Legends of the conquest of Spain, Chapter VIII., sentence 12
The onset was fierce, and the struggle desperate: the swarthy sons of the desert were light and vigorous, and of fiery spirits; but the Goths, inured to danger on this frontier, retained the stubborn valour of their race, so impaired among their brethren in Spain.
Who acts: onset, struggle desperate, sons · What happens: be, inure, retain, impair, race · To what, where: Goths, stubborn valour
This is a sentence of «Legends of the conquest of Spain» by Washington Irving, Chapter VIII.. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (onset, struggle desperate, sons), 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 | The | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 2 onset | det |
| 2 | onset | onset | NOUN | Number=Sing | 4 fierce | nsubj |
| 3 | was | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 4 fierce | cop |
| 4 | fierce | fierce | ADJ | Degree=Pos | root | root |
| 5 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 18 light | punct |
| 6 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 18 light | cc |
| 7 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 9 desperate | det |
| 8 | struggle | struggle | NOUN | Number=Sing | 9 desperate | compound |
| 9 | desperate | desperate | NOUN | Number=Sing | 18 light | nsubj |
| 10 | : | : | PUNCT | _ | 18 light | punct |
| 11 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 13 sons | det |
| 12 | swarthy | swarthy | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 13 sons | amod |
| 13 | sons | son | NOUN | Number=Plur | 18 light | nsubj |
| 14 | of | of | ADP | _ | 16 desert | case |
| 15 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 16 desert | det |
| 16 | desert | desert | NOUN | Number=Sing | 13 sons | nmod |
| 17 | were | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 18 light | cop |
| 18 | light | light | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 4 fierce | conj |
| 19 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 20 vigorous | cc |
| 20 | vigorous | vigorous | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 18 light | conj |
| 21 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 38 retained | punct |
| 22 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 38 retained | cc |
| 23 | of | of | ADP | _ | 25 spirits | case |
| 24 | fiery | fiery | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 25 spirits | amod |
| 25 | spirits | spirit | NOUN | Number=Plur | 38 retained | obl |
| 26 | ; | ; | PUNCT | _ | 29 Goths | punct |
| 27 | but | but | CCONJ | _ | 29 Goths | cc |
| 28 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 29 Goths | det |
| 29 | Goths | Goth | PROPN | Number=Plur | 25 spirits | nmod |
| 30 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 31 inured | punct |
| 31 | inured | inure | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 29 Goths | acl |
| 32 | to | to | ADP | _ | 33 danger | case |
| 33 | danger | danger | NOUN | Number=Sing | 31 inured | obl |
| 34 | on | on | ADP | _ | 36 frontier | case |
| 35 | this | this | DET | Number=Sing PronType=Dem | 36 frontier | det |
| 36 | frontier | frontier | NOUN | Number=Sing | 33 danger | nmod |
| 37 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 25 spirits | punct |
| 38 | retained | retain | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 18 light | parataxis |
| 39 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 41 valour | det |
| 40 | stubborn | stubborn | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 41 valour | amod |
| 41 | valour | valour | NOUN | Number=Sing | 38 retained | obj |
| 42 | of | of | ADP | _ | 44 race | case |
| 43 | their | their | PRON | Case=Gen Number=Plur Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 44 race | nmod:poss |
| 44 | race | race | NOUN | Number=Sing | 41 valour | nmod |
| 45 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 47 impaired | punct |
| 46 | so | so | ADV | _ | 47 impaired | advmod |
| 47 | impaired | impair | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 38 retained | conj |
| 48 | among | among | ADP | _ | 50 brethren | case |
| 49 | their | their | PRON | Case=Gen Number=Plur Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 50 brethren | nmod:poss |
| 50 | brethren | brethren | NOUN | Number=Plur | 47 impaired | obl |
| 51 | in | in | ADP | _ | 52 Spain | case |
| 52 | Spain | Spain | PROPN | Number=Sing | 50 brethren | nmod |
| 53 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 4 fierce | punct |
Pragmatics
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | is | past | the onset | fierce property | tree rules | ||||
| 2 | is | past | the struggle desperate | the swarthy sons of the desert nsubj; light property | tree rules | ||||
| 3 | be | the struggle desperate not said here | tree rules | ||||||
| 4 | inure | participle | the Goths not said here | to danger on this frontier | tree rules | ||||
| 5 | retain | past | the stubborn valour of sons's race | of fiery spirits the Goths | tree rules | ||||
| 6 | impair | participle | among sons's brethren in Spain | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Experiencer | |||||
| 7 | race | sons = son | nom race «event intransitive»: poss=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: «Legends of the conquest of Spain» by Washington Irving, Project Gutenberg book 77685 (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/pg77685/9/12/