--- title: When the Sultan had finished speaking the three sisters flung themse… — The Arabian Nights Entertainments · tree and pragmatics description: When the Sultan had finished speaking the three sisters flung themselves at his feet, and the youngest faltered out, "Oh, sire, since you know my foolish words, believe, I pray you, that they were only said in joke. Who acts: speaking, you, I, my. 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/pg128/40/63/) [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 40](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg128/40/) / 63 # The Arabian Nights Entertainments, Opening, part 40, sentence 63 When the Sultan had finished speaking the three sisters flung themselves at his feet, and the youngest faltered out, "Oh, sire, since you know my foolish words, believe, I pray you, that they were only said in joke. **Who acts:** speaking, you, I, my · **What happens:** finish, speak, fling, falter out, know, believe · **To what, where:** Sultan, three sisters, Sisters, feet, foolish words, you · **Speech:** someone speaks here This is a sentence of «The Arabian Nights Entertainments» by Andrew Lang, Opening, part 40. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (speaking, you, I, my), 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:pg128:40:63 # text = When the Sultan had finished speaking the three sisters flung themselves at his feet, and the youngest faltered out, "Oh, sire, since you know my foolish words, believe, I pray you, that they were only said in joke. 1 When when ADV WRB PronType=Int 5 advmod _ _ 2 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 3 det _ _ 3 Sultan Sultan PROPN NNP Number=Sing 5 nsubj:pass _ _ 4 had have AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 5 aux _ _ 5 finished finish VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 10 advcl _ _ 6 speaking speak VERB VBG VerbForm=Ger 10 csubj _ _ 7 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 9 det _ _ 8 three three NUM CD NumForm=Word|NumType=Card 9 nummod _ _ 9 sisters sister NOUN NNS Number=Plur 6 obj _ _ 10 flung fling VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 11 themselves themselves PRON PRP Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes 10 obj _ _ 12 at at ADP IN _ 14 case _ _ 13 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 14 nmod:poss _ _ 14 feet foot NOUN NNS Number=Plur 10 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 15 , , PUNCT , _ 19 punct _ _ 16 and and CCONJ CC _ 19 cc _ _ 17 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 19 det _ _ 18 youngest young ADJ JJS Degree=Sup 19 advmod _ _ 19 faltered falter VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part 10 conj _ _ 20 out out ADP RP _ 19 compound:prt _ SpaceAfter=No 21 , , PUNCT , _ 25 punct _ _ 22 " " PUNCT `` _ 25 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 23 Oh oh INTJ UH _ 25 discourse _ SpaceAfter=No 24 , , PUNCT , _ 23 punct _ _ 25 sire sire NOUN NN Number=Sing 19 conj _ SpaceAfter=No 26 , , PUNCT , _ 29 punct _ _ 27 since since SCONJ IN _ 29 mark _ _ 28 you you PRON PRP Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs 29 nsubj _ _ 29 know know VERB VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 10 parataxis _ _ 30 my my PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 32 nmod:poss _ _ 31 foolish foolish ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 32 amod _ _ 32 words word NOUN NNS Number=Plur 29 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 33 , , PUNCT , _ 34 punct _ _ 34 believe believe VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 29 conj _ SpaceAfter=No 35 , , PUNCT , _ 37 punct _ _ 36 I I PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs 37 nsubj _ _ 37 pray pray VERB VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 34 ccomp _ _ 38 you you PRON PRP Case=Acc|Person=2|PronType=Prs 37 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 39 , , PUNCT , _ 44 punct _ _ 40 that that SCONJ IN _ 44 mark _ _ 41 they they PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 44 nsubj _ _ 42 were be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 44 aux:pass _ _ 43 only only ADV RB _ 44 advmod _ _ 44 said say VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 37 conj _ _ 45 in in ADP IN _ 46 case _ _ 46 joke joke NOUN NN Number=Sing 44 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 47 . . PUNCT . _ 10 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **finish** | past · perfect · passive | | the Sultan | | | | | vn stop-55.4-1-1 «NP V NP.eventuality»: subject=Eventuality | | 2 | **speak** *speech: other* | gerund | | the three sisters | | | | | tree rules | | 3 | **fling** | past | speaking | Sisters *= sister* | | Sultan's feet | | | tree rules | | 4 | **falter out** | participle | speaking *not said here* | | | | | | vn modes\_of\_being\_with\_motion-47.3 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 5 | **know** *in a quote* | present | you | my foolish words | | | | | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Experiencer word=Stimulus | | 6 | **believe** *in a quote* | infinitive | you *not said here* | | | | | | vn admire-31.2 «NP V that S»: agent=Experiencer clause=Stimulus | | 7 | **pray** *in a quote* | present | I | you | | | | | tree rules | | 8 | **say** *speech: assert* *in a quote* | past · passive | | words *= word* | | joke | | | vn pronounce-29.3.1 «NP V NP PP.manner»: subject=Theme in joke=Manner | | 9 | **word** *in a quote* | | my | | | | | | nom word «communication transitive»: poss=agent | 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 62](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg128/40/62/) - next →: [sentence 64](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg128/40/64/) - ↑ back to [Opening, part 40](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg128/40/)