---
title: When they saw their mother coming, they threw the stone down, when i… — Ojibwa myths and tales · tree and pragmatics
description: When they saw their mother coming, they threw the stone down, when it became a big mountain, and the two boys went a long way before their mother was able to get over the mountain and catch up to them. Who acts: children, mother, stone, two boys. A sentence of «Ojibwa myths and tales» by Geo. E. Lai
---

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# Ojibwa myths and tales, Ne-we-no-nah K’she Mŭh., sentence 18

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When they saw their mother coming, they threw the stone down, when it became a big mountain, and the two boys went a long way before their mother was able to get over the mountain and catch up to them.

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**Who acts:** children, mother, stone, two boys · **What happens:** see, come, throw down, become, go, be · **To what, where:** mother, stone, big mountain, long way, mountain, children

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This is a sentence of «Ojibwa myths and tales» by Geo. E. Laidlaw, Ne-we-no-nah K’she Mŭh.. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (children, mother, stone, two boys), 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:pg76755:7:18
# text = When they saw their mother coming, they threw the stone down, when it became a big mountain, and the two boys went a long way before their mother was able to get over the mountain and catch up to them.
1	When	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	3	advmod	_	_
2	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
3	saw	see	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	9	advcl	_	_
4	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	5	nmod:poss	_	_
5	mother	mother	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	coming	come	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	5	acl	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	3	punct	_	_
8	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	nsubj	_	_
9	threw	throw	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	stone	stone	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obj	_	_
12	down	down	ADP	RP	_	9	compound:prt	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	16	punct	_	_
14	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	16	advmod	_	_
15	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	16	nsubj	_	_
16	became	become	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	9	conj	_	_
17	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	19	det	_	_
18	big	big	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	19	amod	_	_
19	mountain	mountain	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	25	punct	_	_
21	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	25	cc	_	_
22	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	24	det	_	_
23	two	two	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	24	nummod	_	_
24	boys	boy	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	25	nsubj	_	_
25	went	go	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	9	conj	_	_
26	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	28	det	_	_
27	long	long	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	28	amod	_	_
28	way	way	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	25	obj	_	_
29	before	before	SCONJ	IN	_	33	mark	_	_
30	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	31	nmod:poss	_	_
31	mother	mother	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	33	nsubj	_	_
32	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	33	cop	_	_
33	able	able	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	25	xcomp	_	_
34	to	to	PART	TO	_	35	mark	_	_
35	get	get	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	33	xcomp	_	_
36	over	over	ADP	IN	_	38	case	_	_
37	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	38	det	_	_
38	mountain	mountain	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	35	obl	_	_
39	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	40	cc	_	_
40	catch	catch	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	35	conj	_	_
41	up	up	ADP	RP	_	40	compound:prt	_	_
42	to	to	ADP	IN	_	43	case	_	_
43	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	40	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
44	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	9	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **see** | past | children *= child* | children's mother |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer mother=Stimulus |
| 2 | **come** | gerund | children's mother *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 3 | **throw down** | past | children *= child* | the stone |  |  |  |  | vn throw-17.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent stone=Theme |
| 4 | **become** | past | stone | a big mountain |  |  |  |  | vn become-109.1-1-1 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Patient |
| 5 | **go** | past | the two boys | a long way |  |  |  |  | vn meander-47.7 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location way=Theme |
| 6 | **is** | past | children's mother |  |  |  |  | able *property* | tree rules |
| 7 | **get** | to-infinitive | children's mother *not said here* |  |  | the mountain |  |  | vn escape-51.1 «NP V PP.destination»: agent=Theme over mountain=Destination |
| 8 | **catch up** | present | children's mother *not said here* |  | children *= child* |  |  |  | vn get-13.5.1 «NP V NP»: agent=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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