---
title: 1 Samuel 1:1 (JPS 1917) — NOW THERE was a certain man of Ramathaim-zophim, of the hill-country… · tree and pragmatics
description: NOW THERE was a certain man of Ramathaim-zophim, of the hill-country of Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite. Who acts: certain man, name, man. 1 Samuel 1:1 in JPS 1917 with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of 
---

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# 1 Samuel 1:1 · JPS 1917

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NOW THERE was a certain man of Ramathaim-zophim, of the hill-country of Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite.

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**Who acts:** certain man, name, man · **What happens:** be, name · **To what, where:** Elkanah

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This is 1 Samuel 1:1 · JPS 1917 in the English of the Jewish Publication Society's 1917 translation, from Mova's open Bible corpus. The page gives the sentence's syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies, parsed by Mova and checked by a teacher model — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (certain man, name, man), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it. The original of the verse links back to its own tree and to the Targum.

## The tree {#tree}

```conllu
# sent_id = jps:1SA:0
# text = NOW THERE was a certain man of Ramathaim-zophim, of the hill-country of Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite.
1	NOW	now	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
2	THERE	there	PRON	EX	PronType=Dem	3	expl	_	_
3	was	be	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	certain	certain	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	man	man	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
7	of	of	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
8	Ramathaim	Ramathaim	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	10	compound	_	_
9	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	10	punct	_	_
10	zophim	zophim	PROPN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	_
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	16	punct	_	_
12	of	of	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
14	hill	hill	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	compound	_	_
15	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	14	punct	_	_
16	country	country	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	_
17	of	of	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
18	Ephraim	Ephraim	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	16	nmod	_	_
19	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	24	punct	_	_
20	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	24	cc	_	_
21	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	22	nmod:poss	_	_
22	name	name	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	24	nsubj	_	_
23	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	24	cop	_	_
24	Elkanah	Elkanah	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	conj	_	_
25	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	27	punct	_	_
26	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	27	det	_	_
27	son	son	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	24	appos	_	_
28	of	of	ADP	IN	_	29	case	_	_
29	Jeroham	Jeroham	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	27	nmod	_	_
30	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	32	punct	_	_
31	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	32	det	_	_
32	son	son	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	24	appos	_	_
33	of	of	ADP	IN	_	34	case	_	_
34	Elihu	Elihu	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	32	nmod	_	_
35	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	37	punct	_	_
36	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	37	det	_	_
37	son	son	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	32	nmod	_	_
38	of	of	ADP	IN	_	39	case	_	_
39	Tohu	Tohu	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	37	nmod	_	_
40	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	42	punct	_	_
41	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	42	det	_	_
42	son	son	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	37	appos	_	_
43	of	of	ADP	IN	_	44	case	_	_
44	Zuph	Zuph	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	42	nmod	_	_
45	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	47	punct	_	_
46	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	47	det	_	_
47	Ephraimite	Ephraimite	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	44	appos	_	_
48	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- sa -->
- form: statement
- act: assert
- voice: narrator
- polarity: none
- teacher: kept the draft

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **be** | past | a certain man of Ramathaim zophim of the hill country of Ephraim |  |  | there | now |  | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **is a** | past | man's name | Elkanah |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **name** |  | man |  |  |  |  |  | nom name «communication transitive»: poss=agent |

<!-- .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.

## The Hebrew of this verse {#hebrew}

<!-- .vhe dir=rtl lang=hbo -->
וַיְהִי֩ אִ֨ישׁ אֶחָ֜ד מִן־הָרָמָתַ֛יִם צוֹפִ֖ים מֵהַ֣ר אֶפְרָ֑יִם וּשְׁמ֡וֹ אֶ֠לְקָנָה בֶּן־יְרֹחָ֧ם בֶּן־אֱלִיה֛וּא בֶּן־תֹּ֥חוּ בֶן־צ֖וּף אֶפְרָתִֽי׃

[1 Samuel 1:1: the Hebrew tree, its pragmatics and Targum Jonathan →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/neviim/1SA.1.1/)

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**Source.** The Holy Scriptures according to the Masoretic Text, Jewish Publication Society, 1917, from eBible.org: public domain. Sentence `jps:1SA:0` of Mova's parse database.

**The tree and the speech act** come from Mova's cycle: the small model's draft, read by a large model as teacher, passed by Mova's gates (Elamur Cosmic License). **The frames** are read from the tree by Mova's frames reader (`prag`) when this page is built, the chapter read in order, so a pronoun may be resolved from an earlier sentence of the chapter.

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