Gleanings from Chinese folklore, How the Dog and Cat Came to Be Enemies, sentence 54
When the cat heard where it was, she said, “But the river, how can I get across the river?” to which he replied, “I can swim, and when you come to the bank you get on my back and I will take you across.”
Who acts: cat, neighbour, son, you · What happens: hear, be, say, get, reply, swim · To what, where: river, bank, back, you · Speech: someone speaks here
This is a sentence of «Gleanings from Chinese folklore» by Nellie Naomi Russell, How the Dog and Cat Came to Be Enemies. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (cat, neighbour, son, you), 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 | When | when | ADV | PronType=Int | 4 heard | advmod |
| 2 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 3 cat | det |
| 3 | cat | cat | NOUN | Number=Sing | 4 heard | nsubj |
| 4 | heard | hear | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 10 said | advcl |
| 5 | where | where | ADV | PronType=Rel | 7 was | advmod |
| 6 | it | it | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 7 was | nsubj |
| 7 | was | be | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 4 heard | ccomp |
| 8 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 4 heard | punct |
| 9 | she | she | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 10 said | nsubj |
| 10 | said | say | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 11 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 10 said | punct |
| 12 | “ | " | PUNCT | _ | 15 river | punct |
| 13 | But | but | CCONJ | _ | 15 river | cc |
| 14 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 15 river | det |
| 15 | river | river | NOUN | Number=Sing | 10 said | ccomp |
| 16 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 20 get | punct |
| 17 | how | how | ADV | PronType=Int | 20 get | advmod |
| 18 | can | can | AUX | VerbForm=Fin | 20 get | aux |
| 19 | I | I | PRON | Case=Nom Number=Sing Person=1 PronType=Prs | 20 get | nsubj |
| 20 | get | get | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 15 river | conj |
| 21 | across | across | ADP | _ | 23 river | case |
| 22 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 23 river | det |
| 23 | river | river | NOUN | Number=Sing | 20 get | obl |
| 24 | ? | ? | PUNCT | _ | 20 get | punct |
| 25 | ” | " | PUNCT | _ | 20 get | punct |
| 26 | to | to | ADP | _ | 27 which | case |
| 27 | which | which | PRON | PronType=Rel | 29 replied | obl |
| 28 | he | he | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 29 replied | nsubj |
| 29 | replied | reply | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 20 get | parataxis |
| 30 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 34 swim | punct |
| 31 | “ | " | PUNCT | _ | 34 swim | punct |
| 32 | I | I | PRON | Case=Nom Number=Sing Person=1 PronType=Prs | 34 swim | nsubj |
| 33 | can | can | AUX | VerbForm=Fin | 34 swim | aux |
| 34 | swim | swim | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 29 replied | ccomp |
| 35 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 39 come | punct |
| 36 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 39 come | cc |
| 37 | when | when | ADV | PronType=Int | 39 come | advmod |
| 38 | you | you | PRON | Case=Nom Person=2 PronType=Prs | 39 come | nsubj |
| 39 | come | come | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=2 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 34 swim | conj |
| 40 | to | to | ADP | _ | 42 bank | case |
| 41 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 42 bank | det |
| 42 | bank | bank | NOUN | Number=Sing | 39 come | obl |
| 43 | you | you | PRON | Case=Nom Person=2 PronType=Prs | 44 get | nsubj |
| 44 | get | get | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=2 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 42 bank | acl:relcl |
| 45 | on | on | ADP | _ | 47 back | case |
| 46 | my | my | PRON | Case=Gen Number=Sing Person=1 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 47 back | nmod:poss |
| 47 | back | back | NOUN | Number=Sing | 44 get | obl |
| 48 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 51 take | cc |
| 49 | I | I | PRON | Case=Nom Number=Sing Person=1 PronType=Prs | 51 take | nsubj |
| 50 | will | will | AUX | VerbForm=Fin | 51 take | aux |
| 51 | take | take | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 39 come | conj |
| 52 | you | you | PRON | Case=Acc Person=2 PronType=Prs | 51 take | obj |
| 53 | across | across | ADV | _ | 51 take | advmod |
| 54 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 15 river | punct |
| 55 | ” | " | PUNCT | _ | 15 river | punct |
Pragmatics
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | hear | past | the cat | vn see-30.1-1-1 «NP V how S»: agent=Experiencer clause=Stimulus | |||||
| 2 | be | past | neighbour | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | |||||
| 3 | say speech: ask | past | cat | the river ccomp | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent | ||||
| 4 | get in a quote | can | cat | the river | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Experiencer clause=Stimulus | ||||
| 5 | reply speech: assert | past | son | which obl | vn say-37.7-1 «NP V PP.recipient S-Quote»: agent=Agent to which=Recipient clause=Topic | ||||
| 6 | swim in a quote | can | son | vn run-51.3.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | |||||
| 7 | come in a quote | present | you | the bank | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial_location»: agent=Theme to bank=Initial_Location | ||||
| 8 | get in a quote | present | you | the bank not said here | my back | vn get-13.5.1-1 «NP V NP PP.source»: agent=Agent bank=Theme on back=Source | |||
| 9 | take in a quote | future | son | you | across property | vn bring-11.3 «NP V NP ADVP»: agent=Instrument you=Destination |
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/pg75089/14/54/