--- title: If I chose, I could kill you also; but I will be merciful, and conte… — The Arabian Nights Entertainments · tree and pragmatics description: If I chose, I could kill you also; but I will be merciful, and content myself with changing you into a dog, an ass, a lion, or a bird--whichever you prefer." Who acts: I, lion. A sentence of «The Arabian Nights Entertainments» by Andrew Lang, Opening, part 9, with its dependency tree and the pragmat --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg128/9/39/) [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/) / 39 # The Arabian Nights Entertainments, Opening, part 9, sentence 39 If I chose, I could kill you also; but I will be merciful, and content myself with changing you into a dog, an ass, a lion, or a bird--whichever you prefer." **Who acts:** I, lion · **What happens:** choose, kill, be, content, change, prefer · **To what, where:** you, myself, whichever 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, lion), 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:pg128:9:39 # text = If I chose, I could kill you also; but I will be merciful, and content myself with changing you into a dog, an ass, a lion, or a bird--whichever you prefer." 1 If if SCONJ IN _ 3 mark _ _ 2 I I PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs 3 nsubj _ _ 3 chose choose VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ SpaceAfter=No 4 , , PUNCT , _ 7 punct _ _ 5 I I PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs 7 nsubj _ _ 6 could could AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 7 aux _ _ 7 kill kill VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 3 ccomp _ _ 8 you you PRON PRP Case=Acc|Person=2|PronType=Prs 7 obj _ _ 9 also also ADV RB _ 7 advmod _ SpaceAfter=No 10 ; ; PUNCT , _ 15 punct _ _ 11 but but CCONJ CC _ 15 cc _ _ 12 I I PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs 15 nsubj _ _ 13 will will AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 15 aux _ _ 14 be be AUX VB VerbForm=Inf 15 cop _ _ 15 merciful merciful ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 3 ccomp _ SpaceAfter=No 16 , , PUNCT , _ 18 punct _ _ 17 and and CCONJ CC _ 18 cc _ _ 18 content content VERB VB Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin 15 parataxis _ _ 19 myself myself PRON PRP Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes 18 obj _ _ 20 with with SCONJ IN _ 21 mark _ _ 21 changing change VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 18 advcl _ _ 22 you you PRON PRP Case=Acc|Person=2|PronType=Prs 21 obj _ _ 23 into into ADP IN _ 25 case _ _ 24 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 25 det _ _ 25 dog dog NOUN NN Number=Sing 21 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 26 , , PUNCT , _ 28 punct _ _ 27 an a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 28 det _ _ 28 ass ass NOUN NN Number=Sing 25 conj _ SpaceAfter=No 29 , , PUNCT , _ 31 punct _ _ 30 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 31 det _ _ 31 lion lion NOUN NN Number=Sing 39 nsubj _ SpaceAfter=No 32 , , PUNCT , _ 35 punct _ _ 33 or or CCONJ CC _ 35 cc _ _ 34 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 35 det _ _ 35 bird bird NOUN NN Number=Sing 31 conj _ SpaceAfter=No 36 -- -- PUNCT , _ 39 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 37 whichever whichever DET WDT PronType=Rel 39 obj _ _ 38 you you PRON PRP Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs 39 nsubj _ _ 39 prefer prefer VERB VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 18 conj _ SpaceAfter=No 40 . . PUNCT . _ 15 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 41 " " PUNCT '' _ 3 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **choose** | past | I | | | | | | tree rules | | 2 | **kill** | could | I | you | | | | | vn remove-10.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent you=Theme | | 3 | **is** | future | I | | | | | merciful *property* | tree rules | | 4 | **content** | infinitive | | myself | | | | | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus myself=Experiencer | | 5 | **change** | gerund | | you | | | | into a dog and a ass *result* | vn turn-26.6.1-1 «NP V NP.patient PP.result»: agent=Agent you=Patient into dog=Result | | 6 | **prefer** | present | a lion or a bird | whichever | | | | | vn admire-31.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer whichever=Stimulus | 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 38](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg128/9/38/) - next →: [sentence 40](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg128/9/40/) - ↑ back to [Opening, part 9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg128/9/)