Morien: A Metrical Romance Rendered into English Prose from the Mediæval Dutch, Opening, part 11, sentence 6
Many a time did Sir Lancelot strike and smite at the beast, but never a groat might he harm it; but the monster fell upon Sir Lancelot and scored him even to the feet, and dealt him many a wound, and breathed out venom upon him; had it not been for a ring which Sir Lancelot ware upon his finger he had fallen dead where he stood from the poison.
Who acts: Many time, groat, monster, ring · What happens: do, smite, harm, fall, score, deal · To what, where: Lancelot strike, beast, monster, many wound, venom, Sir ware
This is a sentence of «Morien: A Metrical Romance Rendered into English Prose from the Mediæval Dutch» by Jessie L. Weston, Opening, part 11. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (Many time, groat, monster, ring), 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 | Many | many | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 3 time | amod |
| 2 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 3 time | det |
| 3 | time | time | NOUN | Number=Sing | 4 did | nsubj |
| 4 | did | do | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 5 | Sir | Sir | PROPN | Number=Sing | 6 Lancelot | nmod:desc |
| 6 | Lancelot | Lancelot | PROPN | Number=Sing | 7 strike | compound |
| 7 | strike | strike | NOUN | Number=Sing | 4 did | obj |
| 8 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 9 smite | cc |
| 9 | smite | smite | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 7 strike | conj |
| 10 | at | at | ADP | _ | 12 beast | case |
| 11 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 12 beast | det |
| 12 | beast | beast | NOUN | Number=Sing | 9 smite | obl |
| 13 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 20 harm | punct |
| 14 | but | but | CCONJ | _ | 20 harm | cc |
| 15 | never | never | ADV | PronType=Neg | 17 groat | advmod |
| 16 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 17 groat | det |
| 17 | groat | groat | NOUN | Number=Sing | 20 harm | nsubj |
| 18 | might | might | AUX | VerbForm=Fin | 20 harm | aux |
| 19 | he | he | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 20 harm | nsubj |
| 20 | harm | harm | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 4 did | conj |
| 21 | it | it | PRON | Case=Acc Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 20 harm | obj |
| 22 | ; | ; | PUNCT | _ | 26 fell | punct |
| 23 | but | but | CCONJ | _ | 26 fell | cc |
| 24 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 25 monster | det |
| 25 | monster | monster | NOUN | Number=Sing | 26 fell | nsubj |
| 26 | fell | fall | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 4 did | parataxis |
| 27 | upon | upon | ADP | _ | 28 Sir | case |
| 28 | Sir | Sir | PROPN | Number=Sing | 26 fell | obl |
| 29 | Lancelot | Lancelot | PROPN | Number=Sing | 28 Sir | flat |
| 30 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 31 scored | cc |
| 31 | scored | score | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 26 fell | conj |
| 32 | him | he | PRON | Case=Acc Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 31 scored | obj |
| 33 | even | even | ADV | _ | 36 feet | advmod |
| 34 | to | to | ADP | _ | 36 feet | case |
| 35 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 36 feet | det |
| 36 | feet | foot | NOUN | Number=Plur | 31 scored | obl:unmarked |
| 37 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 39 dealt | punct |
| 38 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 39 dealt | cc |
| 39 | dealt | deal | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 4 did | conj |
| 40 | him | he | PRON | Case=Acc Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 39 dealt | obj |
| 41 | many | many | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 43 wound | amod |
| 42 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 43 wound | det |
| 43 | wound | wound | NOUN | Number=Sing | 39 dealt | obj |
| 44 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 46 breathed | punct |
| 45 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 46 breathed | cc |
| 46 | breathed | breathe | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 4 did | conj |
| 47 | out | out | ADP | _ | 46 breathed | compound:prt |
| 48 | venom | venom | NOUN | Number=Sing | 46 breathed | obj |
| 49 | upon | upon | ADP | _ | 50 him | case |
| 50 | him | he | PRON | Case=Acc Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 46 breathed | obl |
| 51 | ; | ; | PUNCT | _ | 52 had | punct |
| 52 | had | have | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 4 did | conj |
| 53 | it | it | PRON | Case=Acc Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 52 had | obj |
| 54 | not | not | PART | Polarity=Neg | 58 ring | advmod |
| 55 | been | be | AUX | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part | 58 ring | cop |
| 56 | for | for | ADP | _ | 58 ring | case |
| 57 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 58 ring | det |
| 58 | ring | ring | NOUN | Number=Sing | 52 had | obj |
| 59 | which | which | PRON | PronType=Rel | 62 ware | nsubj |
| 60 | Sir | Sir | PROPN | Number=Sing | 62 ware | compound |
| 61 | Lancelot | Lancelot | PROPN | Number=Sing | 60 Sir | flat |
| 62 | ware | ware | NOUN | Number=Sing | 58 ring | appos |
| 63 | upon | upon | ADP | _ | 65 finger | case |
| 64 | his | his | PRON | Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 65 finger | nmod:poss |
| 65 | finger | finger | NOUN | Number=Sing | 62 ware | nmod |
| 66 | he | he | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 68 fallen | nsubj |
| 67 | had | have | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 68 fallen | aux |
| 68 | fallen | fall | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part | 62 ware | acl:relcl |
| 69 | dead | dead | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 68 fallen | xcomp |
| 70 | where | where | ADV | PronType=Rel | 72 stood | advmod |
| 71 | he | he | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 72 stood | nsubj |
| 72 | stood | stand | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 69 dead | advcl |
| 73 | from | from | ADP | _ | 75 poison | case |
| 74 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 75 poison | det |
| 75 | poison | poison | NOUN | Number=Sing | 72 stood | obl |
| 76 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 4 did | punct |
Pragmatics
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | do | past | a Many time | Lancelot strike | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent strike=Eventuality | ||||
| 2 | smite | infinitive | a Many time not said here | the beast | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Experiencer | ||||
| 3 | harm | might | a groat | beast | Sir nsubj | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus it=Experiencer | |||
| 4 | fall | past | the monster | upon Sir | vn occur-48.3 «NP V PP»: agent=Theme upon sir=Location | ||||
| 5 | score | past | the monster not said here | monster | to the feet | vn get-13.5.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent he=Theme | |||
| 6 | deal | past | a Many time not said here | a many wound | monster | vn give-13.1 «NP V NP-Dative NP»: agent=Agent he=Recipient wound=Theme | |||
| 7 | breathe out | participle | a Many time not said here | venom | upon monster | vn breathe-40.1.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent venom=Theme | |||
| 8 | have | past | a Many time not said here | beast | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Patient | ||||
| 9 | not is | participle | for a ring | tree rules | |||||
| 10 | ware | a ring | upon monster's finger | tree rules | |||||
| 11 | fall | past · perfect | monster | Sir ware not said here | dead property | vn become-109.1-1 «NP V ADJ»: agent=Patient ware=Result | |||
| 12 | stand | past | monster | the poison | vn assuming_position-50 «NP V»: agent=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/pg8447/11/6/