---
title: Truly it had been wise For them of olden time, And for us too, indee… — Kulóskap the master, and other Algonkin poems · tree and pragmatics
description: Truly it had been wise For them of olden time, And for us too, indeed, Could they have held their tongues. A sentence of «Kulóskap the master, and other Algonkin poems», Opening, part 18, with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of every clause.
---

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# Kulóskap the master, and other Algonkin poems, Opening, part 18, sentence 121

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Truly it had been wise For them of olden time, And for us too, indeed, Could they have held their tongues.

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**What happens:** be, hold · **To what, where:** minds

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This is a sentence of «Kulóskap the master, and other Algonkin poems», Opening, part 18. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: 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:pg78673:18:121
# text = Truly it had been wise For them of olden time, And for us too, indeed, Could they have held their tongues.
1	Truly	truly	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
2	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	expl	_	_
3	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
4	been	be	AUX	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	5	cop	_	_
5	wise	wise	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
6	For	for	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	obl	_	_
8	of	of	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	olden	olden	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	time	time	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	22	punct	_	_
12	And	and	CCONJ	CC	_	22	cc	_	_
13	for	for	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
14	us	we	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs	17	nsubj	_	_
15	too	too	ADV	RB	_	17	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	15	punct	_	_
17	indeed	indeed	ADV	RB	_	22	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	17	punct	_	_
19	Could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	22	aux	_	_
20	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	22	nsubj:pass	_	_
21	have	have	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	22	aux	_	_
22	held	hold	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	5	advcl	_	_
23	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	24	nmod:poss	_	_
24	tongues	tongue	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	22	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
25	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past · perfect |  |  |  |  | time | for minds *= mind*; truly, wise *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **hold** | could · perfect · passive |  | minds *= mind* |  |  |  | minds's tongues *obj* | vn conjecture-29.5 «NP V NP to be NP»: subject=Theme tongue=Eventuality |

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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:** «Kulóskap the master, and other Algonkin poems», Project Gutenberg book 78673 (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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