--- title: The Caliph then took a sheet of paper, and wrote the following lette… — The Arabian Nights Entertainments · tree and pragmatics description: The Caliph then took a sheet of paper, and wrote the following letter, at the top of which he put in very small characters this formula to show that he must be implicitly obeyed:--"In the name of the Most Merciful God. Who acts: Caliph, fisherman. A sentence of «The Arabian Nights Entertainments» by --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg128/30/31/) [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 30](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg128/30/) / 31 # The Arabian Nights Entertainments, Opening, part 30, sentence 31 The Caliph then took a sheet of paper, and wrote the following letter, at the top of which he put in very small characters this formula to show that he must be implicitly obeyed:--"In the name of the Most Merciful God. **Who acts:** Caliph, fisherman · **What happens:** take, write, follow, put, show, obey · **To what, where:** sheet, following letter, top, formula, small characters, fisherman · **Speech:** someone speaks here This is a sentence of «The Arabian Nights Entertainments» by Andrew Lang, Opening, part 30. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (Caliph, fisherman), 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:pg128:30:31 # text = The Caliph then took a sheet of paper, and wrote the following letter, at the top of which he put in very small characters this formula to show that he must be implicitly obeyed:--"In the name of the Most Merciful God. 1 The the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 2 det _ _ 2 Caliph Caliph PROPN NNP Number=Sing 4 nsubj _ _ 3 then then ADV RB PronType=Dem 4 advmod _ _ 4 took take VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 5 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 6 det _ _ 6 sheet sheet NOUN NN Number=Sing 4 obj _ _ 7 of of ADP IN _ 8 case _ _ 8 paper paper NOUN NN Number=Sing 6 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 9 , , PUNCT , _ 11 punct _ _ 10 and and CCONJ CC _ 11 cc _ _ 11 wrote write VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 4 conj _ _ 12 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 14 det _ _ 13 following follow VERB VBG VerbForm=Ger 14 amod _ _ 14 letter letter NOUN NN Number=Sing 11 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 15 , , PUNCT , _ 18 punct _ _ 16 at at ADP IN _ 18 case _ _ 17 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 18 det _ _ 18 top top NOUN NN Number=Sing 11 obl _ _ 19 of of ADP IN _ 20 case _ _ 20 which which PRON WDT PronType=Rel 22 obl _ _ 21 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 22 nsubj _ _ 22 put put VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 18 acl:relcl _ _ 23 in in ADP IN _ 26 case _ _ 24 very very ADV RB _ 25 advmod _ _ 25 small small ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 26 amod _ _ 26 characters character NOUN NNS Number=Plur 22 obl _ _ 27 this this DET DT Number=Sing|PronType=Dem 28 det _ _ 28 formula formula NOUN NN Number=Sing 22 obj _ _ 29 to to PART TO _ 30 mark _ _ 30 show show VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 22 advcl _ _ 31 that that SCONJ IN _ 36 mark _ _ 32 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 36 nsubj _ _ 33 must must AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 36 aux _ _ 34 be be AUX VB VerbForm=Inf 36 aux:pass _ _ 35 implicitly implicitly ADV RB _ 36 advmod _ _ 36 obeyed obey VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 30 ccomp _ SpaceAfter=No 37 : : PUNCT : _ 4 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 38 -- -- PUNCT , _ 42 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 39 " " PUNCT `` _ 42 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 40 In in ADP IN _ 42 case _ _ 41 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 42 det _ _ 42 name name NOUN NN Number=Sing 4 parataxis _ _ 43 of of ADP IN _ 47 case _ _ 44 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 47 det _ _ 45 Most most ADJ JJS Degree=Sup 47 amod _ _ 46 Merciful Merciful PROPN NNP Number=Sing 47 compound _ _ 47 God God PROPN NNP Number=Sing 42 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 48 . . PUNCT . _ 4 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **take** | past | the Caliph | a sheet of paper | | | then | | vn characterize-29.2 «NP V NP to be ADJ»: agent=Agent sheet=Theme clause=Attribute | | 2 | **write** | past | the Caliph *not said here* | the following letter | | the top | | | vn scribble-25.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent letter=Theme | | 3 | **follow** | gerund | | | | | | | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 4 | **put** | past | fisherman | this formula | | small characters | | of the top | vn put-9.1-2 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent formula=Theme in character=Destination | | 5 | **show** | to-infinitive | fisherman *not said here* | | | | | | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic | | 6 | **obey** | must · passive | | fisherman | | | | implicitly *property* | vn abide\_by-93.2 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme | | 7 | **name** *in a quote* | | | the Most Merciful God | | | | | nom name «communication 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 30](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg128/30/30/) - next →: [sentence 32](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg128/30/32/) - ↑ back to [Opening, part 30](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg128/30/)