Legends of the Northwest, The Feast of the Virgins., part 8, sentence 18
As her sad sisters watched on the shore for her spirit to rise from the waters, They heard the swift dip of an oar, and a boat they beheld like a shadow, Gliding down through the night in the gray, gloaming mists on the face of the waters. '
Who acts: spirits, boat · What happens: watch, rise, hear, behold, glide down · To what, where: shore, waters, swift dip
This is a sentence of «Legends of the Northwest» by Hanford Lennox Gordon, The Feast of the Virgins., part 8. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (spirits, boat), 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 | As | as | ADP | _ | 4 sisters | case |
| 2 | her | her | PRON | Case=Gen Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 4 sisters | nmod:poss |
| 3 | sad | sad | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 4 sisters | amod |
| 4 | sisters | sister | NOUN | Number=Plur | 5 watched | obl |
| 5 | watched | watch | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=1 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 6 | on | on | ADP | _ | 8 shore | case |
| 7 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 8 shore | det |
| 8 | shore | shore | NOUN | Number=Sing | 5 watched | obl |
| 9 | for | for | ADP | _ | 11 spirit | case |
| 10 | her | her | PRON | Case=Gen Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 11 spirit | nmod:poss |
| 11 | spirit | spirit | NOUN | Number=Sing | 5 watched | obl |
| 12 | to | to | PART | _ | 13 rise | mark |
| 13 | rise | rise | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 5 watched | advcl |
| 14 | from | from | ADP | _ | 16 waters | case |
| 15 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 16 waters | det |
| 16 | waters | water | NOUN | Number=Plur | 13 rise | obl |
| 17 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 19 heard | punct |
| 18 | They | they | PRON | Case=Nom Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs | 19 heard | nsubj |
| 19 | heard | hear | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 5 watched | conj |
| 20 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 22 dip | det |
| 21 | swift | swift | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 22 dip | amod |
| 22 | dip | dip | NOUN | Number=Sing | 19 heard | obj |
| 23 | of | of | ADP | _ | 25 oar | case |
| 24 | an | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 25 oar | det |
| 25 | oar | oar | NOUN | Number=Sing | 22 dip | nmod |
| 26 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 31 beheld | punct |
| 27 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 31 beheld | cc |
| 28 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 29 boat | det |
| 29 | boat | boat | NOUN | Number=Sing | 31 beheld | nsubj |
| 30 | they | they | PRON | Case=Nom Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs | 31 beheld | nsubj |
| 31 | beheld | behold | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 5 watched | conj |
| 32 | like | like | ADP | _ | 34 shadow | case |
| 33 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 34 shadow | det |
| 34 | shadow | shadow | NOUN | Number=Sing | 31 beheld | obl |
| 35 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 36 Gliding | punct |
| 36 | Gliding | glide | VERB | Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part | 31 beheld | advcl |
| 37 | down | down | ADV | _ | 36 Gliding | advmod |
| 38 | through | through | ADP | _ | 40 night | case |
| 39 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 40 night | det |
| 40 | night | night | NOUN | Number=Sing | 36 Gliding | obl |
| 41 | in | in | ADP | _ | 43 gray | case |
| 42 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 43 gray | det |
| 43 | gray | gray | NOUN | Number=Sing | 40 night | nmod |
| 44 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 46 mists | punct |
| 45 | gloaming | gloaming | NOUN | Number=Sing | 46 mists | compound |
| 46 | mists | mist | NOUN | Number=Plur | 5 watched | parataxis |
| 47 | on | on | ADP | _ | 49 face | case |
| 48 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 49 face | det |
| 49 | face | face | NOUN | Number=Sing | 46 mists | nmod |
| 50 | of | of | ADP | _ | 52 waters | case |
| 51 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 52 waters | det |
| 52 | waters | water | NOUN | Number=Plur | 49 face | nmod |
| 53 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 46 mists | punct |
| 54 | ' | ' | PUNCT | _ | 46 mists | punct |
Pragmatics
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | watch | past | the shore | as earth's sad sisters; for earth's spirit; gloaming mists on the face of the waters parataxis | vn search-35.2 «NP V PP.theme NP.location»: agent=Agent on shore=Location for spirit=Theme | ||||
| 2 | rise | to-infinitive | the waters | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial_location»: agent=Theme from water=Initial_Location | |||||
| 3 | hear | past | spirits = spirit | the swift dip of a oar | vn see-30.1-1-1 «NP V S»: agent=Experiencer dip=Stimulus | ||||
| 4 | behold | past | a boat | like a shadow; spirits = spirit nsubj | vn sight-30.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer | ||||
| 5 | glide down | gerund | a boat not said here | night | down property | vn run-51.3.2-2 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
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 Northwest» by Hanford Lennox Gordon, Project Gutenberg book 8122 (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/pg8122/15/18/