The descent of the sun: A cycle of birth, A Sleep and a Dream., part 1, sentence 52
But at last, finding that his efforts to move her were as vain as if he were trying to pierce a diamond with a cotton thread, he exclaimed in dismay: Surely my crimes in a former birth were numerous and appalling, seeing that their fruit is a daughter, whose obstinate and unintelligible prejudice against a husband runs counter to the nature of woman, and will be the means of destroying my salvation.
Who acts: efforts, reason, crimes, appalling, daughter, the · What happens: find, move, be, try, pierce, exclaim · To what, where: last, daughter, diamond, dismay, fruit, counter · Speech: someone speaks here
This is a sentence of «The descent of the sun: A cycle of birth» by Unknown, A Sleep and a Dream., part 1. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (efforts, reason, crimes, appalling), 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 | But | but | CCONJ | _ | 5 finding | cc |
| 2 | at | at | ADP | _ | 3 last | case |
| 3 | last | last | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 5 finding | obl |
| 4 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 3 last | punct |
| 5 | finding | find | VERB | Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part | root | root |
| 6 | that | that | SCONJ | _ | 14 vain | mark |
| 7 | his | his | PRON | Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 8 efforts | nmod:poss |
| 8 | efforts | effort | NOUN | Number=Plur | 14 vain | nsubj |
| 9 | to | to | PART | _ | 10 move | mark |
| 10 | move | move | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 8 efforts | acl |
| 11 | her | she | PRON | Case=Acc Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 10 move | obj |
| 12 | were | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 14 vain | cop |
| 13 | as | as | ADV | _ | 14 vain | advmod |
| 14 | vain | vain | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 5 finding | ccomp |
| 15 | as | as | SCONJ | _ | 19 trying | mark |
| 16 | if | if | SCONJ | _ | 19 trying | mark |
| 17 | he | he | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 19 trying | nsubj |
| 18 | were | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 19 trying | aux |
| 19 | trying | try | VERB | Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part | 14 vain | advcl |
| 20 | to | to | PART | _ | 21 pierce | mark |
| 21 | pierce | pierce | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 19 trying | xcomp |
| 22 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 23 diamond | det |
| 23 | diamond | diamond | NOUN | Number=Sing | 21 pierce | obj |
| 24 | with | with | ADP | _ | 27 thread | case |
| 25 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 27 thread | det |
| 26 | cotton | cotton | NOUN | Number=Sing | 27 thread | compound |
| 27 | thread | thread | NOUN | Number=Sing | 21 pierce | obl |
| 28 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 30 exclaimed | punct |
| 29 | he | he | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 30 exclaimed | nsubj |
| 30 | exclaimed | exclaim | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 14 vain | conj |
| 31 | in | in | ADP | _ | 32 dismay | case |
| 32 | dismay | dismay | NOUN | Number=Sing | 42 numerous | obl |
| 33 | : | : | PUNCT | _ | 36 crimes | punct |
| 34 | Surely | surely | ADV | _ | 36 crimes | advmod |
| 35 | my | my | PRON | Case=Gen Number=Sing Person=1 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 36 crimes | nmod:poss |
| 36 | crimes | crime | NOUN | Number=Plur | 42 numerous | nsubj |
| 37 | in | in | ADP | _ | 40 birth | case |
| 38 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 40 birth | det |
| 39 | former | former | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 40 birth | amod |
| 40 | birth | birth | NOUN | Number=Sing | 36 crimes | nmod |
| 41 | were | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 42 numerous | cop |
| 42 | numerous | numerous | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 30 exclaimed | ccomp |
| 43 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 44 appalling | cc |
| 44 | appalling | appal | VERB | VerbForm=Ger | 52 daughter | csubj |
| 45 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 46 seeing | punct |
| 46 | seeing | see | VERB | VerbForm=Ger | 44 appalling | conj |
| 47 | that | that | SCONJ | _ | 49 fruit | mark |
| 48 | their | their | PRON | Case=Gen Number=Plur Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 49 fruit | nmod:poss |
| 49 | fruit | fruit | NOUN | Number=Sing | 46 seeing | obj |
| 50 | is | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 52 daughter | cop |
| 51 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 52 daughter | det |
| 52 | daughter | daughter | NOUN | Number=Sing | 62 runs | nsubj |
| 53 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 58 prejudice | punct |
| 54 | whose | whose | PRON | Poss=Yes PronType=Rel | 58 prejudice | nmod:poss |
| 55 | obstinate | obstinate | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 58 prejudice | amod |
| 56 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 57 unintelligible | cc |
| 57 | unintelligible | unintelligible | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 55 obstinate | conj |
| 58 | prejudice | prejudice | NOUN | Number=Sing | 52 daughter | conj |
| 59 | against | against | ADP | _ | 61 husband | case |
| 60 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 61 husband | det |
| 61 | husband | husband | NOUN | Number=Sing | 58 prejudice | nmod |
| 62 | runs | run | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 42 numerous | parataxis |
| 63 | counter | counter | NOUN | Number=Sing | 62 runs | obj |
| 64 | to | to | ADP | _ | 66 nature | case |
| 65 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 66 nature | det |
| 66 | nature | nature | NOUN | Number=Sing | 62 runs | obl |
| 67 | of | of | ADP | _ | 68 woman | case |
| 68 | woman | woman | NOUN | Number=Sing | 66 nature | nmod |
| 69 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 74 means | punct |
| 70 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 74 means | cc |
| 71 | will | will | AUX | VerbForm=Fin | 74 means | aux |
| 72 | be | be | AUX | VerbForm=Inf | 74 means | cop |
| 73 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 74 means | nsubj |
| 74 | means | mean | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 42 numerous | parataxis |
| 75 | of | of | SCONJ | _ | 76 destroying | mark |
| 76 | destroying | destroy | VERB | Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part | 74 means | advcl |
| 77 | my | my | PRON | Case=Gen Number=Sing Person=1 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 78 salvation | nmod:poss |
| 78 | salvation | salvation | NOUN | Number=Sing | 76 destroying | obj |
| 79 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 5 finding | punct |
Pragmatics
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | find | gerund | last | vn declare-29.4-1-1 «NP V what S_INF»: agent=Agent | |||||
| 2 | move | to-infinitive | reason's efforts not said here | daughter | vn roll-51.3.1 «NP V ADJ.result»: agent=Theme she=Result | ||||
| 3 | is | past | reason's efforts | vain property | tree rules | ||||
| 4 | try | past · progressive | reason | vn try-61.1 «NP V S_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality | |||||
| 5 | pierce not said to happen | to-infinitive | reason not said here | a diamond | with a cotton thread | vn poke-19-1 «NP V NP PP.instrument»: agent=Agent diamond=Patient with thread=Instrument | |||
| 6 | exclaim speech: express | past | reason | vn say-37.7-1 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent | |||||
| 7 | is | past | my crimes in a former birth | dismay | numerous property | tree rules | |||
| 8 | appal | gerund | tree rules | ||||||
| 9 | see | gerund | crimes's fruit | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer fruit=Stimulus | |||||
| 10 | is a | present | appalling | a daughter and a daughter and a daughter's obstinate prejudice against a husband's obstinate prejudice against a husband | a daughter and a daughter and obstinate prejudice's obstinate prejudice against a husband's obstinate prejudice against a husband conj | tree rules | |||
| 11 | run | present | a daughter and a daughter and a daughter's obstinate prejudice against a husband's obstinate prejudice against a husband | counter | the nature of woman | vn run-51.3.2-2-1 «NP V NP PP.trajectory»: agent=Agent counter=Theme to nature=Trajectory | |||
| 12 | is | future | the | mean property | tree rules | ||||
| 13 | destroy | gerund | the not said here | my salvation | vn destroy-44 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent salvation=Patient | ||||
| 14 | incriminate | my | a former birth | nom crime «act transitive»: poss=agent in=place | |||||
| 15 | prejudice | a daughter and a daughter and obstinate prejudice against a husband's obstinate prejudice against a husband | against a husband | nom prejudice «cognition transitive»: poss=agent against=obl | |||||
| 16 | salve | my | nom salvation «act transitive»: poss=agent |
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 descent of the sun: A cycle of birth» by Unknown, Project Gutenberg book 68641 (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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