---
title: 2 Samuel 14:12 (JPS 1917) — Then the woman said: 'Let thy handmaid, I pray thee, speak a word un… · tree and pragmatics
description: Then the woman said: 'Let thy handmaid, I pray thee, speak a word unto my lord the king.' And he said: 'Say on.' Who acts: woman, I, king. 2 Samuel 14:12 in JPS 1917 with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of every clause.
---

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# 2 Samuel 14:12 · JPS 1917

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Then the woman said: 'Let thy handmaid, I pray thee, speak a word unto my lord the king.' And he said: 'Say on.'

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**Who acts:** woman, I, king · **What happens:** say, let, pray, speak, say on · **To what, where:** handmaid, thee, word · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is 2 Samuel 14:12 · 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 (woman, I, king), 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:2SA:396
# text = Then the woman said: 'Let thy handmaid, I pray thee, speak a word unto my lord the king.' And he said: 'Say on.'
1	Then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	4	advmod	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	woman	woman	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	7	punct	_	_
6	'	'	PUNCT	``	_	7	punct	_	_
7	Let	let	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	ccomp	_	_
8	thy	thy	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs|Style=Arch	9	nmod:poss	_	_
9	handmaid	handmaid	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
11	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	12	nsubj	_	_
12	pray	pray	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	parataxis	_	_
13	thee	thou	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=2|PronType=Prs|Style=Arch	12	obj	_	_
14	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	15	punct	_	_
15	speak	speak	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	conj	_	_
16	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
17	word	word	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	obj	_	_
18	unto	unto	ADP	IN	_	20	case	_	_
19	my	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	20	nmod:poss	_	_
20	lord	lord	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	obl	_	_
21	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	22	det	_	_
22	king	king	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	20	appos	_	_
23	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
24	'	'	PUNCT	''	_	7	punct	_	_
25	And	and	CCONJ	CC	_	27	cc	_	_
26	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	27	nsubj	_	_
27	said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	conj	_	_
28	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	30	punct	_	_
29	'	'	PUNCT	``	_	30	punct	_	_
30	Say	say	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	27	ccomp	_	_
31	on	on	ADP	RP	_	30	compound:prt	_	_
32	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	30	punct	_	_
33	'	'	PUNCT	''	_	30	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- sa -->
- form: command
- act: request
- voice: character
- polarity: none
- teacher: changed form=imp, act=request

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | the woman |  |  |  | then |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **let** | infinitive |  | thy handmaid |  |  |  |  | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent handmaid=Theme |
| 3 | **pray** | present | I | thee |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 4 | **speak** *speech: other* | infinitive |  | a word |  |  |  | unto my lord | tree rules |
| 5 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | king |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 6 | **say on** *speech: assert* | infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=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 -->
וַתֹּ֙אמֶר֙ הָֽאִשָּׁ֔ה תְּדַבֶּר־נָ֧א שִׁפְחָתְךָ֛ אֶל־אֲדֹנִ֥י הַמֶּ֖לֶךְ דָּבָ֑ר וַיֹּ֖אמֶר דַּבֵּֽרִי׃ס

[2 Samuel 14:12: the Hebrew tree, its pragmatics and Targum Jonathan →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/neviim/2SA.14.12/)

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**Source.** The Holy Scriptures according to the Masoretic Text, Jewish Publication Society, 1917, from eBible.org: public domain. Sentence `jps:2SA:396` 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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