	conj	_	_
24	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	25	det	_	_
25	man	man	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	23	obj	_	_
26	go	go	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	23	xcomp	_	_
27	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	28	cc	_	_
28	flew	fly	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	conj	_	_
29	away	away	ADV	RB	_	28	advmod	_	_
30	again	again	ADV	RB	_	28	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
31	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **see** | past | John | something |  |  | while |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer something=Stimulus |
| 2 | **is a** | past |  | a rock |  |  |  | which *nsubj* | tree rules |
| 3 | **lit** | participle | the big bird |  |  | the rock |  |  | tree rules |
| 4 | **let** | infinitive | the big bird *not said here* | the man |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 5 | **go** | infinitive | the man *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 6 | **fly away** | past | John *not said here* |  |  |  | again | away *property* | vn spatial\_configuration-47.6-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

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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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