---
title: The two little slaves barred the entrance, saying that his mother ha… — The Arabian Nights Entertainments · tree and pragmatics
description: The two little slaves barred the entrance, saying that his mother had given orders that he was not to be admitted. Who acts: two little slaves. A sentence of «The Arabian Nights Entertainments» by Andrew Lang, Opening, part 28, with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of every clause.
---

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# The Arabian Nights Entertainments, Opening, part 28, sentence 33

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The two little slaves barred the entrance, saying that his mother had given orders that he was not to be admitted.

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**Who acts:** two little slaves · **What happens:** bar, say, give, not admit · **To what, where:** entrance, mother, beauty · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is a sentence of «The Arabian Nights Entertainments» by Andrew Lang, Opening, part 28. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (two little slaves), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree.

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**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:pg128:28:33
# text = The two little slaves barred the entrance, saying that his mother had given orders that he was not to be admitted.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
2	two	two	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	4	nummod	_	_
3	little	little	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	slaves	slave	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
5	barred	bar	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	entrance	entrance	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
9	saying	say	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	5	advcl	_	_
10	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	14	mark	_	_
11	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	12	nmod:poss	_	_
12	mother	mother	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	nsubj:pass	_	_
13	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	14	aux	_	_
14	given	give	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	9	ccomp	_	_
15	orders	order	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	14	obj	_	_
16	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	22	mark	_	_
17	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	22	nsubj	_	_
18	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	22	aux:pass	_	_
19	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	22	advmod	_	_
20	to	to	PART	TO	_	22	mark	_	_
21	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	22	aux:pass	_	_
22	admitted	admit	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	14	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **bar** | past | the two little slaves | the entrance |  |  |  |  | vn forbid-64.4-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Causer entrance=Theme |
| 2 | **say** *speech: assert* | gerund | the two little slaves *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 3 | **give** | past · perfect · passive |  | beauty's mother |  |  |  |  | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP-Dative NP»: subject=Recipient order=Theme |
| 4 | **not** **admit** *speech: other* | past · passive |  | beauty |  |  |  |  | vn admit-64.3-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |

<!-- .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.

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**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.

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