Gleanings from Chinese folklore, A Story of Old China, part 2, sentence 91
On hearing this the gentleman said, “I have a proposition to make to you; I am a rich man and have large estates, but I have no son to inherit them or care for me when I am old.
Who acts: I, son · What happens: hear, say, have, make, be, inherit · To what, where: this, proposition, you, rich man, large estates, son · Speech: someone speaks here
This is a sentence of «Gleanings from Chinese folklore» by Nellie Naomi Russell, A Story of Old China, part 2. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (I, son), 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 | On | on | SCONJ | _ | 2 hearing | mark |
| 2 | hearing | hear | VERB | Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part | 6 said | advcl |
| 3 | this | this | PRON | Number=Sing PronType=Dem | 2 hearing | obj |
| 4 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 5 gentleman | det |
| 5 | gentleman | gentleman | NOUN | Number=Sing | 2 hearing | obj |
| 6 | said | say | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=1 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 7 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 10 have | punct |
| 8 | “ | " | PUNCT | _ | 10 have | punct |
| 9 | I | I | PRON | Case=Nom Number=Sing Person=1 PronType=Prs | 10 have | nsubj |
| 10 | have | have | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=1 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 6 said | ccomp |
| 11 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 12 proposition | det |
| 12 | proposition | proposition | NOUN | Number=Sing | 10 have | obj |
| 13 | to | to | PART | _ | 14 make | mark |
| 14 | make | make | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 12 proposition | acl |
| 15 | to | to | ADP | _ | 16 you | case |
| 16 | you | you | PRON | Case=Acc Person=2 PronType=Prs | 14 make | obl |
| 17 | ; | ; | PUNCT | _ | 22 man | punct |
| 18 | I | I | PRON | Case=Nom Number=Sing Person=1 PronType=Prs | 22 man | nsubj |
| 19 | am | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=1 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 22 man | cop |
| 20 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 22 man | det |
| 21 | rich | rich | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 22 man | amod |
| 22 | man | man | NOUN | Number=Sing | 6 said | ccomp |
| 23 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 24 have | cc |
| 24 | have | have | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=1 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 22 man | conj |
| 25 | large | large | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 26 estates | amod |
| 26 | estates | estate | NOUN | Number=Plur | 24 have | obj |
| 27 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 30 have | punct |
| 28 | but | but | CCONJ | _ | 30 have | cc |
| 29 | I | I | PRON | Case=Nom Number=Sing Person=1 PronType=Prs | 30 have | nsubj |
| 30 | have | have | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=1 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 6 said | conj |
| 31 | no | no | DET | PronType=Neg | 32 son | det |
| 32 | son | son | NOUN | Number=Sing | 30 have | obj |
| 33 | to | to | PART | _ | 34 inherit | mark |
| 34 | inherit | inherit | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 30 have | xcomp |
| 35 | them | they | PRON | Case=Acc Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs | 34 inherit | obj |
| 36 | or | or | CCONJ | _ | 37 care | cc |
| 37 | care | care | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 34 inherit | conj |
| 38 | for | for | ADP | _ | 39 me | case |
| 39 | me | I | PRON | Case=Acc Number=Sing Person=1 PronType=Prs | 37 care | obl |
| 40 | when | when | SCONJ | _ | 43 old | mark |
| 41 | I | I | PRON | Case=Nom Number=Sing Person=1 PronType=Prs | 43 old | nsubj |
| 42 | am | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=1 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 43 old | cop |
| 43 | old | old | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 37 care | advcl |
| 44 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 6 said | punct |
Pragmatics
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | hear | gerund | this | the gentleman obj | tree rules | ||||
| 2 | say speech: assert | past | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic | ||||||
| 3 | have in a quote | present | I | a proposition | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent proposition=Patient | ||||
| 4 | make in a quote | to-infinitive | I not said here | a proposition not said here | you | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset | |||
| 5 | is a in a quote | present | I | a rich man | tree rules | ||||
| 6 | have in a quote | present | I not said here | large estates | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent estate=Patient | ||||
| 7 | have in a quote | present | I | no son | tree rules | ||||
| 8 | inherit in a quote | to-infinitive | no son not said here | estates = estate | vn obtain-13.5.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent they=Theme | ||||
| 9 | care in a quote | infinitive | no son not said here | for me | vn caring-75.2-2 «NP V PP»: agent=Agent for i=Theme | ||||
| 10 | is in a quote | present | I | old property | tree rules |
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/pg75089/18/91/