The Sampo: A Wonder Tale of the Old North, The Fate of the Sampo, sentence 54
The sharp edge of the weapon fell squarely upon the scythe-like, grasping claws; it sheared them off close by the ankle joints; it shattered them every one, save only the smallest, the crookedest, the indescribable little finger of Dame Louhi.
Who acts: sharp edge, edge · What happens: fall, grasp, shear, shatter, save · To what, where: claws, smallest
This is a sentence of «The Sampo: A Wonder Tale of the Old North» by James Baldwin, The Fate of the Sampo. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (sharp edge, edge), 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 | The | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 3 edge | det |
| 2 | sharp | sharp | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 3 edge | amod |
| 3 | edge | edge | NOUN | Number=Sing | 7 fell | nsubj |
| 4 | of | of | ADP | _ | 6 weapon | case |
| 5 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 6 weapon | det |
| 6 | weapon | weapon | NOUN | Number=Sing | 3 edge | nmod |
| 7 | fell | fall | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 8 | squarely | squarely | ADV | _ | 7 fell | advmod |
| 9 | upon | upon | SCONJ | _ | 13 like | mark |
| 10 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 13 like | det |
| 11 | scythe | scythe | NOUN | Number=Sing | 13 like | compound |
| 12 | - | - | PUNCT | _ | 11 scythe | punct |
| 13 | like | like | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 7 fell | advcl |
| 14 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 15 grasping | punct |
| 15 | grasping | grasp | VERB | Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part | 7 fell | advcl |
| 16 | claws | claw | NOUN | Number=Plur | 15 grasping | obj |
| 17 | ; | ; | PUNCT | _ | 19 sheared | punct |
| 18 | it | it | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 19 sheared | nsubj |
| 19 | sheared | shear | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 7 fell | conj |
| 20 | them | they | PRON | Case=Acc Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs | 19 sheared | obj |
| 21 | off | off | ADV | _ | 22 close | advmod |
| 22 | close | close | ADV | Degree=Pos | 19 sheared | advmod |
| 23 | by | by | ADP | _ | 26 joints | case |
| 24 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 26 joints | det |
| 25 | ankle | ankle | NOUN | Number=Sing | 26 joints | compound |
| 26 | joints | joint | NOUN | Number=Plur | 19 sheared | obl |
| 27 | ; | ; | PUNCT | _ | 29 shattered | punct |
| 28 | it | it | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 29 shattered | nsubj |
| 29 | shattered | shatter | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 7 fell | conj |
| 30 | them | they | PRON | Case=Acc Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs | 29 shattered | obj |
| 31 | every | every | DET | PronType=Tot | 32 one | det |
| 32 | one | one | NOUN | Number=Sing | 29 shattered | obj |
| 33 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 34 save | punct |
| 34 | save | save | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 29 shattered | advcl |
| 35 | only | only | ADV | _ | 37 smallest | advmod |
| 36 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 37 smallest | det |
| 37 | smallest | small | ADJ | Degree=Sup | 34 save | obj |
| 38 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 40 crookedest | punct |
| 39 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 40 crookedest | det |
| 40 | crookedest | crooked | ADJ | Degree=Sup | 37 smallest | conj |
| 41 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 45 finger | punct |
| 42 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 45 finger | det |
| 43 | indescribable | indescribable | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 45 finger | amod |
| 44 | little | little | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 45 finger | amod |
| 45 | finger | finger | NOUN | Number=Sing | 40 crookedest | obl |
| 46 | of | of | ADP | _ | 47 Dame | case |
| 47 | Dame | Dame | PROPN | Number=Sing | 45 finger | nmod |
| 48 | Louhi | Louhi | PROPN | Number=Sing | 47 Dame | flat |
| 49 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 7 fell | punct |
Pragmatics
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | fall | past | the sharp edge of the weapon | squarely property | vn occur-48.3 «NP V»: agent=Theme | ||||
| 2 | grasp | gerund | the sharp edge of the weapon not said here | claws | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer claw=Stimulus | ||||
| 3 | shear | past | edge | claws = claw | by the ankle joints; close property | vn wipe_instr-10.4.2-1 «NP V NP.initial_location»: agent=Agent they=Initial_Location | |||
| 4 | shatter | past | edge | claws = claw | every one obj | vn break-45.1 «NP V NP ADJ»: agent=Agent they=Patient one=Result | |||
| 5 | save | infinitive | edge not said here | the smallest | vn get-13.5.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent small=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.
This page in Markdown → https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg66819/38/54/