---
title: [a] The Dakotas say that for many years in olden times a war-eagle m… — Legends of the Northwest · tree and pragmatics
description: [a] The Dakotas say that for many years in olden times a war-eagle made her nest in an oak tree on Spirit island--Wanagi-wita just below the Falls till frightened away by the advent of white men. Who acts: Dakotas, war eagle, Falls. A sentence of «Legends of the Northwest» by Hanford Lennox Gordon, 
---

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# Legends of the Northwest, The Feast of the Virgins., part 3, sentence 64

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\[a\] The Dakotas say that for many years in olden times a war-eagle made her nest in an oak tree on Spirit island--Wanagi-wita just below the Falls till frightened away by the advent of white men.

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**Who acts:** Dakotas, war eagle, Falls · **What happens:** say, make, till, frighten away · **To what, where:** nest, oak tree, Wanagi wita · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is a sentence of «Legends of the Northwest» by Hanford Lennox Gordon, The Feast of the Virgins., part 3. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (Dakotas, war eagle, Falls), 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:pg8122:10:64
# text = [a] The Dakotas say that for many years in olden times a war-eagle made her nest in an oak tree on Spirit island--Wanagi-wita just below the Falls till frightened away by the advent of white men.
1	[	[	PUNCT	-LRB-	_	3	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	]	]	PUNCT	-RRB-	_	0	root	_	_
4	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	Dakotas	dakota	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nsubj	_	_
6	say	say	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	acl:relcl	_	_
7	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	18	mark	_	_
8	for	for	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	many	many	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	years	year	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	18	obl	_	_
11	in	in	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	olden	olden	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	13	amod	_	_
13	times	time	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	18	obl	_	_
14	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
15	war	war	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	15	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	eagle	eagle	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	nsubj	_	_
18	made	make	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	ccomp	_	_
19	her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	20	nmod:poss	_	_
20	nest	nest	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	obj	_	_
21	in	in	ADP	IN	_	24	case	_	_
22	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	24	det	_	_
23	oak	oak	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	24	compound	_	_
24	tree	tree	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	obl	_	_
25	on	on	ADP	IN	_	27	case	_	_
26	Spirit	Spirit	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	27	compound	_	_
27	island	island	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
28	--	--	PUNCT	,	_	31	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
29	Wanagi	Wanagi	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	31	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
30	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	29	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
31	wita	wita	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	27	conj	_	_
32	just	just	ADV	RB	_	35	advmod	_	_
33	below	below	ADP	IN	_	35	case	_	_
34	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	35	det	_	_
35	Falls	Falls	PROPN	NNPS	Number=Plur	36	nsubj	_	_
36	till	till	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	31	acl:relcl	_	_
37	frightened	frighten	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	36	xcomp	_	_
38	away	away	ADV	RB	_	37	advmod	_	_
39	by	by	ADP	IN	_	41	case	_	_
40	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	41	det	_	_
41	advent	advent	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	37	obl	_	_
42	of	of	ADP	IN	_	44	case	_	_
43	white	white	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	44	amod	_	_
44	men	man	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	41	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
45	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | the Dakotas |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **make** | past | a war eagle | beaver's nest |  | a oak tree | time; year | on Spirit island and Wanagi wita | vn build-26.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent nest=Product |
| 3 | **till** | present | the Falls | Wanagi wita *not said here* |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 4 | **frighten away** | participle | the Falls *not said here* |  |  |  |  | by the advent of white men; away *property* | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Experiencer |

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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:** «Legends of the Northwest» by Hanford Lennox Gordon, Project Gutenberg book 8122 (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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