---
title: [Footnote 26: The Dakotas believe that the _Aurora Borealis_ is an e… — Legends of the Northwest · tree and pragmatics
description: [Footnote 26: The Dakotas believe that the _Aurora Borealis_ is an evil omen and the threatening of an evil spirit, (perhaps Wazíya, the Winter-god--some say a witch, or a very ugly old woman). Who acts: Dakotas, Aurora, Wazíya, some. A sentence of «Legends of the Northwest» by Hanford Lennox Gordon
---

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# Legends of the Northwest, In the Measure of Hiawatha, part 3, sentence 98

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\[Footnote 26: The Dakotas believe that the \_Aurora Borealis\_ is an evil omen and the threatening of an evil spirit, (perhaps Wazíya, the Winter-god--some say a witch, or a very ugly old woman).

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**Who acts:** Dakotas, Aurora, Wazíya, some · **What happens:** believe, be, god, say · **To what, where:** Footnote, evil omen, witch · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is a sentence of «Legends of the Northwest» by Hanford Lennox Gordon, In the Measure of Hiawatha, 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, Aurora, Wazíya, some), 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:pg8122:20:98
# text = [Footnote 26: The Dakotas believe that the _Aurora Borealis_ is an evil omen and the threatening of an evil spirit, (perhaps Wazíya, the Winter-god--some say a witch, or a very ugly old woman).
1	[	[	PUNCT	-LRB-	_	2	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	Footnote	footnote	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	26	26	NUM	CD	NumForm=Digit|NumType=Card	2	flat	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	7	punct	_	_
5	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	Dakotas	dakota	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nsubj	_	_
7	believe	believe	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	acl:relcl	_	_
8	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	17	mark	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
10	_	_	PUNCT	``	_	17	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	Aurora	Aurora	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	17	nsubj	_	_
12	Borealis	Borealis	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	11	flat	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	_	_	PUNCT	NFP	_	11	punct	_	_
14	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	17	cop	_	_
15	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
16	evil	evil	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	17	amod	_	_
17	omen	omen	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	ccomp	_	_
18	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	20	cc	_	_
19	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	20	det	_	_
20	threatening	threatening	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	conj	_	_
21	of	of	ADP	IN	_	24	case	_	_
22	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	24	det	_	_
23	evil	evil	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	24	amod	_	_
24	spirit	spirit	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	20	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
25	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	33	punct	_	_
26	(	(	PUNCT	-LRB-	_	33	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
27	perhaps	perhaps	ADV	RB	_	33	advmod	_	_
28	Wazíya	Wazíya	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	33	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
29	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	33	punct	_	_
30	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	33	det	_	_
31	Winter	Winter	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	33	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
32	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	31	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
33	god	god	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	appos	_	SpaceAfter=No
34	--	--	PUNCT	,	_	36	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
35	some	some	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	36	nsubj	_	_
36	say	say	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	33	parataxis	_	_
37	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	38	det	_	_
38	witch	witch	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	36	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
39	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	45	punct	_	_
40	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	45	cc	_	_
41	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	45	det	_	_
42	very	very	ADV	RB	_	43	advmod	_	_
43	ugly	ugly	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	45	amod	_	_
44	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	45	amod	_	_
45	woman	woman	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	38	appos	_	SpaceAfter=No
46	)	)	PUNCT	-RRB-	_	45	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
47	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **believe** | present | the Dakotas | Footnote *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn admire-31.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer footnote=Stimulus |
| 2 | **is a** | present | Aurora | the evil omen and the threatening of a evil spirit |  |  |  | the threatening of a evil spirit *conj* | tree rules |
| 3 | **god** |  | Wazíya |  |  |  |  | perhaps *property* | tree rules |
| 4 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | some | a witch |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: agent=Agent witch=Topic |

<!-- .note -->
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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