--- title: She would not have blinked had he waved over her head a sharp knife… — Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen · tree and pragmatics description: She would not have blinked had he waved over her head a sharp knife or a glittering axe; but she shrunk from him as he signed her with the sign of the cross on her forehead and breast, and sat before him like a tame bird, with her head bowed down. Who acts: man, action, head. A sentence of «Fairy Ta --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg27200/86/21/) [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/) / [Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg27200/) / [The Marsh King's Daughter, part 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg27200/86/) / 21 # Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen, The Marsh King's Daughter, part 4, sentence 21 She would not have blinked had he waved over her head a sharp knife or a glittering axe; but she shrunk from him as he signed her with the sign of the cross on her forehead and breast, and sat before him like a tame bird, with her head bowed down. **Who acts:** man, action, head · **What happens:** not blink, have, wave, glitter, shrink, sign · **To what, where:** action, head, cross This is a sentence of «Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen» by H. C. Andersen, The Marsh King's Daughter, part 4. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (man, action, head), 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:pg27200:86:21 # text = She would not have blinked had he waved over her head a sharp knife or a glittering axe; but she shrunk from him as he signed her with the sign of the cross on her forehead and breast, and sat before him like a tame bird, with her head bowed down. 1 She she PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 5 nsubj:pass _ _ 2 would would AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 5 aux _ _ 3 not not PART RB Polarity=Neg 5 advmod _ _ 4 have have AUX VB VerbForm=Inf 5 aux _ _ 5 blinked blink VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 0 root _ _ 6 had have VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 5 conj _ _ 7 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 8 nsubj _ _ 8 waved wave VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 6 ccomp _ _ 9 over over ADP IN _ 11 case _ _ 10 her her PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 11 nmod:poss _ _ 11 head head NOUN NN Number=Sing 8 obl _ _ 12 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 14 det _ _ 13 sharp sharp ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 14 amod _ _ 14 knife knife NOUN NN Number=Sing 11 appos _ _ 15 or or CCONJ CC _ 18 cc _ _ 16 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 18 det _ _ 17 glittering glitter VERB VBG VerbForm=Ger 18 amod _ _ 18 axe axe NOUN NN Number=Sing 14 conj _ SpaceAfter=No 19 ; ; PUNCT : _ 22 punct _ _ 20 but but CCONJ CC _ 22 cc _ _ 21 she she PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 22 nsubj _ _ 22 shrunk shrink VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 5 parataxis _ _ 23 from from ADP IN _ 24 case _ _ 24 him he PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 22 obl _ _ 25 as as SCONJ IN _ 27 mark _ _ 26 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 27 nsubj _ _ 27 signed sign VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 22 advcl _ _ 28 her she PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 27 obj _ _ 29 with with ADP IN _ 31 case _ _ 30 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 31 det _ _ 31 sign sign NOUN NN Number=Sing 27 obl _ _ 32 of of ADP IN _ 34 case _ _ 33 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 34 det _ _ 34 cross cross NOUN NN Number=Sing 31 nmod _ _ 35 on on ADP IN _ 37 case _ _ 36 her her PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 37 nmod:poss _ _ 37 forehead forehead NOUN NN Number=Sing 34 nmod _ _ 38 and and CCONJ CC _ 39 cc _ _ 39 breast breast NOUN NN Number=Sing 37 conj _ SpaceAfter=No 40 , , PUNCT , _ 42 punct _ _ 41 and and CCONJ CC _ 42 cc _ _ 42 sat sit VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 22 conj _ _ 43 before before ADP IN _ 44 case _ _ 44 him he PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 42 obl _ _ 45 like like ADP IN _ 48 case _ _ 46 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 48 det _ _ 47 tame tame ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 48 amod _ _ 48 bird bird NOUN NN Number=Sing 42 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 49 , , PUNCT , _ 53 punct _ _ 50 with with SCONJ IN _ 53 mark _ _ 51 her her PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 52 nmod:poss _ _ 52 head head NOUN NN Number=Sing 53 nsubj _ _ 53 bowed bow VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 42 conj _ _ 54 down down ADV RB _ 53 advmod _ SpaceAfter=No 55 . . PUNCT . _ 5 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **not** **blink** | would · perfect · passive | | action | | | | | vn light\_emission-43.1 «NP V NP.theme»: subject=Theme | | 2 | **have** | past | | | | | | | tree rules | | 3 | **wave** | past | man | | | action's head | | | vn modes\_of\_being\_with\_motion-47.3 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme over head=Location | | 4 | **glitter** | gerund | | | | | | | vn light\_emission-43.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 5 | **shrink** | past | action | | | | | from man | vn flinch-40.5 «NP V PP.stimulus»: agent=Experiencer from he=Stimulus | | 6 | **sign** | past | man | | action | | | with the sign of the cross on action's forehead and breast | vn image\_impression-25.1 «NP V NP.destination PP.theme»: agent=Agent she=Destination with sign=Theme | | 7 | **sit** | past | action *not said here* | | | | before man | like a tame bird | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent before he=Location | | 8 | **bow down** | past | action's head | | | | | down *property* | vn acquiesce-95.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent | | 9 | **sign** | | | the cross on action's forehead and breast | | | | | nom sign «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:** «Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen» by H. C. Andersen, Project Gutenberg book 27200 (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 20](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg27200/86/20/) - next →: [sentence 22](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg27200/86/22/) - ↑ back to [The Marsh King's Daughter, part 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg27200/86/)