--- title: When the boys were still children, their father and mother died, and… — The Orange Fairy Book · tree and pragmatics description: When the boys were still children, their father and mother died, and a great council was held, and a man was chosen from among them who would rule the kingdom till the boys were old enough to rule it themselves. Who acts: boys, children. A sentence of «The Orange Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, Opening, --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg3027/15/53/) [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 Orange Fairy Book](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg3027/) / [Opening, part 15](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg3027/15/) / 53 # The Orange Fairy Book, Opening, part 15, sentence 53 When the boys were still children, their father and mother died, and a great council was held, and a man was chosen from among them who would rule the kingdom till the boys were old enough to rule it themselves. **Who acts:** boys, children · **What happens:** be, die, hold, choose, rule · **To what, where:** children, great council, man, kingdom This is a sentence of «The Orange Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, Opening, part 15. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (boys, children), 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:pg3027:15:53 # text = When the boys were still children, their father and mother died, and a great council was held, and a man was chosen from among them who would rule the kingdom till the boys were old enough to rule it themselves. 1 When when ADV WRB PronType=Int 6 advmod _ _ 2 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 3 det _ _ 3 boys boy NOUN NNS Number=Plur 6 nsubj _ _ 4 were be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 6 cop _ _ 5 still still ADV RB _ 6 advmod _ _ 6 children child NOUN NNS Number=Plur 12 nsubj _ SpaceAfter=No 7 , , PUNCT , _ 6 punct _ _ 8 their their PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 9 nmod:poss _ _ 9 father father NOUN NN Number=Sing 12 nsubj _ _ 10 and and CCONJ CC _ 11 cc _ _ 11 mother mother NOUN NN Number=Sing 9 conj _ _ 12 died die VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ SpaceAfter=No 13 , , PUNCT , _ 19 punct _ _ 14 and and CCONJ CC _ 19 cc _ _ 15 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 17 det _ _ 16 great great ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 17 amod _ _ 17 council council NOUN NN Number=Sing 19 nsubj:pass _ _ 18 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 19 aux:pass _ _ 19 held hold VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 12 conj _ SpaceAfter=No 20 , , PUNCT , _ 25 punct _ _ 21 and and CCONJ CC _ 25 cc _ _ 22 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 23 det _ _ 23 man man NOUN NN Number=Sing 25 nsubj:pass _ _ 24 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 25 aux:pass _ _ 25 chosen choose VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 12 conj _ _ 26 from from ADP IN _ 28 case _ _ 27 among among ADP IN _ 28 case _ _ 28 them they PRON PRP Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 25 obl _ _ 29 who who PRON WP PronType=Rel 31 nsubj _ _ 30 would would AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 31 aux _ _ 31 rule rule VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 25 parataxis _ _ 32 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 33 det _ _ 33 kingdom kingdom NOUN NN Number=Sing 31 obj _ _ 34 till till SCONJ IN _ 38 mark _ _ 35 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 36 det _ _ 36 boys boy NOUN NNS Number=Plur 38 nsubj _ _ 37 were be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 38 cop _ _ 38 old old ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 31 advcl _ _ 39 enough enough ADV RB _ 38 advmod _ _ 40 to to PART TO _ 41 mark _ _ 41 rule rule VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 38 advcl _ _ 42 it it PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 41 obj _ _ 43 themselves themselves PRON PRP Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes 41 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 44 . . PUNCT . _ 12 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **is a** | past | the boys | children | | | still | | tree rules | | 2 | **die** | past | children | | | | | | vn calibratable\_cos-45.6.1 «NP.attribute V»: agent=Attribute | | 3 | **hold** | past · passive | | a great council | | | | | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme | | 4 | **choose** | past · passive | | a man | | | | from children *= child* | vn get-13.5.1 «NP V NP PP.source»: subject=Theme from they=Source | | 5 | **rule** | would | | the kingdom | | | | | vn dub-29.3.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent kingdom=Theme | | 6 | **is** | past | the boys | | | | | enough, old *property* | tree rules | | 7 | **rule** | to-infinitive | the boys *not said here* | kingdom | | | | | vn dub-29.3.2 «NP V NP NP»: agent=Agent it=Theme themselves=Result | 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 Orange Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, Project Gutenberg book 3027 (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 52](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg3027/15/52/) - next →: [sentence 54](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg3027/15/54/) - ↑ back to [Opening, part 15](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg3027/15/)