The Sampo: A Wonder Tale of the Old North, The Land of Tuonela, sentence 17
For six days—yes, for seven painful days he toiled through thickets of thorns; for seven eventful days he cut his way through a magic wilderness of hazel; for seven other days he groped through dark hedges of juniper and tangled masses of wild briars; and then, for three times seven days he wandered through desert lands and wide wastes of snow where there was no shelter from the storm and no place to rest his weary feet.
Who acts: seven painful days, E · What happens: toil, cut, grope, tangle, wander, be · To what, where: thickets, way, magic wilderness, dark hedges, masses, seven days
This is a sentence of «The Sampo: A Wonder Tale of the Old North» by James Baldwin, The Land of Tuonela. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (seven painful days, E), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree.
Mova's own parse. This tree may be wrong.
The tree
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | For | for | ADP | _ | 3 days | case |
| 2 | six | six | NUM | NumForm=Word NumType=Card | 3 days | nummod |
| 3 | days | day | NOUN | Number=Plur | 12 toiled | obl |
| 4 | — | - | PUNCT | _ | 10 days | punct |
| 5 | yes | yes | INTJ | Polarity=Pos | 10 days | discourse |
| 6 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 10 days | punct |
| 7 | for | for | ADP | _ | 10 days | case |
| 8 | seven | seven | NUM | NumForm=Word NumType=Card | 10 days | nummod |
| 9 | painful | painful | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 10 days | amod |
| 10 | days | day | NOUN | Number=Plur | 12 toiled | nsubj |
| 11 | he | he | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 12 toiled | nsubj |
| 12 | toiled | toil | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 13 | through | through | ADP | _ | 14 thickets | case |
| 14 | thickets | thicket | NOUN | Number=Plur | 12 toiled | obl |
| 15 | of | of | ADP | _ | 16 thorns | case |
| 16 | thorns | thorn | NOUN | Number=Plur | 14 thickets | nmod |
| 17 | ; | ; | PUNCT | _ | 23 cut | punct |
| 18 | for | for | ADP | _ | 21 days | case |
| 19 | seven | seven | NUM | NumForm=Word NumType=Card | 21 days | nummod |
| 20 | eventful | eventful | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 21 days | amod |
| 21 | days | day | NOUN | Number=Plur | 23 cut | obl |
| 22 | he | he | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 23 cut | nsubj |
| 23 | cut | cut | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 12 toiled | parataxis |
| 24 | his | his | PRON | Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 25 way | nmod:poss |
| 25 | way | way | NOUN | Number=Sing | 23 cut | obj |
| 26 | through | through | ADP | _ | 29 wilderness | case |
| 27 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 29 wilderness | det |
| 28 | magic | magic | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 29 wilderness | amod |
| 29 | wilderness | wilderness | NOUN | Number=Sing | 23 cut | obl |
| 30 | of | of | ADP | _ | 31 hazel | case |
| 31 | hazel | hazel | NOUN | Number=Sing | 29 wilderness | nmod |
| 32 | ; | ; | PUNCT | _ | 38 groped | punct |
| 33 | for | for | ADP | _ | 36 days | case |
| 34 | seven | seven | NUM | NumForm=Word NumType=Card | 36 days | nummod |
| 35 | other | other | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 36 days | amod |
| 36 | days | day | NOUN | Number=Plur | 38 groped | obl |
| 37 | he | he | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 38 groped | nsubj |
| 38 | groped | grope | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 23 cut | conj |
| 39 | through | through | ADP | _ | 41 hedges | case |
| 40 | dark | dark | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 41 hedges | amod |
| 41 | hedges | hedge | NOUN | Number=Plur | 38 groped | obl |
| 42 | of | of | ADP | _ | 43 juniper | case |
| 43 | juniper | juniper | NOUN | Number=Sing | 41 hedges | nmod |
| 44 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 45 tangled | cc |
| 45 | tangled | tangle | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 38 groped | conj |
| 46 | masses | mass | NOUN | Number=Plur | 45 tangled | obj |
| 47 | of | of | ADP | _ | 49 briars | case |
| 48 | wild | wild | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 49 briars | amod |
| 49 | briars | briar | NOUN | Number=Plur | 46 masses | nmod |
| 50 | ; | ; | PUNCT | _ | 56 times | punct |
| 51 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 56 times | cc |
| 52 | then | then | ADV | PronType=Dem | 56 times | advmod |
| 53 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 52 then | punct |
| 54 | for | for | ADP | _ | 56 times | case |
| 55 | three | three | NUM | NumForm=Word NumType=Card | 56 times | nummod |
| 56 | times | time | NOUN | Number=Plur | 12 toiled | obl:unmarked |
| 57 | seven | seven | NUM | NumForm=Word NumType=Card | 58 days | nummod |
| 58 | days | day | NOUN | Number=Plur | 56 times | appos |
| 59 | he | he | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 60 wandered | nsubj |
| 60 | wandered | wander | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 58 days | acl:relcl |
| 61 | through | through | ADP | _ | 63 lands | case |
| 62 | desert | desert | NOUN | Number=Sing | 63 lands | compound |
| 63 | lands | land | NOUN | Number=Plur | 60 wandered | obl |
| 64 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 66 wastes | cc |
| 65 | wide | wide | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 66 wastes | amod |
| 66 | wastes | waste | NOUN | Number=Plur | 63 lands | conj |
| 67 | of | of | ADP | _ | 68 snow | case |
| 68 | snow | snow | NOUN | Number=Sing | 76 storm | obl |
| 69 | where | where | ADV | PronType=Rel | 71 was | advmod |
| 70 | there | there | PRON | PronType=Dem | 71 was | expl |
| 71 | was | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 76 storm | cop |
| 72 | no | no | DET | PronType=Neg | 73 shelter | det |
| 73 | shelter | shelter | NOUN | Number=Sing | 71 was | nsubj |
| 74 | from | from | ADP | _ | 76 storm | case |
| 75 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 76 storm | det |
| 76 | storm | storm | NOUN | Number=Sing | 66 wastes | nmod |
| 77 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 79 place | cc |
| 78 | no | no | DET | PronType=Neg | 79 place | det |
| 79 | place | place | NOUN | Number=Sing | 76 storm | conj |
| 80 | to | to | PART | _ | 81 rest | mark |
| 81 | rest | rest | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 79 place | acl |
| 82 | his | his | PRON | Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 84 feet | nmod:poss |
| 83 | weary | weary | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 84 feet | amod |
| 84 | feet | foot | NOUN | Number=Plur | 81 rest | obj |
| 85 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 12 toiled | punct |
Pragmatics
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | toil | past | seven painful days | thickets of thorns | day; time | E nsubj | vn run-51.3.2 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme through thicket=Trajectory | ||
| 2 | cut | past | E | E's way | a magic wilderness of hazel | day | vn build-26.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent way=Product | ||
| 3 | grope | past | E | dark hedges of juniper | day | vn rummage-35.5-1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent through hedge=Location | |||
| 4 | tangle | past | E not said here | masses of wild briars | tree rules | ||||
| 5 | wander | past | E | seven days not said here | desert lands and wide wastes | vn run-51.3.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme day=Trajectory | |||
| 6 | is | past | the storm and no place | of snow; no place conj | tree rules | ||||
| 7 | rest | to-infinitive | E's weary feet | vn spatial_configuration-47.6-1 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location foot=Theme |
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.
Text: «The Sampo: A Wonder Tale of the Old North» by James Baldwin, Project Gutenberg book 66819 (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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