The descent of the sun: A cycle of birth, A Sleep and a Dream., part 3, sentence 36
Then as he went the trees grew thicker and thicker, and taller and taller, till they shut out the light of the sun. And at last there came a day when he looked before him, and saw only a darkness like that of the mouth of death: and he looked behind him, and saw the light of evening glimmering a great way off, as if afraid to keep him company.
Who acts: human, trees, light · What happens: go, grow, shut out, come, look, see · To what, where: light, last, darkness, great way, human, sun.
This is a sentence of «The descent of the sun: A cycle of birth» by Unknown, A Sleep and a Dream., 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 (human, trees, light), 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 | Then | then | ADV | PronType=Dem | 4 went | advmod |
| 2 | as | as | SCONJ | _ | 4 went | mark |
| 3 | he | he | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 4 went | nsubj |
| 4 | went | go | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 5 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 6 trees | det |
| 6 | trees | tree | NOUN | Number=Plur | 7 grew | nsubj |
| 7 | grew | grow | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 4 went | obl |
| 8 | thicker | thick | ADJ | Degree=Cmp | 7 grew | xcomp |
| 9 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 10 thicker | cc |
| 10 | thicker | thick | ADJ | Degree=Cmp | 8 thicker | conj |
| 11 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 13 taller | punct |
| 12 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 13 taller | cc |
| 13 | taller | tall | ADJ | Degree=Cmp | 4 went | parataxis |
| 14 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 15 taller | cc |
| 15 | taller | tall | ADJ | Degree=Cmp | 13 taller | conj |
| 16 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 19 shut | punct |
| 17 | till | till | SCONJ | _ | 19 shut | mark |
| 18 | they | they | PRON | Case=Nom Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs | 19 shut | nsubj |
| 19 | shut | shut | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 4 went | conj |
| 20 | out | out | ADP | _ | 19 shut | compound:prt |
| 21 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 22 light | det |
| 22 | light | light | NOUN | Number=Sing | 19 shut | obj |
| 23 | of | of | ADP | _ | 25 sun. | case |
| 24 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 25 sun. | det |
| 25 | sun. | sun. | NOUN | Number=Sing | 22 light | nmod |
| 26 | And | and | CCONJ | _ | 30 came | cc |
| 27 | at | at | ADP | _ | 28 last | case |
| 28 | last | last | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 30 came | obl |
| 29 | there | there | PRON | PronType=Dem | 30 came | expl |
| 30 | came | come | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 4 went | conj |
| 31 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 32 day | det |
| 32 | day | day | NOUN | Number=Sing | 30 came | obl:unmarked |
| 33 | when | when | ADV | PronType=Int | 35 looked | advmod |
| 34 | he | he | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 35 looked | nsubj |
| 35 | looked | look | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 30 came | advcl |
| 36 | before | before | ADP | _ | 37 him | case |
| 37 | him | he | PRON | Case=Acc Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 35 looked | obl |
| 38 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 40 saw | punct |
| 39 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 40 saw | cc |
| 40 | saw | see | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 4 went | conj |
| 41 | only | only | ADV | _ | 43 darkness | advmod |
| 42 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 43 darkness | det |
| 43 | darkness | darkness | NOUN | Number=Sing | 40 saw | obj |
| 44 | like | like | ADP | _ | 45 that | case |
| 45 | that | that | PRON | Number=Sing PronType=Dem | 43 darkness | nmod |
| 46 | of | of | ADP | _ | 48 mouth | case |
| 47 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 48 mouth | det |
| 48 | mouth | mouth | NOUN | Number=Sing | 45 that | nmod |
| 49 | of | of | ADP | _ | 50 death | case |
| 50 | death | death | NOUN | Number=Sing | 48 mouth | nmod |
| 51 | : | : | PUNCT | _ | 54 looked | punct |
| 52 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 54 looked | cc |
| 53 | he | he | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 54 looked | nsubj |
| 54 | looked | look | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 4 went | parataxis |
| 55 | behind | behind | ADP | _ | 56 him | case |
| 56 | him | he | PRON | Case=Acc Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 54 looked | obl |
| 57 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 59 saw | punct |
| 58 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 59 saw | cc |
| 59 | saw | see | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 54 looked | conj |
| 60 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 61 light | det |
| 61 | light | light | NOUN | Number=Sing | 59 saw | obj |
| 62 | of | of | ADP | _ | 63 evening | case |
| 63 | evening | evening | NOUN | Number=Sing | 61 light | nmod |
| 64 | glimmering | glimmer | VERB | VerbForm=Ger | 61 light | acl |
| 65 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 67 way | det |
| 66 | great | great | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 67 way | amod |
| 67 | way | way | NOUN | Number=Sing | 64 glimmering | obj |
| 68 | off | off | ADV | _ | 67 way | advmod |
| 69 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 72 afraid | punct |
| 70 | as | as | SCONJ | _ | 72 afraid | mark |
| 71 | if | if | SCONJ | _ | 72 afraid | mark |
| 72 | afraid | afraid | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 59 saw | conj |
| 73 | to | to | PART | _ | 74 keep | mark |
| 74 | keep | keep | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 72 afraid | xcomp |
| 75 | him | he | PRON | Case=Acc Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 74 keep | obj |
| 76 | company | company | NOUN | Number=Sing | 74 keep | obj |
| 77 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 4 went | punct |
Pragmatics
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | go | past | human | then | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | ||||
| 2 | grow | past | the trees | thick property | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | ||||
| 3 | shut out | present | trees = tree | the light of the sun. | vn other_cos-45.4 «NP V NP.patient»: agent=Agent light=Patient | ||||
| 4 | come | past | human not said here | last; there | day | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme at last=Location | |||
| 5 | look | past | human | before man | vn peer-30.3 «NP V PP.theme»: agent=Agent before he=Theme | ||||
| 6 | see | past | human not said here | a darkness | like that of the mouth of death | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer darkness=Stimulus | |||
| 7 | look | past | human | behind man | vn peer-30.3 «NP V PP.theme»: agent=Agent behind he=Theme | ||||
| 8 | see | past | human not said here | the light of evening | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer light=Stimulus | ||||
| 9 | glimmer | gerund | the light of evening not said here | a great way | vn light_emission-43.1 «NP V NP.theme»: agent=Agent way=Theme | ||||
| 10 | keep | to-infinitive | the light of evening not said here | human | company obj | vn sustain-55.6-1 «NP V NP ADJ»: agent=Agent he=Theme company=Attribute | |||
| 11 | light | the sun. | nom light «phenomenon transitive»: of=patient | ||||||
| 12 | light | evening | nom light «phenomenon transitive»: of=patient |
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.
This page in Markdown → https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg68641/5/36/