--- title: I then asked what he did there, and he made signs to me that he wish… — The Arabian Nights Entertainments · tree and pragmatics description: I then asked what he did there, and he made signs to me that he wished to get across the river to gather some fruit, and seemed to beg me to carry him on my back. Who acts: I, man. A sentence of «The Arabian Nights Entertainments» by Andrew Lang, Opening, part 17, with its dependency tree and the pr --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg128/17/7/) [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 17](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg128/17/) / 7 # The Arabian Nights Entertainments, Opening, part 17, sentence 7 I then asked what he did there, and he made signs to me that he wished to get across the river to gather some fruit, and seemed to beg me to carry him on my back. **Who acts:** I, man · **What happens:** ask, do, make, wish, get, gather · **To what, where:** signs, me, river, fruit, man, back This is a sentence of «The Arabian Nights Entertainments» by Andrew Lang, Opening, part 17. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (I, man), 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:pg128:17:7 # text = I then asked what he did there, and he made signs to me that he wished to get across the river to gather some fruit, and seemed to beg me to carry him on my back. 1 I I PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs 3 nsubj _ _ 2 then then ADV RB PronType=Dem 3 advmod _ _ 3 asked ask VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 4 what what PRON WP PronType=Int 3 obj _ _ 5 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 6 nsubj _ _ 6 did do VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 4 acl:relcl _ _ 7 there there ADV RB PronType=Dem 6 advmod _ SpaceAfter=No 8 , , PUNCT , _ 11 punct _ _ 9 and and CCONJ CC _ 11 cc _ _ 10 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 11 nsubj _ _ 11 made make VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 3 conj _ _ 12 signs sign NOUN NNS Number=Plur 11 obj _ _ 13 to to ADP IN _ 14 case _ _ 14 me I PRON PRP Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs 11 obl _ _ 15 that that SCONJ IN _ 17 mark _ _ 16 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 17 nsubj _ _ 17 wished wish VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 11 advcl _ _ 18 to to PART TO _ 19 mark _ _ 19 get get VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 17 xcomp _ _ 20 across across ADP IN _ 22 case _ _ 21 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 22 det _ _ 22 river river NOUN NN Number=Sing 19 obl _ _ 23 to to PART TO _ 24 mark _ _ 24 gather gather VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 19 advcl _ _ 25 some some DET DT PronType=Ind 26 det _ _ 26 fruit fruit NOUN NN Number=Sing 24 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 27 , , PUNCT , _ 29 punct _ _ 28 and and CCONJ CC _ 29 cc _ _ 29 seemed seem VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 3 parataxis _ _ 30 to to PART TO _ 31 mark _ _ 31 beg beg VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 29 xcomp _ _ 32 me I PRON PRP Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs 31 obj _ _ 33 to to PART TO _ 34 mark _ _ 34 carry carry VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 31 advcl _ _ 35 him he PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 34 obj _ _ 36 on on ADP IN _ 38 case _ _ 37 my my PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 38 nmod:poss _ _ 38 back back NOUN NN Number=Sing 34 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 39 . . PUNCT . _ 3 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **ask** *speech: ask* | past | I | | | | then | | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent what=Recipient | | 2 | **do** | past | man | | | there | | | vn act-114-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent | | 3 | **make** | past | man | signs | me | | | | vn build-26.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent sign=Product | | 4 | **wish** | past | man | | | | | | vn wish-62 «NP V for NP S\_INF»: agent=Pivot clause=Theme | | 5 | **get** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | man *not said here* | | | the river | | | vn escape-51.1 «NP V PP.destination»: agent=Theme across river=Destination | | 6 | **gather** | to-infinitive | man *not said here* | some fruit | | | | | vn deduce-97.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent fruit=Theme | | 7 | **seem** | past | | | | | | | vn seem-109-1-1-1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Theme clause=Attribute | | 8 | **beg** *speech: request* | to-infinitive | | | me | | | | vn beg-58.2-1-1 «NP V NP PP.Topic»: agent=Agent i=Recipient | | 9 | **carry** | to-infinitive | | man | | my back | | | vn carry-11.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent he=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 6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg128/17/6/) - next →: [sentence 8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg128/17/8/) - ↑ back to [Opening, part 17](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg128/17/)