Gleanings from Chinese folklore, Opening, sentence 16
The timepiece was never made which could tell her that the night hours were passing when she sat in a humble, dirty home in a far-off outstation beside some toil-worn, heartsore woman, listening to the details of the sordid daily life, and the wrecked hopes, then resurrecting hope, and ennobling life by linking it with the Divine life.
Who acts: night hours, Miss, wrecked hopes · What happens: not make, tell, pass, sit, wear, listen · To what, where: timepiece, Miss, humble dirty home, hope, life, sordid daily life · Speech: someone speaks here
This is a sentence of «Gleanings from Chinese folklore» by Nellie Naomi Russell, Opening. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (night hours, Miss, wrecked hopes), 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 | 2 timepiece | det |
| 2 | timepiece | timepiece | NOUN | Number=Sing | 5 made | nsubj:pass |
| 3 | was | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 5 made | aux:pass |
| 4 | never | never | ADV | PronType=Neg | 5 made | advmod |
| 5 | made | make | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | root | root |
| 6 | which | which | PRON | PronType=Rel | 8 tell | nsubj |
| 7 | could | could | AUX | VerbForm=Fin | 8 tell | aux |
| 8 | tell | tell | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 5 made | parataxis |
| 9 | her | she | PRON | Case=Acc Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 8 tell | iobj |
| 10 | that | that | SCONJ | _ | 15 passing | mark |
| 11 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 13 hours | det |
| 12 | night | night | NOUN | Number=Sing | 13 hours | compound |
| 13 | hours | hour | NOUN | Number=Plur | 15 passing | nsubj |
| 14 | were | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 15 passing | aux |
| 15 | passing | pass | VERB | Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part | 8 tell | advcl |
| 16 | when | when | ADV | PronType=Int | 18 sat | advmod |
| 17 | she | she | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 18 sat | nsubj |
| 18 | sat | sit | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 15 passing | advcl |
| 19 | in | in | ADP | _ | 24 home | case |
| 20 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 24 home | det |
| 21 | humble | humble | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 24 home | amod |
| 22 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 21 humble | punct |
| 23 | dirty | dirty | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 24 home | amod |
| 24 | home | home | NOUN | Number=Sing | 18 sat | obl |
| 25 | in | in | ADP | _ | 30 outstation | case |
| 26 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 30 outstation | det |
| 27 | far | far | ADV | Degree=Pos | 30 outstation | advmod |
| 28 | - | - | PUNCT | _ | 27 far | punct |
| 29 | off | off | ADP | _ | 30 outstation | case |
| 30 | outstation | outstation | NOUN | Number=Sing | 18 sat | obl |
| 31 | beside | beside | ADP | _ | 38 woman | case |
| 32 | some | some | DET | PronType=Ind | 38 woman | nsubj |
| 33 | toil | toil | NOUN | Number=Sing | 35 worn | compound |
| 34 | - | - | PUNCT | _ | 33 toil | punct |
| 35 | worn | wear | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 38 woman | amod |
| 36 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 38 woman | punct |
| 37 | heartsore | heartsore | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 38 woman | amod |
| 38 | woman | woman | NOUN | Number=Sing | 30 outstation | nmod |
| 39 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 40 listening | punct |
| 40 | listening | listen | VERB | Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part | 15 passing | conj |
| 41 | to | to | ADP | _ | 43 details | case |
| 42 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 43 details | det |
| 43 | details | detail | NOUN | Number=Plur | 40 listening | obl |
| 44 | of | of | ADP | _ | 48 life | case |
| 45 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 48 life | det |
| 46 | sordid | sordid | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 48 life | amod |
| 47 | daily | daily | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 48 life | amod |
| 48 | life | life | NOUN | Number=Sing | 43 details | nmod |
| 49 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 53 hopes | punct |
| 50 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 53 hopes | cc |
| 51 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 53 hopes | det |
| 52 | wrecked | wreck | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 53 hopes | amod |
| 53 | hopes | hope | NOUN | Number=Plur | 5 made | obl |
| 54 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 56 resurrecting | punct |
| 55 | then | then | ADV | PronType=Dem | 56 resurrecting | advmod |
| 56 | resurrecting | resurrect | VERB | VerbForm=Ger | 53 hopes | acl |
| 57 | hope | hope | NOUN | Number=Sing | 56 resurrecting | obj |
| 58 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 60 ennobling | punct |
| 59 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 60 ennobling | cc |
| 60 | ennobling | ennoble | VERB | VerbForm=Ger | 56 resurrecting | conj |
| 61 | life | life | NOUN | Number=Sing | 60 ennobling | obj |
| 62 | by | by | SCONJ | _ | 63 linking | mark |
| 63 | linking | link | VERB | Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part | 60 ennobling | advcl |
| 64 | it | it | PRON | Case=Acc Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 63 linking | obj |
| 65 | with | with | ADP | _ | 68 life | case |
| 66 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 68 life | det |
| 67 | Divine | Divine | PROPN | Number=Sing | 68 life | compound |
| 68 | life | life | NOUN | Number=Sing | 63 linking | obl |
| 69 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 5 made | punct |
Pragmatics
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | not make | past · passive | the timepiece | the wrecked hopes obl | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: subject=Product | ||||
| 2 | tell speech: assert | could | Miss | which nsubj | vn transfer_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent she=Recipient | ||||
| 3 | pass | past · progressive | the night hours | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | |||||
| 4 | sit | past | Miss | a humble dirty home | in a outstation beside worn heartsore woman | vn assuming_position-50 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent in home=Location | |||
| 5 | wear | participle | toil compound | vn wipe_manner-10.4.1-1 «NP V PP-Conative»: agent=Agent | |||||
| 6 | listen | gerund | the night hours not said here | to the details of the sordid daily life | vn peer-30.3 «NP V PP.theme»: agent=Agent to detail=Theme | ||||
| 7 | wreck | participle | vn destroy-44 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent | ||||||
| 8 | resurrect | gerund | the wrecked hopes not said here | hope | then | tree rules | |||
| 9 | ennoble | gerund | the wrecked hopes not said here | life | tree rules | ||||
| 10 | link | gerund | the wrecked hopes not said here | timepiece | with the Divine life | vn mix-22.1-2-1 «NP V NP PP.co-patient»: agent=Agent it=Patient with life=Co-Patient | |||
| 11 | detail | the sordid daily life | nom detail «cognition 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: «Gleanings from Chinese folklore» by Nellie Naomi Russell, Project Gutenberg book 75089 (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/pg75089/1/16/