Stories of Charlemagne and the twelve Peers of France, The Battle, sentence 54
A mighty blow it was, cleaving the man in twain down to his saddle--aye, and the saddle itself with its adorning of gold and jewels, and the very backbone also of the steed whereon he rode, so that horse and man fell dead together on the plains. "
Who acts: sword, backbone, man · What happens: cleave, ride, fall · To what, where: man, twain, plains, mighty blow
This is a sentence of «Stories of Charlemagne and the twelve Peers of France» by Alfred John Church, The Battle. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (sword, backbone, man), 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 | A | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 3 blow | det |
| 2 | mighty | mighty | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 3 blow | amod |
| 3 | blow | blow | NOUN | Number=Sing | root | root |
| 4 | it | it | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 7 cleaving | nsubj |
| 5 | was | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 7 cleaving | aux |
| 6 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 7 cleaving | punct |
| 7 | cleaving | cleave | VERB | Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part | 3 blow | acl:relcl |
| 8 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 9 man | det |
| 9 | man | man | NOUN | Number=Sing | 7 cleaving | obj |
| 10 | in | in | ADP | _ | 11 twain | case |
| 11 | twain | twain | NOUN | Number=Sing | 7 cleaving | obl |
| 12 | down | down | ADV | _ | 15 saddle | advmod |
| 13 | to | to | ADP | _ | 15 saddle | case |
| 14 | his | his | PRON | Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 15 saddle | nmod:poss |
| 15 | saddle | saddle | NOUN | Number=Sing | 7 cleaving | obl |
| 16 | -- | -- | PUNCT | _ | 17 aye | punct |
| 17 | aye | aye | INTJ | _ | 3 blow | discourse |
| 18 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 21 saddle | punct |
| 19 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 21 saddle | cc |
| 20 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 21 saddle | det |
| 21 | saddle | saddle | NOUN | Number=Sing | 3 blow | conj |
| 22 | itself | itself | PRON | Case=Acc Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Emp Reflex=Yes | 21 saddle | nmod:unmarked |
| 23 | with | with | ADP | _ | 25 adorning | case |
| 24 | its | its | PRON | Case=Gen Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 25 adorning | nmod:poss |
| 25 | adorning | adorning | NOUN | Number=Sing | 21 saddle | nmod |
| 26 | of | of | ADP | _ | 27 gold | case |
| 27 | gold | gold | NOUN | Number=Sing | 25 adorning | nmod |
| 28 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 29 jewels | cc |
| 29 | jewels | jewel | NOUN | Number=Plur | 27 gold | conj |
| 30 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 38 steed | punct |
| 31 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 38 steed | cc |
| 32 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 34 backbone | det |
| 33 | very | very | ADV | _ | 34 backbone | advmod |
| 34 | backbone | backbone | NOUN | Number=Sing | 38 steed | nsubj |
| 35 | also | also | ADV | _ | 38 steed | advmod |
| 36 | of | of | ADP | _ | 38 steed | case |
| 37 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 38 steed | det |
| 38 | steed | steed | NOUN | Number=Sing | 3 blow | conj |
| 39 | whereon | whereon | ADV | PronType=Int | 41 rode | advmod |
| 40 | he | he | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 41 rode | nsubj |
| 41 | rode | ride | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 38 steed | acl:relcl |
| 42 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 41 rode | punct |
| 43 | so | so | SCONJ | _ | 45 horse | case |
| 44 | that | that | SCONJ | _ | 43 so | fixed |
| 45 | horse | horse | NOUN | Number=Sing | 41 rode | obl |
| 46 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 48 fell | cc |
| 47 | man | man | NOUN | Number=Sing | 48 fell | nsubj |
| 48 | fell | fall | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 41 rode | conj |
| 49 | dead | dead | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 48 fell | xcomp |
| 50 | together | together | ADV | _ | 48 fell | advmod |
| 51 | on | on | ADP | _ | 53 plains | case |
| 52 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 53 plains | det |
| 53 | plains | plain | NOUN | Number=Plur | 48 fell | obl |
| 54 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 3 blow | punct |
| 55 | " | " | PUNCT | _ | 3 blow | punct |
Pragmatics
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | cleave | past · progressive | sword | the man | twain | to blow's saddle result | vn break-45.1 «NP V NP PP.result»: agent=Agent man=Patient to saddle=Result | ||
| 2 | ride | past | backbone | so horse; whereon property | vn nonvehicle-51.4.2 «NP.agent V»: agent=Agent | ||||
| 3 | fall | past | man | the plains | dead, together property | vn occur-48.3 «NP V PP»: agent=Theme on plain=Location |
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: «Stories of Charlemagne and the twelve Peers of France» by Alfred John Church, Project Gutenberg book 75339 (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/pg75339/31/54/