Morien: A Metrical Romance Rendered into English Prose from the Mediæval Dutch, Opening, part 4, sentence 29
Against him may no weapon serve, there was never spear so sharp nor sword so well tempered, as I know of a truth, that may harm that devil, but it will break or bend as hath full oft been proven in time past.
Who acts: weapon serve, I, truth, spear · What happens: not be, sword, temper, know, harm, break · To what, where: spear, devil, oft, time past
This is a sentence of «Morien: A Metrical Romance Rendered into English Prose from the Mediæval Dutch» by Jessie L. Weston, Opening, part 4. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (weapon serve, I, truth, spear), 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 | Against | against | ADP | _ | 2 him | case |
| 2 | him | he | PRON | Case=Acc Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 11 spear | obl |
| 3 | may | may | AUX | VerbForm=Fin | 11 spear | aux |
| 4 | no | no | DET | PronType=Neg | 6 serve | det |
| 5 | weapon | weapon | NOUN | Number=Sing | 6 serve | compound |
| 6 | serve | serve | NOUN | Number=Sing | 11 spear | nsubj |
| 7 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 9 was | punct |
| 8 | there | there | PRON | PronType=Dem | 9 was | expl |
| 9 | was | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 11 spear | cop |
| 10 | never | never | ADV | PronType=Neg | 11 spear | advmod |
| 11 | spear | spear | NOUN | Number=Sing | 13 sharp | nsubj |
| 12 | so | so | ADV | _ | 13 sharp | advmod |
| 13 | sharp | sharp | ADJ | Degree=Pos | root | root |
| 14 | nor | nor | CCONJ | Polarity=Neg | 15 sword | cc |
| 15 | sword | sword | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 13 sharp | conj |
| 16 | so | so | ADV | _ | 18 tempered | advmod |
| 17 | well | well | ADV | Degree=Pos | 18 tempered | advmod |
| 18 | tempered | temper | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 15 sword | xcomp |
| 19 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 22 know | punct |
| 20 | as | as | SCONJ | _ | 22 know | mark |
| 21 | I | I | PRON | Case=Nom Number=Sing Person=1 PronType=Prs | 22 know | nsubj |
| 22 | know | know | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=2 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 18 tempered | conj |
| 23 | of | of | ADP | _ | 25 truth | case |
| 24 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 25 truth | det |
| 25 | truth | truth | NOUN | Number=Sing | 22 know | obl |
| 26 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 29 harm | punct |
| 27 | that | that | PRON | PronType=Rel | 29 harm | nsubj |
| 28 | may | may | AUX | VerbForm=Fin | 29 harm | aux |
| 29 | harm | harm | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 25 truth | acl:relcl |
| 30 | that | that | DET | Number=Sing PronType=Dem | 31 devil | det |
| 31 | devil | devil | NOUN | Number=Sing | 29 harm | obj |
| 32 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 36 break | punct |
| 33 | but | but | CCONJ | _ | 36 break | cc |
| 34 | it | it | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 36 break | nsubj |
| 35 | will | will | AUX | VerbForm=Fin | 36 break | aux |
| 36 | break | break | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 13 sharp | parataxis |
| 37 | or | or | CCONJ | _ | 38 bend | cc |
| 38 | bend | bend | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 36 break | conj |
| 39 | as | as | SCONJ | _ | 40 hath | mark |
| 40 | hath | have | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Style=Arch Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 38 bend | ccomp |
| 41 | full | full | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 40 hath | xcomp |
| 42 | oft | oft | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 44 proven | nsubj:pass |
| 43 | been | be | AUX | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part | 44 proven | aux:pass |
| 44 | proven | prove | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 41 full | conj |
| 45 | in | in | ADP | _ | 47 past | case |
| 46 | time | time | NOUN | Number=Sing | 47 past | compound |
| 47 | past | past | NOUN | Number=Sing | 44 proven | obl |
| 48 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 13 sharp | punct |
Pragmatics
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | not is a | may | no weapon serve | spear | against man | tree rules | |||
| 2 | sword | present | tree rules | ||||||
| 3 | temper | participle | well property | tree rules | |||||
| 4 | know | present | I | of a truth | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V PP.stimulus»: agent=Experiencer of truth=Stimulus | ||||
| 5 | harm | may | a truth | that devil | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus devil=Experiencer | ||||
| 6 | break | future | spear | vn hurt-40.8.3-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Patient | |||||
| 7 | bend | infinitive | spear not said here | tree rules | |||||
| 8 | have | present | spear not said here | full property | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent | ||||
| 9 | prove | participle · passive | oft | time past | vn deduce-97.2 «NP V NP»: subject=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: «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/pg8447/4/29/