---
title: A certain merchant had two sons, the eldest of whom was of so bad a… — Oriental tales, for the entertainment of youth · tree and pragmatics
description: A certain merchant had two sons, the eldest of whom was of so bad a disposition as to behave with great hatred and ill-nature towards the younger, who was of a temper more mild and gentle. Who acts: certain merchant, bad disposition. A sentence of «Oriental tales, for the entertainment of youth» by 
---

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# Oriental tales, for the entertainment of youth, The Merchant and His Sons., sentence 1

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A certain merchant had two sons, the eldest of whom was of so bad a disposition as to behave with great hatred and ill-nature towards the younger, who was of a temper more mild and gentle.

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**Who acts:** certain merchant, bad disposition · **What happens:** have, be, behave · **To what, where:** two sons

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This is a sentence of «Oriental tales, for the entertainment of youth» by Anonymous, The Merchant and His Sons.. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (certain merchant, bad disposition), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree.

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**Mova's own parse.** This tree may be wrong.

## The tree {#tree}

```conllu
# sent_id = book:pg62868:2:1
# text = A certain merchant had two sons, the eldest of whom was of so bad a disposition as to behave with great hatred and ill-nature towards the younger, who was of a temper more mild and gentle.
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	certain	certain	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	merchant	merchant	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	had	have	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	two	two	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	6	nummod	_	_
6	sons	son	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	eldest	eld	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	17	punct	_	_
10	of	of	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	whom	whom	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	17	obl	_	_
12	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	17	cop	_	_
13	of	of	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
14	so	so	ADV	RB	_	15	advmod	_	_
15	bad	bad	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	17	amod	_	_
16	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
17	disposition	disposition	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	_
18	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	20	mark	_	_
19	to	to	PART	TO	_	20	mark	_	_
20	behave	behave	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	17	acl	_	_
21	with	with	ADP	IN	_	23	case	_	_
22	great	great	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	23	amod	_	_
23	hatred	hatred	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	20	obl	_	_
24	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	27	cc	_	_
25	ill	ill	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	27	amod	_	SpaceAfter=No
26	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	25	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
27	nature	nature	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	23	conj	_	_
28	towards	towards	ADP	IN	_	30	case	_	_
29	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	30	det	_	_
30	younger	young	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	20	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
31	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	36	punct	_	_
32	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	36	nsubj	_	_
33	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	36	cop	_	_
34	of	of	ADP	IN	_	36	case	_	_
35	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	36	det	_	_
36	temper	temper	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	conj	_	_
37	more	more	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	38	advmod	_	_
38	mild	mild	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	36	amod	_	_
39	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	40	cc	_	_
40	gentle	gentle	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	38	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
41	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **have** | past | a certain merchant | two sons |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent son=Patient |
| 2 | **is** | past |  |  |  |  |  | of a bad disposition and a temper; of two sons | tree rules |
| 3 | **behave** | to-infinitive | a certain merchant *not said here* |  |  |  |  | with great hatred and ill nature; towards the younger | vn masquerade-29.6-1 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Agent |
| 4 | **is** | past | a bad disposition and a temper |  |  |  |  | of a temper | tree rules |

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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.

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**Text:** «Oriental tales, for the entertainment of youth» by Anonymous, Project Gutenberg book 62868 (public domain in the USA). **Tree:** Mova's own parse, Elamur Cosmic License. **Frames:** Mova's frames reader (`prag`), the chapter read in order.

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