Morien: A Metrical Romance Rendered into English Prose from the Mediæval Dutch, Opening, part 6, sentence 83
Thereto had he cunningly handled the harness, girths and stirrup-leather, whereof Sir Gawain knew naught, and the lord of the castle had sent afore the strongest and most valiant of his folk, to waylay Sir Gawain, and to take his life, A man's heart might well fail him for doubt, and great fear, did he come in such a pass, and know no wile whereby he might escape.
Who acts: seneschal, Sir, heart, great fear · What happens: have, handle, know, send, waylay, take · To what, where: harness, naught, lord, Gawain, life, pass
This is a sentence of «Morien: A Metrical Romance Rendered into English Prose from the Mediæval Dutch» by Jessie L. Weston, Opening, part 6. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (seneschal, Sir, heart, great fear), 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 | Thereto | thereto | ADV | _ | 2 had | advmod |
| 2 | had | have | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=1 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 3 | he | he | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 5 handled | nsubj |
| 4 | cunningly | cunningly | ADV | _ | 5 handled | advmod |
| 5 | handled | handle | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 2 had | ccomp |
| 6 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 7 harness | det |
| 7 | harness | harness | NOUN | Number=Sing | 5 handled | obj |
| 8 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 9 girths | punct |
| 9 | girths | girth | NOUN | Number=Plur | 7 harness | appos |
| 10 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 13 leather | cc |
| 11 | stirrup | stirrup | NOUN | Number=Sing | 13 leather | compound |
| 12 | - | - | PUNCT | _ | 11 stirrup | punct |
| 13 | leather | leather | NOUN | Number=Sing | 9 girths | conj |
| 14 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 18 knew | punct |
| 15 | whereof | whereof | ADV | PronType=Int | 18 knew | advmod |
| 16 | Sir | Sir | PROPN | Number=Sing | 18 knew | nsubj |
| 17 | Gawain | Gawain | PROPN | Number=Sing | 16 Sir | flat |
| 18 | knew | know | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 7 harness | conj |
| 19 | naught | naught | PRON | PronType=Neg | 18 knew | obj |
| 20 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 28 sent | punct |
| 21 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 28 sent | cc |
| 22 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 23 lord | det |
| 23 | lord | lord | NOUN | Number=Sing | 28 sent | nsubj:pass |
| 24 | of | of | ADP | _ | 26 castle | case |
| 25 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 26 castle | det |
| 26 | castle | castle | NOUN | Number=Sing | 23 lord | nmod |
| 27 | had | have | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 28 sent | aux |
| 28 | sent | send | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 2 had | conj |
| 29 | afore | afore | SCONJ | _ | 34 valiant | mark |
| 30 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 34 valiant | det |
| 31 | strongest | strong | ADJ | Degree=Sup | 34 valiant | amod |
| 32 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 34 valiant | cc |
| 33 | most | most | ADV | Degree=Sup | 34 valiant | advmod |
| 34 | valiant | valiant | NOUN | Number=Sing | 28 sent | advcl |
| 35 | of | of | ADP | _ | 37 folk | case |
| 36 | his | his | PRON | Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 37 folk | nmod:poss |
| 37 | folk | folk | NOUN | Number=Sing | 34 valiant | nmod |
| 38 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 40 waylay | punct |
| 39 | to | to | PART | _ | 40 waylay | mark |
| 40 | waylay | waylay | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 2 had | conj |
| 41 | Sir | Sir | PROPN | Number=Sing | 42 Gawain | nmod:desc |
| 42 | Gawain | Gawain | PROPN | Number=Sing | 40 waylay | obj |
| 43 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 46 take | punct |
| 44 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 46 take | cc |
| 45 | to | to | PART | _ | 46 take | mark |
| 46 | take | take | VERB | Mood=Imp VerbForm=Fin | 2 had | parataxis |
| 47 | his | his | PRON | Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 48 life | nmod:poss |
| 48 | life | life | NOUN | Number=Sing | 46 take | obj |
| 49 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 56 fail | punct |
| 50 | A | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 51 man | det |
| 51 | man | man | NOUN | Number=Sing | 53 heart | nmod:poss |
| 52 | 's | 's | PART | _ | 51 man | case |
| 53 | heart | heart | NOUN | Number=Sing | 56 fail | nsubj |
| 54 | might | might | AUX | VerbForm=Fin | 56 fail | aux |
| 55 | well | well | ADV | Degree=Pos | 56 fail | advmod |
| 56 | fail | fail | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 46 take | conj |
| 57 | him | he | PRON | Case=Acc Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 56 fail | obj |
| 58 | for | for | ADP | _ | 59 doubt | case |
| 59 | doubt | doubt | NOUN | Number=Sing | 56 fail | obl |
| 60 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 67 come | punct |
| 61 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 67 come | cc |
| 62 | great | great | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 63 fear | amod |
| 63 | fear | fear | NOUN | Number=Sing | 67 come | nsubj |
| 64 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 63 fear | punct |
| 65 | did | do | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 67 come | aux |
| 66 | he | he | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 67 come | nsubj |
| 67 | come | come | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 46 take | conj |
| 68 | in | in | ADP | _ | 71 pass | case |
| 69 | such | such | DET | PronType=Ind | 71 pass | det:predet |
| 70 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 71 pass | det |
| 71 | pass | pass | NOUN | Number=Sing | 67 come | obl |
| 72 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 74 know | punct |
| 73 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 74 know | cc |
| 74 | know | know | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 2 had | parataxis |
| 75 | no | no | DET | PronType=Neg | 76 wile | det |
| 76 | wile | while | NOUN | Number=Sing | 74 know | obj |
| 77 | whereby | whereby | ADV | PronType=Int | 80 escape | advmod |
| 78 | he | he | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 80 escape | nsubj |
| 79 | might | might | AUX | VerbForm=Fin | 80 escape | aux |
| 80 | escape | escape | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 74 know | conj |
| 81 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 2 had | punct |
Pragmatics
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | have | past | thereto property | tree rules | |||||
| 2 | handle | past | seneschal | the harness | cunningly property | vn hold-15.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent harness=Theme | |||
| 3 | know | past | Sir | naught | whereof property | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Experiencer naught=Stimulus | |||
| 4 | send | past · perfect · passive | the lord of the castle | the strongest valiant of seneschal's folk advcl | vn confine-92-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme | ||||
| 5 | waylay | to-infinitive | Gawain Sir | tree rules | |||||
| 6 | take | to-infinitive | seneschal's life | vn bring-11.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent life=Theme | |||||
| 7 | fail | might | a man's heart | Gawain | for doubt; well property | vn succeed-74-3-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent he=Eventuality | |||
| 8 | come | past · do-support | great fear | such pass | seneschal nsubj | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme in pass=Location | |||
| 9 | know | present | while | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer | |||||
| 10 | escape | might | seneschal | whereby property | vn escape-51.1-1-1 «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: «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.
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