--- title: By this time the sun was near setting, but quite suddenly it fell da… — The Arabian Nights Entertainments · tree and pragmatics description: By this time the sun was near setting, but quite suddenly it fell dark, something like a huge black cloud came swiftly over me, and I saw with amazement that it was a bird of extraordinary size which was hovering near. Who acts: sun, huge black cloud, I, cloud. A sentence of «The Arabian Nights Ente --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg128/14/20/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [tales](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/) / [The Arabian Nights Entertainments](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg128/) / [Opening, part 14](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg128/14/) / 20 # The Arabian Nights Entertainments, Opening, part 14, sentence 20 By this time the sun was near setting, but quite suddenly it fell dark, something like a huge black cloud came swiftly over me, and I saw with amazement that it was a bird of extraordinary size which was hovering near. **Who acts:** sun, huge black cloud, I, cloud, extraordinary size · **What happens:** be, fall, come, see, hover · **To what, where:** setting, bird · **Speech:** someone speaks here This is a sentence of «The Arabian Nights Entertainments» by Andrew Lang, Opening, part 14. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (sun, huge black cloud, I, cloud), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree. **Parsed by Mova, not checked by a teacher.** This tree is Mova's own parse (the `en` model, on the CPU, when the site is built); it may be wrong. ## The tree {#tree} ```conllu # sent_id = book:pg128:14:20 # text = By this time the sun was near setting, but quite suddenly it fell dark, something like a huge black cloud came swiftly over me, and I saw with amazement that it was a bird of extraordinary size which was hovering near. 1 By by ADP IN _ 3 case _ _ 2 this this DET DT Number=Sing|PronType=Dem 3 det _ _ 3 time time NOUN NN Number=Sing 8 obl _ _ 4 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 5 det _ _ 5 sun sun NOUN NN Number=Sing 8 nsubj _ _ 6 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 8 cop _ _ 7 near near ADP IN _ 8 case _ _ 8 setting setting NOUN NN Number=Sing 0 root _ SpaceAfter=No 9 , , PUNCT , _ 14 punct _ _ 10 but but CCONJ CC _ 14 cc _ _ 11 quite quite ADV RB _ 12 advmod _ _ 12 suddenly suddenly ADV RB _ 14 advmod _ _ 13 it it PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 14 nsubj _ _ 14 fell fall VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 8 advcl _ _ 15 dark dark ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 14 xcomp _ SpaceAfter=No 16 , , PUNCT , _ 17 punct _ _ 17 something something PRON NN Number=Sing|PronType=Ind 8 conj _ _ 18 like like SCONJ IN _ 23 mark _ _ 19 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 22 det _ _ 20 huge huge ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 22 amod _ _ 21 black black ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 22 amod _ _ 22 cloud cloud NOUN NN Number=Sing 23 nsubj _ _ 23 came come VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 17 acl _ _ 24 swiftly swiftly ADV RB _ 23 advmod _ _ 25 over over ADP IN _ 26 case _ _ 26 me I PRON PRP Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs 23 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 27 , , PUNCT , _ 30 punct _ _ 28 and and CCONJ CC _ 30 cc _ _ 29 I I PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs 30 nsubj _ _ 30 saw see VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 8 conj _ _ 31 with with ADP IN _ 32 case _ _ 32 amazement amazement NOUN NN Number=Sing 30 obl _ _ 33 that that SCONJ IN _ 37 mark _ _ 34 it it PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 37 nsubj _ _ 35 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 37 cop _ _ 36 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 37 det _ _ 37 bird bird NOUN NN Number=Sing 30 ccomp _ _ 38 of of ADP IN _ 40 case _ _ 39 extraordinary extraordinary ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 40 amod _ _ 40 size size NOUN NN Number=Sing 37 nmod _ _ 41 which which PRON WDT PronType=Rel 43 nsubj _ _ 42 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 43 aux _ _ 43 hovering hover VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 40 acl:relcl _ _ 44 near near ADV RB _ 43 advmod _ SpaceAfter=No 45 . . PUNCT . _ 8 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **is** | past | the sun | | | setting | time | | tree rules | | 2 | **fall** | past | sun | | | | | dark, suddenly *property* | vn occur-48.3 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 3 | **come** | past | a huge black cloud | | | | | over me; swiftly *property* | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme over i=Initial\_Location | | 4 | **see** | past | I | | | | | with amazement | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer | | 5 | **is a** | past | cloud | a bird | | | | of extraordinary size | tree rules | | 6 | **hover** | past · progressive | extraordinary size | | | | | near *property* | vn modes\_of\_being\_with\_motion-47.3 «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:** «The Arabian Nights Entertainments» by Andrew Lang, Project Gutenberg book 128 (public domain in the USA). **Tree:** Mova's own parse, Elamur Cosmic License. **Frames:** Mova's frames reader (`prag`), the chapter read in order. - ← previous: [sentence 19](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg128/14/19/) - next →: [sentence 21](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg128/14/21/) - ↑ back to [Opening, part 14](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg128/14/)