--- title: A few of them certainly murmured that a Drakestail would make a fine… — The Red Fairy Book · tree and pragmatics description: A few of them certainly murmured that a Drakestail would make a fine King; those who knew him replied that a knowing Drakestail was a more worthy King than a spendthrift like him who was lying on the pavement. Who acts: acclamations, Drakestail, few, knowing. A sentence of «The Red Fairy Book» by An --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg540/31/110/) [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 Red Fairy Book](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg540/) / [Kari Woodengown, part 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg540/31/) / 110 # The Red Fairy Book, Kari Woodengown, part 3, sentence 110 A few of them certainly murmured that a Drakestail would make a fine King; those who knew him replied that a knowing Drakestail was a more worthy King than a spendthrift like him who was lying on the pavement. **Who acts:** acclamations, Drakestail, few, knowing, worthy King · **What happens:** murmur, make, know, reply, be, lie · **To what, where:** fine King, Drakestail, worthy King, pavement This is a sentence of «The Red Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, Kari Woodengown, part 3. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (acclamations, Drakestail, few, knowing), 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:pg540:31:110 # text = A few of them certainly murmured that a Drakestail would make a fine King; those who knew him replied that a knowing Drakestail was a more worthy King than a spendthrift like him who was lying on the pavement. 1 A a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 2 det _ _ 2 few few ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 20 nsubj _ _ 3 of of SCONJ IN _ 6 mark _ _ 4 them they PRON PRP Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 6 nsubj _ _ 5 certainly certainly ADV RB _ 6 advmod _ _ 6 murmured murmur VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 2 advcl _ _ 7 that that SCONJ IN _ 11 mark _ _ 8 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 9 det _ _ 9 Drakestail drakestail NOUN NN Number=Sing 11 nsubj _ _ 10 would would AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 11 aux _ _ 11 make make VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 6 advcl _ _ 12 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 14 det _ _ 13 fine fine ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 14 amod _ _ 14 King King PROPN NNP Number=Sing 11 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 15 ; ; PUNCT : _ 20 punct _ _ 16 those that PRON DT Number=Plur|PronType=Dem 20 nsubj _ _ 17 who who PRON WP PronType=Rel 18 nsubj _ _ 18 knew know VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 16 acl:relcl _ _ 19 him he PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 18 obj _ _ 20 replied reply VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 21 that that SCONJ IN _ 37 mark _ _ 22 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 29 det _ _ 23 knowing know VERB VBG VerbForm=Ger 29 csubj _ _ 24 Drakestail Drakestail PROPN NNP Number=Sing 23 obj _ _ 25 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 29 cop _ _ 26 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 29 det _ _ 27 more more ADV RBR Degree=Cmp 28 advmod _ _ 28 worthy worthy ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 29 amod _ _ 29 King King PROPN NNP Number=Sing 37 nsubj _ _ 30 than than ADP IN _ 32 case _ _ 31 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 32 det _ _ 32 spendthrift spendthrift NOUN NN Number=Sing 29 nmod _ _ 33 like like ADP IN _ 34 case _ _ 34 him he PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 32 nmod _ _ 35 who who PRON WP PronType=Rel 37 nsubj _ _ 36 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 37 aux _ _ 37 lying lie VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 20 advcl _ _ 38 on on ADP IN _ 40 case _ _ 39 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 40 det _ _ 40 pavement pavement NOUN NN Number=Sing 37 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 41 . . PUNCT . _ 20 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **murmur** *speech: other* | past | acclamations *= acclamation* | | | | | certainly *property* | vn manner\_speaking-37.3 «NP V»: agent=Agent | | 2 | **make** | would | a Drakestail | a fine King | | | | | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset king=Product | | 3 | **know** | past | | Drakestail | | | | | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Experiencer he=Stimulus | | 4 | **reply** *speech: assert* | past | a few | | | | | | vn respond-113 «NP V»: agent=Agent | | 5 | **know** | gerund | | Drakestail | | | | | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Experiencer drakestail=Stimulus | | 6 | **is a** | past | knowing | a worthy King | | | | than a spendthrift like Drakestail | tree rules | | 7 | **lie** | past · progressive | a worthy King | | | the pavement | | | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent on pavement=Location | 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 Red Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, Project Gutenberg book 540 (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 109](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg540/31/109/) - next →: [sentence 111](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg540/31/111/) - ↑ back to [Kari Woodengown, part 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg540/31/)