--- title: "Oh, I say nothing of myself," replied the elder, "and if the Sultan… — The Arabian Nights Entertainments · tree and pragmatics description: "Oh, I say nothing of myself," replied the elder, "and if the Sultan had chosen you it would have been all very well; but it really grieves me that he should have selected a wretched little creature like that. Who acts: elder, Sultan. A sentence of «The Arabian Nights Entertainments» by Andrew Lang, --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg128/40/76/) [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/) / 76 # The Arabian Nights Entertainments, Opening, part 40, sentence 76 "Oh, I say nothing of myself," replied the elder, "and if the Sultan had chosen you it would have been all very well; but it really grieves me that he should have selected a wretched little creature like that. **Who acts:** elder, Sultan · **What happens:** say, reply, choose, be, grieve, select · **To what, where:** nothing, you, elder, wretched little creature · **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 (elder, 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:pg128:40:76 # text = "Oh, I say nothing of myself," replied the elder, "and if the Sultan had chosen you it would have been all very well; but it really grieves me that he should have selected a wretched little creature like that. 1 " " PUNCT `` _ 5 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 2 Oh oh INTJ UH _ 5 discourse _ SpaceAfter=No 3 , , PUNCT , _ 2 punct _ _ 4 I I PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs 5 nsubj _ _ 5 say say VERB VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 6 nothing nothing PRON NN Number=Sing|PronType=Neg 5 obj _ _ 7 of of ADP IN _ 8 case _ _ 8 myself myself PRON PRP Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes 6 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 9 , , PUNCT , _ 11 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 10 " " PUNCT '' _ 11 punct _ _ 11 replied reply VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 5 parataxis _ _ 12 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 13 det _ _ 13 elder elder NOUN NN Number=Sing 11 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 14 , , PUNCT , _ 11 punct _ _ 15 " " PUNCT '' _ 11 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 16 and and CCONJ CC _ 21 cc _ _ 17 if if SCONJ IN _ 21 mark _ _ 18 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 19 det _ _ 19 Sultan Sultan PROPN NNP Number=Sing 21 nsubj _ _ 20 had have AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 21 aux _ _ 21 chosen choose VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part 11 conj _ _ 22 you you PRON PRP Case=Acc|Person=2|PronType=Prs 21 obj _ _ 23 it it PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 29 nsubj _ _ 24 would would AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 29 aux _ _ 25 have have AUX VB VerbForm=Inf 29 aux _ _ 26 been be AUX VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part 29 cop _ _ 27 all all ADV RB _ 29 advmod _ _ 28 very very ADV RB _ 29 advmod _ _ 29 well well ADV RB Degree=Pos 21 advmod _ SpaceAfter=No 30 ; ; PUNCT : _ 34 punct _ _ 31 but but CCONJ CC _ 34 cc _ _ 32 it it PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 34 nsubj _ _ 33 really really ADV RB _ 34 advmod _ _ 34 grieves grieve VERB VBZ Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 5 parataxis _ _ 35 me I PRON PRP Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs 34 obj _ _ 36 that that SCONJ IN _ 40 mark _ _ 37 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 40 nsubj _ _ 38 should should AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 40 aux _ _ 39 have have AUX VB VerbForm=Inf 40 aux _ _ 40 selected select VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part 34 advcl _ _ 41 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 44 det _ _ 42 wretched wretched ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 44 amod _ _ 43 little little ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 44 amod _ _ 44 creature creature NOUN NN Number=Sing 40 obj _ _ 45 like like ADP IN _ 46 case _ _ 46 that that PRON DT Number=Sing|PronType=Dem 44 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 47 . . PUNCT . _ 5 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **say** *speech: assert* *in a quote* | present | the elder *= elder* | nothing | | | | | tree rules | | 2 | **reply** *speech: assert* | past | the elder | | | | | | vn respond-113 «NP V»: agent=Agent | | 3 | **choose** *a condition, not said to happen, in a quote* | past · perfect | the Sultan | you | | | | | vn get-13.5.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent you=Theme | | 4 | **is** *in a quote* | would · perfect | elder | | | | | all, well *property* | tree rules | | 5 | **grieve** *in a quote* | present | elder | the elder *= elder* | | | | | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus i=Experiencer | | 6 | **select** *in a quote* | should · perfect | Sultan | a wretched little creature | | | | like that | vn obtain-13.5.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent creature=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 75](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg128/40/75/) - next →: [sentence 77](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg128/40/77/) - ↑ back to [Opening, part 40](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg128/40/)