---
title: It is by this alternate nicking from opposite sides that the stone-s… — The man who married the moon, and other Pueblo I… · tree and pragmatics
description: It is by this alternate nicking from opposite sides that the stone-splinter grows less by tiny flakes, and is shaped by degrees to a perfect arrow-head. Who acts: splinter, alternate, that, degrees. A sentence of «The man who married the moon, and other Pueblo Indian folk-stories» by Charles Fletche
---

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# The man who married the moon, and other Pueblo Indian folk-stories, The Maker of the Thunder-knives, sentence 11

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It is by this alternate nicking from opposite sides that the stone-splinter grows less by tiny flakes, and is shaped by degrees to a perfect arrow-head.

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**Who acts:** splinter, alternate, that, degrees · **What happens:** be, nick, grow, shape · **To what, where:** opposite sides, perfect arrow head

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This is a sentence of «The man who married the moon, and other Pueblo Indian folk-stories» by Charles Fletcher Lummis, The Maker of the Thunder-knives. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (splinter, alternate, that, degrees), 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:pg77804:12:11
# text = It is by this alternate nicking from opposite sides that the stone-splinter grows less by tiny flakes, and is shaped by degrees to a perfect arrow-head.
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
3	by	by	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	this	this	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	5	det	_	_
5	alternate	alternate	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
6	nicking	nick	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	5	acl	_	_
7	from	from	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	opposite	opposite	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	sides	side	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	obl	_	_
10	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	15	nsubj	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
12	stone	stone	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	12	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	splinter	splinter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	nsubj	_	_
15	grows	grow	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	parataxis	_	_
16	less	less	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	15	advmod	_	_
17	by	by	ADP	IN	_	19	case	_	_
18	tiny	tiny	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	19	amod	_	_
19	flakes	flake	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	15	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	23	punct	_	_
21	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	23	cc	_	_
22	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	23	aux:pass	_	_
23	shaped	shape	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	15	conj	_	_
24	by	by	ADP	IN	_	25	case	_	_
25	degrees	degree	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	23	obl	_	_
26	to	to	ADP	IN	_	31	case	_	_
27	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	31	det	_	_
28	perfect	perfect	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	31	amod	_	_
29	arrow	arrow	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	31	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
30	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	29	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
31	head	head	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	23	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
32	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | splinter |  |  |  |  | by this alternate | tree rules |
| 2 | **nick** | gerund | this alternate *not said here* |  |  | opposite sides |  |  | vn carve-21.2-1 «NP V ADVP-Middle»: agent=Patient |
| 3 | **grow** | present | that |  |  |  |  | by tiny flakes; the stone splinter *nsubj*; less *property* | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme by flake=Location |
| 4 | **shape** | present · passive | degrees |  | a perfect arrow head |  |  |  | vn reflexive\_appearance-48.1.2 «NP V NP PP.recipient»: agent=Agent to head=Recipient |

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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:** «The man who married the moon, and other Pueblo Indian folk-stories» by Charles Fletcher Lummis, Project Gutenberg book 77804 (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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