Gleanings from Chinese folklore, Miss Nellie N. Russell’s Unique Work, sentence 21
There was something in her nature that compelled her to have things suitable if possible, and she at once felt the dress that other foreigners wore would meet with greater acceptance in Peking.
Who acts: something, simplicity, other foreigners · What happens: be, compel, have, feel, wear, meet · To what, where: simplicity, things, dress
This is a sentence of «Gleanings from Chinese folklore» by Nellie Naomi Russell, Miss Nellie N. Russell’s Unique Work. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (something, simplicity, other foreigners), 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 | There | there | PRON | PronType=Dem | 2 was | expl |
| 2 | was | be | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 3 | something | something | PRON | Number=Sing PronType=Ind | 2 was | nsubj |
| 4 | in | in | ADP | _ | 6 nature | case |
| 5 | her | her | PRON | Case=Gen Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 6 nature | nmod:poss |
| 6 | nature | nature | NOUN | Number=Sing | 3 something | nmod |
| 7 | that | that | PRON | PronType=Rel | 8 compelled | nsubj |
| 8 | compelled | compel | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 3 something | acl:relcl |
| 9 | her | she | PRON | Case=Acc Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 8 compelled | obj |
| 10 | to | to | PART | _ | 11 have | mark |
| 11 | have | have | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 8 compelled | advcl |
| 12 | things | thing | NOUN | Number=Plur | 11 have | obj |
| 13 | suitable | suitable | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 11 have | xcomp |
| 14 | if | if | SCONJ | _ | 15 possible | mark |
| 15 | possible | possible | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 13 suitable | advcl |
| 16 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 21 felt | punct |
| 17 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 21 felt | cc |
| 18 | she | she | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 21 felt | nsubj |
| 19 | at | at | ADP | _ | 20 once | case |
| 20 | once | once | ADV | NumForm=Word NumType=Mult | 21 felt | obl |
| 21 | felt | feel | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 2 was | parataxis |
| 22 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 23 dress | det |
| 23 | dress | dress | NOUN | Number=Sing | 21 felt | obj |
| 24 | that | that | PRON | PronType=Rel | 27 wore | obj |
| 25 | other | other | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 26 foreigners | amod |
| 26 | foreigners | foreigner | NOUN | Number=Plur | 27 wore | nsubj |
| 27 | wore | wear | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 23 dress | acl:relcl |
| 28 | would | would | AUX | VerbForm=Fin | 29 meet | aux |
| 29 | meet | meet | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 27 wore | xcomp |
| 30 | with | with | ADP | _ | 32 acceptance | case |
| 31 | greater | great | ADJ | Degree=Cmp | 32 acceptance | amod |
| 32 | acceptance | acceptance | NOUN | Number=Sing | 29 meet | obl |
| 33 | in | in | ADP | _ | 34 Peking | case |
| 34 | Peking | Peking | PROPN | Number=Sing | 32 acceptance | nmod |
| 35 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 2 was | punct |
Pragmatics
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | be | past | something in simplicity's nature | there | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | ||||
| 2 | compel | past | simplicity | vn compel-59.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent she=Patient | |||||
| 3 | have | to-infinitive | things | suitable property | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent thing=Patient | ||||
| 4 | feel | past | simplicity | the dress | vn hunt-35.1 «NP V NP PP.location»: agent=Agent dress=Theme at once=Location | ||||
| 5 | wear | past | other foreigners | the dress | tree rules | ||||
| 6 | meet | would | other foreigners not said here | with greater acceptance in Peking | vn meet-36.3-1 «NP V PP.co-agent»: agent=Agent with acceptance=Co-Agent |
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.
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