--- title: The boy one day asked what was the matter, but his father would not… — Grimms' Fairy Tales · tree and pragmatics description: The boy one day asked what was the matter, but his father would not tell for some time; at last, however, he said that he had, without knowing it, sold him for gold to a little, ugly-looking, black dwarf, and that the twelve years were coming round when he must keep his word. Who acts: boy, father, --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2591/51/16/) [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/) / [Grimms' Fairy Tales](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2591/) / [The King of the Golden Mountain](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2591/51/) / 16 # Grimms' Fairy Tales, The King of the Golden Mountain, sentence 16 The boy one day asked what was the matter, but his father would not tell for some time; at last, however, he said that he had, without knowing it, sold him for gold to a little, ugly-looking, black dwarf, and that the twelve years were coming round when he must keep his word. **Who acts:** boy, father, twelve years · **What happens:** ask, be, not tell, say, have, know · **To what, where:** matter, father, little, black dwarf, word · **Speech:** someone speaks here This is a sentence of «Grimms' Fairy Tales» by Jacob Grimm, The King of the Golden Mountain. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (boy, father, twelve years), 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:pg2591:51:16 # text = The boy one day asked what was the matter, but his father would not tell for some time; at last, however, he said that he had, without knowing it, sold him for gold to a little, ugly-looking, black dwarf, and that the twelve years were coming round when he must keep his word. 1 The the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 2 det _ _ 2 boy boy NOUN NN Number=Sing 5 nsubj _ _ 3 one one NUM CD NumForm=Word|NumType=Card 4 nummod _ _ 4 day day NOUN NN Number=Sing 5 nsubj _ _ 5 asked ask VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 6 what what PRON WP PronType=Int 9 nsubj _ _ 7 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 9 cop _ _ 8 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 9 det _ _ 9 matter matter NOUN NN Number=Sing 5 ccomp _ SpaceAfter=No 10 , , PUNCT , _ 16 punct _ _ 11 but but CCONJ CC _ 16 cc _ _ 12 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 13 nmod:poss _ _ 13 father father NOUN NN Number=Sing 16 nsubj _ _ 14 would would AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 16 aux _ _ 15 not not PART RB Polarity=Neg 16 advmod _ _ 16 tell tell VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 5 conj _ _ 17 for for ADP IN _ 19 case _ _ 18 some some DET DT PronType=Ind 19 det _ _ 19 time time NOUN NN Number=Sing 16 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 20 ; ; PUNCT , _ 22 punct _ _ 21 at at ADP IN _ 22 case _ _ 22 last last ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 16 conj _ SpaceAfter=No 23 , , PUNCT , _ 27 punct _ _ 24 however however ADV RB _ 27 advmod _ SpaceAfter=No 25 , , PUNCT , _ 24 punct _ _ 26 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 27 nsubj _ _ 27 said say VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 5 parataxis _ _ 28 that that SCONJ IN _ 30 mark _ _ 29 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 30 nsubj _ _ 30 had have VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 27 ccomp _ SpaceAfter=No 31 , , PUNCT , _ 33 punct _ _ 32 without without SCONJ IN _ 33 mark _ _ 33 knowing know VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 30 advcl _ _ 34 it it PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 33 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 35 , , PUNCT , _ 36 punct _ _ 36 sold sell VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 27 conj _ _ 37 him he PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 36 obj _ _ 38 for for ADP IN _ 39 case _ _ 39 gold gold NOUN NN Number=Sing 36 obl _ _ 40 to to ADP IN _ 42 case _ _ 41 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 42 det _ _ 42 little little ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 36 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 43 , , PUNCT , _ 46 punct _ _ 44 ugly ugly ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 46 compound _ SpaceAfter=No 45 - - PUNCT HYPH _ 44 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 46 looking look VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 36 advcl _ SpaceAfter=No 47 , , PUNCT , _ 49 punct _ _ 48 black black ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 49 amod _ _ 49 dwarf dwarf NOUN NN Number=Sing 46 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 50 , , PUNCT , _ 57 punct _ _ 51 and and CCONJ CC _ 57 cc _ _ 52 that that SCONJ IN _ 57 mark _ _ 53 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 55 det _ _ 54 twelve twelve NUM CD NumForm=Word|NumType=Card 55 nummod _ _ 55 years year NOUN NNS Number=Plur 57 nsubj _ _ 56 were be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 57 aux _ _ 57 coming come VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 5 conj _ _ 58 round round ADV RB _ 57 advmod _ _ 59 when when SCONJ WRB _ 62 mark _ _ 60 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 62 nsubj _ _ 61 must must AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 62 aux _ _ 62 keep keep VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 57 advcl _ _ 63 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 64 nmod:poss _ _ 64 word word NOUN NN Number=Sing 62 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 65 . . PUNCT . _ 5 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **ask** *speech: ask* | past | the boy | | | | | | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V»: agent=Agent | | 2 | **is a** | past | | the matter | | | | | tree rules | | 3 | **not** **tell** *speech: assert* | would | boy's father | | | | time | | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent | | 4 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | father | | | | | however *property* | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic | | 5 | **have** | past | father | | | | | | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent | | 6 | **know** | gerund | father *not said here* | matter | | | | | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Experiencer it=Stimulus | | 7 | **sell** | past | father *not said here* | father | a little | | | for gold | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP PP.recipient PP.asset»: agent=Agent he=Theme for gold=Asset to little=Recipient | | 8 | **look** | gerund | father *not said here* | black dwarf | | | | | vn stimulus\_subject-30.4 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Stimulus | | 9 | **come round** | past · progressive | the twelve years | | | | | round *property* | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 10 | **keep** | must | father | boy's word | | | | | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent word=Theme | | 11 | **word** | | boy | | | | | | nom word «communication transitive»: poss=agent | 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:** «Grimms' Fairy Tales» by Jacob Grimm, Project Gutenberg book 2591 (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 15](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2591/51/15/) - next →: [sentence 17](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2591/51/17/) - ↑ back to [The King of the Golden Mountain](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2591/51/)