The foray of Queen Meave, and other legends of Ireland's heroic age, Opening, part 15, sentence 85
War-horses few were there, But many from the plough: with these, in crowds Poor hinds, and swine-herds, maidens skilled in works That knew to spin the flax or mix the dye Or card the wool.
Who acts: That · What happens: be, skill, know, spin, mix · To what, where: maidens, works, flax, dye
This is a sentence of «The foray of Queen Meave, and other legends of Ireland's heroic age» by Aubrey De Vere, Opening, part 15. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (That), 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 | War | war | NOUN | Number=Sing | 4 few | nsubj |
| 2 | - | - | PUNCT | _ | 1 War | punct |
| 3 | horses | horse | NOUN | Number=Plur | 4 few | nsubj |
| 4 | few | few | ADJ | Degree=Pos | root | root |
| 5 | were | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 6 there | cop |
| 6 | there | there | ADV | PronType=Dem | 4 few | conj |
| 7 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 32 knew | punct |
| 8 | But | but | CCONJ | _ | 32 knew | cc |
| 9 | many | many | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 18 crowds | nsubj |
| 10 | from | from | ADP | _ | 12 plough | case |
| 11 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 12 plough | det |
| 12 | plough | plough | NOUN | Number=Sing | 9 many | nmod |
| 13 | : | : | PUNCT | _ | 12 plough | punct |
| 14 | with | with | ADP | _ | 15 these | case |
| 15 | these | this | PRON | Number=Plur PronType=Dem | 12 plough | nmod |
| 16 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 18 crowds | punct |
| 17 | in | in | ADP | _ | 18 crowds | case |
| 18 | crowds | crowd | NOUN | Number=Plur | 32 knew | parataxis |
| 19 | Poor | poor | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 20 hinds | amod |
| 20 | hinds | hind | NOUN | Number=Plur | 18 crowds | conj |
| 21 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 25 herds | punct |
| 22 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 25 herds | cc |
| 23 | swine | swine | NOUN | Number=Sing | 25 herds | compound |
| 24 | - | - | PUNCT | _ | 23 swine | punct |
| 25 | herds | herd | NOUN | Number=Plur | 20 hinds | conj |
| 26 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 27 maidens | punct |
| 27 | maidens | maiden | NOUN | Number=Plur | 20 hinds | conj |
| 28 | skilled | skill | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 27 maidens | acl |
| 29 | in | in | ADP | _ | 30 works | case |
| 30 | works | work | NOUN | Number=Plur | 28 skilled | obl |
| 31 | That | that | PRON | Number=Sing PronType=Dem | 32 knew | nsubj |
| 32 | knew | know | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 4 few | conj |
| 33 | to | to | PART | _ | 34 spin | mark |
| 34 | spin | spin | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 32 knew | xcomp |
| 35 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 36 flax | det |
| 36 | flax | flax | NOUN | Number=Sing | 34 spin | obj |
| 37 | or | or | CCONJ | _ | 38 mix | cc |
| 38 | mix | mix | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 34 spin | conj |
| 39 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 40 dye | det |
| 40 | dye | dye | NOUN | Number=Sing | 38 mix | obj |
| 41 | Or | or | CCONJ | _ | 42 card | cc |
| 42 | card | card | NOUN | Number=Sing | 40 dye | conj |
| 43 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 44 wool | det |
| 44 | wool | wool | NOUN | Number=Sing | 38 mix | obj |
| 45 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 4 few | punct |
Pragmatics
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | is | past | there property | tree rules | |||||
| 2 | skill | participle | maidens not said here | works | tree rules | ||||
| 3 | know | past | That | crowds and Poor hinds and swine herds and maidens parataxis | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V how S_INF»: agent=Experiencer clause=Stimulus | ||||
| 4 | spin | to-infinitive | That not said here | the flax | vn roll-51.3.1 «NP V NP.theme»: agent=Agent flax=Theme | ||||
| 5 | mix | infinitive | That not said here | the dye or card | the wool obj | vn preparing-26.3-1 «NP V NP.beneficiary NP»: agent=Agent dye=Beneficiary wool=Product |
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: «The foray of Queen Meave, and other legends of Ireland's heroic age» by Aubrey De Vere, Project Gutenberg book 78491 (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/pg78491/15/85/