Gleanings from Chinese folklore, A Story of Old China, part 4, sentence 48
When he was seventeen, he and his brother went to Peking to take the examinations for the higher degrees; for these they not only wrote the three-page essay, but also a two-page “Chin Tsin,” or a short account of the family, going back several generations and giving the official positions of any of their ancestors.
Who acts: student, examinations, family · What happens: be, go, take, not write, go back, give · To what, where: seventeen, Peking, examinations, page essay, several generations, official positions
This is a sentence of «Gleanings from Chinese folklore» by Nellie Naomi Russell, A Story of Old China, part 4. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (student, examinations, family), 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 seventeen | advmod |
| 2 | he | he | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 4 seventeen | nsubj |
| 3 | was | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 4 seventeen | cop |
| 4 | seventeen | seventeen | NUM | NumForm=Word NumType=Card | 10 went | obl |
| 5 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 4 seventeen | punct |
| 6 | he | he | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 10 went | nsubj |
| 7 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 9 brother | cc |
| 8 | his | his | PRON | Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 9 brother | nmod:poss |
| 9 | brother | brother | NOUN | Number=Sing | 6 he | conj |
| 10 | went | go | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 11 | to | to | ADP | _ | 12 Peking | case |
| 12 | Peking | Peking | PROPN | Number=Sing | 10 went | obl |
| 13 | to | to | PART | _ | 14 take | mark |
| 14 | take | take | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 10 went | advcl |
| 15 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 16 examinations | det |
| 16 | examinations | examination | NOUN | Number=Plur | 14 take | obj |
| 17 | for | for | ADP | _ | 20 degrees | case |
| 18 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 20 degrees | det |
| 19 | higher | high | ADJ | Degree=Cmp | 20 degrees | amod |
| 20 | degrees | degree | NOUN | Number=Plur | 14 take | obl |
| 21 | ; | ; | PUNCT | _ | 27 wrote | punct |
| 22 | for | for | ADP | _ | 23 these | case |
| 23 | these | this | PRON | Number=Plur PronType=Dem | 27 wrote | obl |
| 24 | they | they | PRON | Case=Nom Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs | 27 wrote | nsubj |
| 25 | not | not | PART | Polarity=Neg | 27 wrote | advmod |
| 26 | only | only | ADV | _ | 27 wrote | advmod |
| 27 | wrote | write | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 10 went | conj |
| 28 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 32 essay | det |
| 29 | three | three | NUM | NumForm=Word NumType=Card | 31 page | nummod |
| 30 | - | - | PUNCT | _ | 29 three | punct |
| 31 | page | page | NOUN | Number=Sing | 32 essay | compound |
| 32 | essay | essay | NOUN | Number=Sing | 27 wrote | obj |
| 33 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 39 page | punct |
| 34 | but | but | CCONJ | _ | 39 page | cc |
| 35 | also | also | ADV | _ | 39 page | advmod |
| 36 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 39 page | det |
| 37 | two | two | NUM | NumForm=Word NumType=Card | 39 page | nummod |
| 38 | - | - | PUNCT | _ | 37 two | punct |
| 39 | page | page | NOUN | Number=Sing | 10 went | parataxis |
| 40 | “ | " | PUNCT | _ | 41 Chin | punct |
| 41 | Chin | Chin | PROPN | Number=Sing | 39 page | appos |
| 42 | Tsin | Tsin | PROPN | Number=Sing | 41 Chin | flat |
| 43 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 41 Chin | punct |
| 44 | ” | " | PUNCT | _ | 41 Chin | punct |
| 45 | or | or | CCONJ | _ | 48 account | cc |
| 46 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 48 account | det |
| 47 | short | short | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 48 account | amod |
| 48 | account | account | NOUN | Number=Sing | 39 page | conj |
| 49 | of | of | ADP | _ | 51 family | case |
| 50 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 51 family | det |
| 51 | family | family | NOUN | Number=Sing | 48 account | nmod |
| 52 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 53 going | punct |
| 53 | going | go | VERB | VerbForm=Ger | 51 family | acl |
| 54 | back | back | ADV | _ | 53 going | advmod |
| 55 | several | several | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 56 generations | amod |
| 56 | generations | generation | NOUN | Number=Plur | 53 going | obl |
| 57 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 58 giving | cc |
| 58 | giving | give | VERB | VerbForm=Ger | 53 going | conj |
| 59 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 61 positions | det |
| 60 | official | official | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 61 positions | amod |
| 61 | positions | position | NOUN | Number=Plur | 58 giving | obj |
| 62 | of | of | ADP | _ | 63 any | case |
| 63 | any | any | DET | PronType=Ind | 61 positions | nmod |
| 64 | of | of | ADP | _ | 66 ancestors | case |
| 65 | their | their | PRON | Case=Gen Number=Plur Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 66 ancestors | nmod:poss |
| 66 | ancestors | ancestor | NOUN | Number=Plur | 63 any | nmod |
| 67 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 10 went | punct |
Pragmatics
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | is a | past | student | seventeen | tree rules | ||||
| 2 | go | past | student | Peking | a two page or a short account of the family parataxis | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial_location»: agent=Theme to peking=Initial_Location | |||
| 3 | take | to-infinitive | student not said here | the examinations | for the higher degrees | vn get-13.5.1 «NP V NP PP.beneficiary»: agent=Agent examination=Theme for degree=Beneficiary | |||
| 4 | not write | past | examinations = examination | the page essay | for these | vn create-26.4-1 «NP V NP PP.beneficiary»: agent=Agent essay=Result for this=Beneficiary | |||
| 5 | go back | gerund | the family not said here | several generations | vn convert-26.6.2 «NP V S_ING»: agent=Patient | ||||
| 6 | give | gerund | the family not said here | the official positions of any of examinations's ancestors | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent position=Theme | ||||
| 7 | account | the family | nom account «communication 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/pg75089/20/48/