--- title: The dervish did his best to reply, but his moustache was so thick th… — The Arabian Nights Entertainments · tree and pragmatics description: The dervish did his best to reply, but his moustache was so thick that his words were hardly intelligible, and the prince, perceiving what was the matter, took a pair of scissors from his saddle pockets, and requested permission to cut off some of the moustache, as he had a question of great importa --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg128/41/92/) [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 41](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg128/41/) / 92 # The Arabian Nights Entertainments, Opening, part 41, sentence 92 The dervish did his best to reply, but his moustache was so thick that his words were hardly intelligible, and the prince, perceiving what was the matter, took a pair of scissors from his saddle pockets, and requested permission to cut off some of the moustache, as he had a question of great importance to ask the dervish. **Who acts:** dervish, moustache, words, matter, prince · **What happens:** do, reply, be, perceive, take, request · **To what, where:** best, pair, saddle pockets, permission, some, question This is a sentence of «The Arabian Nights Entertainments» by Andrew Lang, Opening, part 41. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (dervish, moustache, words, matter), 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:pg128:41:92 # text = The dervish did his best to reply, but his moustache was so thick that his words were hardly intelligible, and the prince, perceiving what was the matter, took a pair of scissors from his saddle pockets, and requested permission to cut off some of the moustache, as he had a question of great importance to ask the dervish. 1 The the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 2 det _ _ 2 dervish dervish NOUN NN Number=Sing 3 nsubj _ _ 3 did do VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 4 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 5 nmod:poss _ _ 5 best good ADJ JJS Degree=Sup 3 obj _ _ 6 to to PART TO _ 7 mark _ _ 7 reply reply VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 3 advcl _ SpaceAfter=No 8 , , PUNCT , _ 14 punct _ _ 9 but but CCONJ CC _ 14 cc _ _ 10 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 11 nmod:poss _ _ 11 moustache moustache NOUN NN Number=Sing 14 nsubj _ _ 12 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 14 cop _ _ 13 so so ADV RB _ 14 advmod _ _ 14 thick thick ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 3 parataxis _ _ 15 that that SCONJ IN _ 20 mark _ _ 16 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 17 nmod:poss _ _ 17 words word NOUN NNS Number=Plur 20 nsubj _ _ 18 were be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 20 cop _ _ 19 hardly hardly ADV RB _ 20 advmod _ _ 20 intelligible intelligible ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 14 advcl _ SpaceAfter=No 21 , , PUNCT , _ 24 punct _ _ 22 and and CCONJ CC _ 24 cc _ _ 23 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 24 det _ _ 24 prince prince NOUN NN Number=Sing 14 conj _ SpaceAfter=No 25 , , PUNCT , _ 26 punct _ _ 26 perceiving perceive VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 14 conj _ _ 27 what what PRON WP PronType=Int 26 obj _ _ 28 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 27 cop _ _ 29 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 30 det _ _ 30 matter matter NOUN NN Number=Sing 27 nsubj _ SpaceAfter=No 31 , , PUNCT , _ 32 punct _ _ 32 took take VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 3 conj _ _ 33 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 34 det _ _ 34 pair pair NOUN NN Number=Sing 32 obj _ _ 35 of of ADP IN _ 36 case _ _ 36 scissors scissors NOUN NNS Number=Plur 34 nmod _ _ 37 from from ADP IN _ 40 case _ _ 38 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 40 nmod:poss _ _ 39 saddle saddle NOUN NN Number=Sing 40 compound _ _ 40 pockets pocket NOUN NNS Number=Plur 32 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 41 , , PUNCT , _ 43 punct _ _ 42 and and CCONJ CC _ 43 cc _ _ 43 requested request VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 32 parataxis _ _ 44 permission permission NOUN NN Number=Sing 43 obj _ _ 45 to to PART TO _ 46 mark _ _ 46 cut cut VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 43 xcomp _ _ 47 off off ADP RP _ 46 compound:prt _ _ 48 some some DET DT PronType=Ind 46 obj _ _ 49 of of ADP IN _ 51 case _ _ 50 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 51 det _ _ 51 moustache moustache NOUN NN Number=Sing 48 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 52 , , PUNCT , _ 55 punct _ _ 53 as as SCONJ IN _ 55 mark _ _ 54 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 55 nsubj _ _ 55 had have VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 43 conj _ _ 56 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 57 det _ _ 57 question question NOUN NN Number=Sing 55 obj _ _ 58 of of ADP IN _ 60 case _ _ 59 great great ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 60 amod _ _ 60 importance importance NOUN NN Number=Sing 57 nmod _ _ 61 to to PART TO _ 62 mark _ _ 62 ask ask VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 55 advcl _ _ 63 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 64 det _ _ 64 dervish dervish NOUN NN Number=Sing 62 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 65 . . PUNCT . _ 3 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **do** | past | the dervish | dervish's best | | | | | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent good=Eventuality | | 2 | **reply** *speech: assert* | to-infinitive | the dervish *not said here* | | | | | | vn respond-113 «NP V»: agent=Agent | | 3 | **is** | past | dervish's moustache | | | | | thick *property* | tree rules | | 4 | **is** | past | dervish's words | | | | | hardly, intelligible *property* | tree rules | | 5 | **perceive** | gerund | dervish's moustache *not said here* | | | | | | vn see-30.1-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Experiencer | | 6 | **is a** | past | the matter | | | | | | tree rules | | 7 | **take** | past | the dervish *not said here* | a pair of scissors | | prince's saddle pockets | | | vn bring-11.3 «NP V NP PP.initial\_location»: agent=Agent pair=Theme from pocket=Initial\_Location | | 8 | **request** | past | | permission | | | | | vn beg-58.2 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Agent permission=Recipient clause=Topic | | 9 | **cut off** | to-infinitive | | some | | | | | vn stop-55.4-1 «NP V NP.eventuality»: agent=Affector some=Eventuality | | 10 | **have** | past | prince | a question of great importance | | | | | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent question=Patient | | 11 | **ask** *speech: ask* | to-infinitive | prince *not said here* | the dervish | | | | | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent dervish=Recipient | | 12 | **word** | | dervish | | | | | | nom word «communication transitive»: poss=agent | | 13 | **question** | | | great importance | | | | | nom question «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 91](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg128/41/91/) - next →: [sentence 93](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg128/41/93/) - ↑ back to [Opening, part 41](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg128/41/)