Morien: A Metrical Romance Rendered into English Prose from the Mediæval Dutch, Opening, part 1, sentence 58
That this would be the case appears only probable when we recall the vague and conflicting traditions as to the hero's parentage; it was Perceval himself, and not his father or his mother, who was the important factor in the tale; hence the change in his character was a matter of gradual evolution.
Who acts: this, That, we, tradition, father, character · What happens: be, appear, recall, conflict, parent · To what, where: case, vague, traditions, important factor, tale, matter
This is a sentence of «Morien: A Metrical Romance Rendered into English Prose from the Mediæval Dutch» by Jessie L. Weston, Opening, part 1. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (this, That, we, tradition), 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 | That | that | PRON | Number=Sing PronType=Dem | 7 appears | nsubj |
| 2 | this | this | PRON | Number=Sing PronType=Dem | 6 case | nsubj |
| 3 | would | would | AUX | VerbForm=Fin | 6 case | aux |
| 4 | be | be | AUX | VerbForm=Inf | 6 case | cop |
| 5 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 6 case | det |
| 6 | case | case | NOUN | Number=Sing | 7 appears | nsubj |
| 7 | appears | appear | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 8 | only | only | ADV | _ | 9 probable | advmod |
| 9 | probable | probable | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 7 appears | xcomp |
| 10 | when | when | ADV | PronType=Int | 12 recall | advmod |
| 11 | we | we | PRON | Case=Nom Number=Plur Person=1 PronType=Prs | 12 recall | nsubj |
| 12 | recall | recall | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=1 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 7 appears | advcl |
| 13 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 14 vague | det |
| 14 | vague | vague | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 12 recall | obj |
| 15 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 16 conflicting | cc |
| 16 | conflicting | conflict | VERB | VerbForm=Ger | 12 recall | conj |
| 17 | traditions | tradition | NOUN | Number=Plur | 16 conflicting | obj |
| 18 | as | as | ADP | ExtPos=ADP | 23 parentage | case |
| 19 | to | to | ADP | _ | 18 as | fixed |
| 20 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 21 hero | det |
| 21 | hero | hero | NOUN | Number=Sing | 23 parentage | nmod:poss |
| 22 | 's | 's | PART | _ | 21 hero | case |
| 23 | parentage | parentage | NOUN | Number=Sing | 16 conflicting | obl |
| 24 | ; | ; | PUNCT | _ | 27 Perceval | punct |
| 25 | it | it | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 27 Perceval | nsubj |
| 26 | was | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 27 Perceval | cop |
| 27 | Perceval | perceval | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 12 recall | conj |
| 28 | himself | himself | PRON | Case=Acc Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs Reflex=Yes | 27 Perceval | obj |
| 29 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 33 father | punct |
| 30 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 33 father | cc |
| 31 | not | not | PART | Polarity=Neg | 33 father | advmod |
| 32 | his | his | PRON | Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 33 father | nmod:poss |
| 33 | father | father | NOUN | Number=Sing | 27 Perceval | parataxis |
| 34 | or | or | CCONJ | _ | 36 mother | cc |
| 35 | his | his | PRON | Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 36 mother | nmod:poss |
| 36 | mother | mother | NOUN | Number=Sing | 33 father | conj |
| 37 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 42 factor | punct |
| 38 | who | who | PRON | PronType=Rel | 42 factor | nsubj |
| 39 | was | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 42 factor | cop |
| 40 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 42 factor | det |
| 41 | important | important | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 42 factor | amod |
| 42 | factor | factor | NOUN | Number=Sing | 33 father | conj |
| 43 | in | in | ADP | _ | 45 tale | case |
| 44 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 45 tale | det |
| 45 | tale | tale | NOUN | Number=Sing | 42 factor | nmod |
| 46 | ; | ; | PUNCT | _ | 49 change | punct |
| 47 | hence | hence | ADV | _ | 49 change | advmod |
| 48 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 49 change | det |
| 49 | change | change | NOUN | Number=Sing | 7 appears | parataxis |
| 50 | in | in | ADP | _ | 55 matter | case |
| 51 | his | his | PRON | Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 52 character | nmod:poss |
| 52 | character | character | NOUN | Number=Sing | 55 matter | nsubj |
| 53 | was | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 55 matter | cop |
| 54 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 55 matter | det |
| 55 | matter | matter | NOUN | Number=Sing | 49 change | nmod |
| 56 | of | of | ADP | _ | 58 evolution | case |
| 57 | gradual | gradual | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 58 evolution | amod |
| 58 | evolution | evolution | NOUN | Number=Sing | 55 matter | nmod |
| 59 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 7 appears | punct |
Pragmatics
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | is a | would | this | the case | tree rules | ||||
| 2 | appear | present | That | the change parataxis; probable property | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | ||||
| 3 | recall | present | we | the vague | vn banish-10.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent vague=Theme | ||||
| 4 | conflict | gerund | we not said here | traditions | as the hero's parentage | tree rules | |||
| 5 | is | past | tradition | case obj; case's father or father's mother and the important factor parataxis; perceval property | tree rules | ||||
| 6 | is a | past | case's father or father's mother and the important factor | the important factor | the tale | tree rules | |||
| 7 | is | past | father's character | a matter | of gradual evolution | tree rules | |||
| 8 | parent | the hero | nom parentage «state transitive»: 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: «Morien: A Metrical Romance Rendered into English Prose from the Mediæval Dutch» by Jessie L. Weston, Project Gutenberg book 8447 (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/pg8447/1/58/