---
title: matter — Early Modern English dictionary · trees and pragmatics
description: «matter» in the Early Modern English dictionary: An affair or subject of concern, or a thing being discussed. Every meaning for a pupil with its dependency tree and pragmatics.
---

<!-- md -->
[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/emode/M/matter/)

<!-- crumbs -->
[home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [dictionaries](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/) / [Early Modern English dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/emode/) / [M](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/emode/M/) / matter

# matter

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** servant, nothing · **What happens:** discuss, put, swear, concern, be · **To what, where:** affair, hand, thigh, servant, matter

<!-- .vabout -->
«matter» in the Early Modern English dictionary: its meaning for a pupil and its 3 examples, every sentence parsed by Mova itself — its syntax tree, a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies, and its pragmatics clause by clause. The word in the dictionary, with its sense in the lessons: [matter in the Early Modern English dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/emode/w/matter.md).

## Meaning 1 {#m1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
An affair or subject of concern, or a thing being discussed.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:emode:matter:m1:1
# text = An affair or subject of concern, or a thing being discussed.
1	An	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	affair	affair	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	4	cc	_	_
4	subject	subject	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	conj	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	concern	concern	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
8	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
9	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	thing	thing	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nsubj:pass	_	_
11	being	be	AUX	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	12	aux:pass	_	_
12	discussed	discuss	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	12	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **discuss** *speech: other* | gerund · passive |  | a affair or subject of concern |  |  |  |  | vn chit\_chat-37.6-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Topic |

<!-- .note -->
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.

## Example 1 {#x1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
And the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and swore to him concerning this matter.

<!-- .note -->
From Torah GEN.24.9, JPS 1917.

<!-- fold The tree, 20 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:emode:matter:x1:1
# text = And the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and swore to him concerning this matter.
1	And	and	CCONJ	CC	_	4	cc	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	servant	servant	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	put	put	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	6	nmod:poss	_	_
6	hand	hand	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
7	under	under	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	thigh	thigh	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
10	of	of	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	Abraham	Abraham	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	9	nmod	_	_
12	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	13	nmod:poss	_	_
13	master	master	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	16	punct	_	_
15	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	16	cc	_	_
16	swore	swear	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	parataxis	_	_
17	to	to	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
18	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	16	obl	_	_
19	concerning	concern	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	16	advcl	_	_
20	this	this	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	21	det	_	_
21	matter	matter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	19	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **put** | past | the servant | servant's hand |  | the thigh of Abraham |  |  | vn invest-13.5.4-1 «NP V NP PP.goal»: agent=Agent hand=Asset master=Goal |
| 2 | **swear** | past |  |  | servant |  |  |  | vn conjecture-29.5 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **concern** | gerund |  | this matter |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus matter=Experiencer |

## Example 2 {#x2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
There's nothing the matter with me.

<!-- .note -->
From Andersen's Fairy Tales.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:emode:matter:x2:1
# text = There's nothing the matter with me.
1	There	there	PRON	EX	PronType=Dem	2	expl	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	's	be	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	nothing	nothing	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	2	nsubj	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	matter	matter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
6	with	with	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	me	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	5	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **be** | present | nothing |  |  | there |  |  | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

## Example 3 {#x3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A cipher for the matter: twenty-two (numbers) \[objects\] in one body.

<!-- .note -->
From Sefer Yetzirah, Sefaria community translation.

<!-- fold The tree, 12 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:emode:matter:x3:1
# text = A cipher for the matter: twenty-two (numbers) [objects] in one body.
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	cipher	cipher	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	for	for	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	matter	matter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	11	punct	_	_
7	twenty	twenty	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	9	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	7	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	two	two	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	11	nummod	_	_
10	(	(	PUNCT	-LRB-	_	11	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	numbers	number	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	)	)	PUNCT	-RRB-	_	11	punct	_	_
13	[	[	PUNCT	-LRB-	_	14	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	objects	object	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	11	appos	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	]	]	PUNCT	-RRB-	_	14	punct	_	_
16	in	in	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
17	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	18	nummod	_	_
18	body	body	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

<!-- div src -->

**Text:** the Early Modern English dictionary of Mova's schools (`world/data/dictionary-schools/`), written for Mova; its examples quote public-domain texts. **Trees:** Mova's own parse — the `en` model on the CPU, when the site is built — not checked by a teacher; they may be wrong. **Frames:** Mova's frames reader (`prag`), each meaning and example read on its own. Elamur Cosmic License.

<!-- /div -->

<!-- pn -->
- ← previous: [marrieth](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/emode/M/marrieth/)
- next →: [mayest](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/emode/M/mayest/)
- ↑ back to [M in Early Modern English dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/emode/M/)