--- title: Without waiting for an answer--which, indeed, I could hardly have gi… — The Arabian Nights Entertainments · tree and pragmatics description: Without waiting for an answer--which, indeed, I could hardly have given him, so great was my fright--he seized hold of me, and darted up into the air with the quickness of lightning, and then, with equal swiftness, dropped down towards the earth. Who acts: I, hatchet. A sentence of «The Arabian Nigh --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg128/9/13/) [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 9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg128/9/) / 13 # The Arabian Nights Entertainments, Opening, part 9, sentence 13 Without waiting for an answer--which, indeed, I could hardly have given him, so great was my fright--he seized hold of me, and darted up into the air with the quickness of lightning, and then, with equal swiftness, dropped down towards the earth. **Who acts:** I, hatchet · **What happens:** wait, give, be, seize, dart up, drop down · **To what, where:** hatchet, hold, air, earth, me This is a sentence of «The Arabian Nights Entertainments» by Andrew Lang, Opening, part 9. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (I, hatchet), 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:pg128:9:13 # text = Without waiting for an answer--which, indeed, I could hardly have given him, so great was my fright--he seized hold of me, and darted up into the air with the quickness of lightning, and then, with equal swiftness, dropped down towards the earth. 1 Without without SCONJ IN _ 2 mark _ _ 2 waiting wait VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 15 advcl _ _ 3 for for ADP IN _ 5 case _ _ 4 an a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 5 det _ _ 5 answer answer NOUN NN Number=Sing 2 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 6 -- -- PUNCT , _ 9 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 7 which which PRON WDT PronType=Rel 9 nsubj _ SpaceAfter=No 8 , , PUNCT , _ 7 punct _ _ 9 indeed indeed ADV RB _ 5 advmod _ SpaceAfter=No 10 , , PUNCT , _ 2 punct _ _ 11 I I PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs 15 nsubj _ _ 12 could could AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 15 aux _ _ 13 hardly hardly ADV RB _ 15 advmod _ _ 14 have have AUX VB VerbForm=Inf 15 aux _ _ 15 given give VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 22 case _ _ 16 him he PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 15 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 17 , , PUNCT , _ 19 punct _ _ 18 so so ADV RB _ 19 advmod _ _ 19 great great ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 15 conj _ _ 20 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 22 cop _ _ 21 my my PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 22 nmod:poss _ _ 22 fright fright NOUN NN Number=Sing 25 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 23 -- -- PUNCT , _ 22 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 24 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 25 nsubj _ _ 25 seized seize VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 26 hold hold NOUN NN Number=Sing 25 obj _ _ 27 of of ADP IN _ 28 case _ _ 28 me I PRON PRP Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs 26 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 29 , , PUNCT , _ 31 punct _ _ 30 and and CCONJ CC _ 31 cc _ _ 31 darted dart VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 25 conj _ _ 32 up up ADP RP _ 31 compound:prt _ _ 33 into into ADP IN _ 35 case _ _ 34 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 35 det _ _ 35 air air NOUN NN Number=Sing 31 obl _ _ 36 with with ADP IN _ 38 case _ _ 37 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 38 det _ _ 38 quickness quickness NOUN NN Number=Sing 31 obl _ _ 39 of of ADP IN _ 40 case _ _ 40 lightning lightning NOUN NN Number=Sing 38 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 41 , , PUNCT , _ 47 punct _ _ 42 and and CCONJ CC _ 47 cc _ _ 43 then then ADV RB PronType=Dem 47 advmod _ SpaceAfter=No 44 , , PUNCT , _ 47 punct _ _ 45 with with ADP IN _ 47 case _ _ 46 equal equal ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 47 amod _ _ 47 swiftness swiftness NOUN NN Number=Sing 25 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 48 , , PUNCT , _ 49 punct _ _ 49 dropped drop VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 25 conj _ _ 50 down down ADP RP _ 49 compound:prt _ _ 51 towards towards ADP IN _ 53 case _ _ 52 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 53 det _ _ 53 earth earth NOUN NN Number=Sing 49 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 54 . . PUNCT . _ 25 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **wait** | gerund | I *not said here* | | | | | for a answer | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 2 | **give** | could · perfect | I | hatchet | | | | hardly *property* | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent he=Theme | | 3 | **is** | past | | | | | | give my fright | tree rules | | 4 | **seize** | past | hatchet | hold of me | | | | with equal swiftness | vn obtain-13.5.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent hold=Theme | | 5 | **dart up** | past | hatchet *not said here* | | | the air | | with the quickness of lightning | vn run-51.3.2-2 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme into air=Destination | | 6 | **drop down** | past | hatchet *not said here* | | | the earth | | | vn roll-51.3.1 «NP V PP.trajectory»: agent=Theme towards earth=Trajectory | | 7 | **hold** | | | me | | | | | nom hold «act 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 12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg128/9/12/) - next →: [sentence 14](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg128/9/14/) - ↑ back to [Opening, part 9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg128/9/)