--- title: The executioner speedily untied the knots which confined the doctor,… — The Arabian Nights Entertainments · tree and pragmatics description: The executioner speedily untied the knots which confined the doctor, and was passing the cord round the neck of the tailor, when the Sultan of Kashgar, who had missed his jester, happened to make inquiry of his officers as to what had become of him. Who acts: executioner, knots, Sultan. A sentence o --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg128/20/18/) [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 20](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg128/20/) / 18 # The Arabian Nights Entertainments, Opening, part 20, sentence 18 The executioner speedily untied the knots which confined the doctor, and was passing the cord round the neck of the tailor, when the Sultan of Kashgar, who had missed his jester, happened to make inquiry of his officers as to what had become of him. **Who acts:** executioner, knots, Sultan · **What happens:** untie, confine, pass, miss, happen, make · **To what, where:** knots, doctor, cord, jester, inquiry, officers This is a sentence of «The Arabian Nights Entertainments» by Andrew Lang, Opening, part 20. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (executioner, knots, Sultan), 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:pg128:20:18 # text = The executioner speedily untied the knots which confined the doctor, and was passing the cord round the neck of the tailor, when the Sultan of Kashgar, who had missed his jester, happened to make inquiry of his officers as to what had become of him. 1 The the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 2 det _ _ 2 executioner executioner NOUN NN Number=Sing 4 nsubj _ _ 3 speedily speedily ADV RB _ 4 advmod _ _ 4 untied untie VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 5 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 6 det _ _ 6 knots knot NOUN NNS Number=Plur 4 obj _ _ 7 which which PRON WDT PronType=Rel 8 nsubj _ _ 8 confined confine VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 6 acl:relcl _ _ 9 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 10 det _ _ 10 doctor doctor NOUN NN Number=Sing 8 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 11 , , PUNCT , _ 14 punct _ _ 12 and and CCONJ CC _ 14 cc _ _ 13 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 14 aux _ _ 14 passing pass VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 4 advcl _ _ 15 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 16 det _ _ 16 cord cord NOUN NN Number=Sing 14 obj _ _ 17 round round ADP IN _ 19 case _ _ 18 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 19 det _ _ 19 neck neck NOUN NN Number=Sing 14 obl _ _ 20 of of ADP IN _ 22 case _ _ 21 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 22 det _ _ 22 tailor tailor NOUN NN Number=Sing 19 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 23 , , PUNCT , _ 36 punct _ _ 24 when when ADV WRB PronType=Int 36 advmod _ _ 25 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 26 det _ _ 26 Sultan Sultan PROPN NNP Number=Sing 36 nsubj _ _ 27 of of ADP IN _ 28 case _ _ 28 Kashgar Kashgar PROPN NNP Number=Sing 26 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 29 , , PUNCT , _ 32 punct _ _ 30 who who PRON WP PronType=Rel 32 nsubj _ _ 31 had have AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 32 aux _ _ 32 missed miss VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part 26 acl:relcl _ _ 33 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 34 nmod:poss _ _ 34 jester jester NOUN NN Number=Sing 32 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 35 , , PUNCT , _ 26 punct _ _ 36 happened happen VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 4 conj _ _ 37 to to PART TO _ 38 mark _ _ 38 make make VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 36 xcomp _ _ 39 inquiry inquiry NOUN NN Number=Sing 38 obj _ _ 40 of of ADP IN _ 42 case _ _ 41 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 42 nmod:poss _ _ 42 officers officer NOUN NNS Number=Plur 39 nmod _ _ 43 as as SCONJ IN _ 47 mark _ _ 44 to to ADP IN _ 43 fixed _ _ 45 what what PRON WP PronType=Int 47 nsubj _ _ 46 had have AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 47 aux _ _ 47 become become VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part 38 advcl _ _ 48 of of ADP IN _ 49 case _ _ 49 him he PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 47 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 50 . . PUNCT . _ 4 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **untie** | past | the executioner | the knots | | | | speedily *property* | vn disassemble-23.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent knot=Patient | | 2 | **confine** | past | the knots | the doctor | | | | | vn confine-92-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent doctor=Theme | | 3 | **pass** | past · progressive | the executioner *not said here* | the cord | | | | round the neck of the tailor | vn escape-51.1-1-3 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme cord=Trajectory | | 4 | **miss** | past · perfect | the Sultan of Kashgar | Sultan's jester | | | | | vn admire-31.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer jester=Stimulus | | 5 | **happen** | past | the Sultan of Kashgar | | | | | | tree rules | | 6 | **make** | to-infinitive | the Sultan of Kashgar *not said here* | inquiry of Sultan's officers | | | | | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset inquiry=Product | | 7 | **become** | past · perfect | | | | | | of Sultan | vn become-109.1-1-1 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Patient | | 8 | **inquire** | | | Sultan's officers | | | | | nom inquiry «cognition transitive»: of=patient | 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 17](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg128/20/17/) - next →: [sentence 19](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg128/20/19/) - ↑ back to [Opening, part 20](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg128/20/)