Morien: A Metrical Romance Rendered into English Prose from the Mediæval Dutch, Opening, part 6, sentence 93
But ere he might smite three blows that sword brake, as it were tin--this was an ill beginning would a man defend his life.
Who acts: Sir, three blows, brake, this, tin · What happens: ere, smite, sword, be, defend · To what, where: three blows, brake, ill beginning, life
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 (Sir, three blows, brake, this), 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 | But | but | CCONJ | _ | 2 ere | cc |
| 2 | ere | ere | 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 smite | nsubj |
| 4 | might | might | AUX | VerbForm=Fin | 5 smite | aux |
| 5 | smite | smite | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 2 ere | ccomp |
| 6 | three | three | NUM | NumForm=Word NumType=Card | 7 blows | nummod |
| 7 | blows | blow | NOUN | Number=Plur | 5 smite | obj |
| 8 | that | that | PRON | PronType=Rel | 9 sword | nsubj |
| 9 | sword | sword | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 7 blows | acl:relcl |
| 10 | brake | brake | NOUN | Number=Sing | 9 sword | obj |
| 11 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 15 tin | punct |
| 12 | as | as | ADP | _ | 15 tin | case |
| 13 | it | it | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 15 tin | nsubj |
| 14 | were | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 15 tin | cop |
| 15 | tin | tin | NOUN | Number=Sing | 25 defend | nsubj |
| 16 | -- | -- | PUNCT | _ | 21 beginning | punct |
| 17 | this | this | PRON | Number=Sing PronType=Dem | 21 beginning | nsubj |
| 18 | was | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 21 beginning | cop |
| 19 | an | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 21 beginning | det |
| 20 | ill | ill | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 21 beginning | amod |
| 21 | beginning | beginning | NOUN | Number=Sing | 15 tin | conj |
| 22 | would | would | AUX | VerbForm=Fin | 25 defend | aux |
| 23 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 24 man | det |
| 24 | man | man | NOUN | Number=Sing | 25 defend | nsubj |
| 25 | defend | defend | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 5 smite | conj |
| 26 | his | his | PRON | Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 27 life | nmod:poss |
| 27 | life | life | NOUN | Number=Sing | 25 defend | obj |
| 28 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 2 ere | punct |
Pragmatics
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ere | past | tree rules | ||||||
| 2 | smite | might | Sir | three blows | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus blow=Experiencer | ||||
| 3 | sword | present | three blows | brake | tree rules | ||||
| 4 | is | past | brake | as tin and a ill beginning | tree rules | ||||
| 5 | is a | past | this | a ill beginning | tree rules | ||||
| 6 | defend | would | tin and a ill beginning | Sir's life | a man nsubj | vn defend-72.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent life=Beneficiary |
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/pg8447/6/93/