--- title: Our men barely numbered half, and as we were also hampered by the ca… — The Arabian Nights Entertainments · tree and pragmatics description: Our men barely numbered half, and as we were also hampered by the camels, there was no use in fighting, so we tried to overawe them by informing them who we were, and whither we were going. Who acts: camels, use, we. A sentence of «The Arabian Nights Entertainments» by Andrew Lang, Opening, part 8, --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg128/8/38/) [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 8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg128/8/) / 38 # The Arabian Nights Entertainments, Opening, part 8, sentence 38 Our men barely numbered half, and as we were also hampered by the camels, there was no use in fighting, so we tried to overawe them by informing them who we were, and whither we were going. **Who acts:** camels, use, we · **What happens:** number, hamper, be, fight, try, overawe · **To what, where:** men, we, camels This is a sentence of «The Arabian Nights Entertainments» by Andrew Lang, Opening, part 8. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (camels, use, we), 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:pg128:8:38 # text = Our men barely numbered half, and as we were also hampered by the camels, there was no use in fighting, so we tried to overawe them by informing them who we were, and whither we were going. 1 Our our PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 2 nmod:poss _ _ 2 men man NOUN NNS Number=Plur 4 nsubj:pass _ _ 3 barely barely ADV RB _ 4 advmod _ _ 4 numbered number VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 0 root _ _ 5 half half NOUN NN Number=Sing|NumForm=Word|NumType=Frac 4 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 6 , , PUNCT , _ 12 punct _ _ 7 and and CCONJ CC _ 12 cc _ _ 8 as as SCONJ IN _ 12 mark _ _ 9 we we PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs 12 nsubj:pass _ _ 10 were be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 12 aux:pass _ _ 11 also also ADV RB _ 12 advmod _ _ 12 hampered hamper VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 4 conj _ _ 13 by by ADP IN _ 15 case _ _ 14 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 15 det _ _ 15 camels camel NOUN NNS Number=Plur 12 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 16 , , PUNCT , _ 18 punct _ _ 17 there there PRON EX PronType=Dem 18 expl _ _ 18 was be VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 4 parataxis _ _ 19 no no DET DT PronType=Neg 20 det _ _ 20 use use NOUN NN Number=Sing 18 nsubj _ _ 21 in in SCONJ IN _ 22 mark _ _ 22 fighting fight VERB VBG VerbForm=Ger 20 acl _ SpaceAfter=No 23 , , PUNCT , _ 26 punct _ _ 24 so so ADV RB _ 26 advmod _ _ 25 we we PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs 26 nsubj _ _ 26 tried try VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 4 parataxis _ _ 27 to to PART TO _ 28 mark _ _ 28 overawe overawe VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 26 xcomp _ _ 29 them they PRON PRP Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 28 obj _ _ 30 by by SCONJ IN _ 31 mark _ _ 31 informing inform VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 28 advcl _ _ 32 them they PRON PRP Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 31 obj _ _ 33 who who PRON WP PronType=Rel 31 obj _ _ 34 we we PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs 35 nsubj _ _ 35 were be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 33 acl:relcl _ SpaceAfter=No 36 , , PUNCT , _ 41 punct _ _ 37 and and CCONJ CC _ 41 cc _ _ 38 whither whither ADV WRB PronType=Int 41 advmod _ _ 39 we we PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs 41 nsubj _ _ 40 were be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 41 aux _ _ 41 going go VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 26 conj _ SpaceAfter=No 42 . . PUNCT . _ 4 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **number** | participle · passive | | Our men | | | | barely *property* | tree rules | | 2 | **hamper** | past · passive | the camels | we | | | | | vn discourage-64.5-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Causer subject=Eventuality | | 3 | **be** | past | no use | | | there | | | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 4 | **fight** | gerund | no use *not said here* | | | | | | vn battle-36.4-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent | | 5 | **try** | past | we | | | | | | vn try-61.1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality | | 6 | **overawe** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | we *not said here* | camels *= camel* | | | | | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus they=Experiencer | | 7 | **inform** *speech: other* | gerund | we *not said here* | camels *= camel* | | | | | tree rules | | 8 | **go** | past · progressive | we | | | | | whither *property* | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=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 37](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg128/8/37/) - next →: [sentence 39](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg128/8/39/) - ↑ back to [Opening, part 8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg128/8/)