---
title: “That sovereign,” said Mobarec, “was formerly my master; but I never… — The Jade Story Book; Stories from the Orient · tree and pragmatics
description: “That sovereign,” said Mobarec, “was formerly my master; but I never knew he had any children. Who acts: sovereign, Mobarec. A sentence of «The Jade Story Book; Stories from the Orient» by Penrhyn Wingfield Coussens, Opening, part 17, with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of every clause.
---

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# The Jade Story Book; Stories from the Orient, Opening, part 17, sentence 45

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“That sovereign,” said Mobarec, “was formerly my master; but I never knew he had any children.

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**Who acts:** sovereign, Mobarec · **What happens:** say, be, not know, have · **To what, where:** master, children · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is a sentence of «The Jade Story Book; Stories from the Orient» by Penrhyn Wingfield Coussens, Opening, part 17. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (sovereign, Mobarec), 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:pg65965:17:45
# text = “That sovereign,” said Mobarec, “was formerly my master; but I never knew he had any children.
1	“	"	PUNCT	``	_	6	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	That	that	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	3	det	_	_
3	sovereign	sovereign	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	3	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	”	"	PUNCT	''	_	3	punct	_	_
6	said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	Mobarec	Mobarec	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
9	“	"	PUNCT	``	_	13	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	13	cop	_	_
11	formerly	formerly	ADV	RB	_	13	advmod	_	_
12	my	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	13	nmod:poss	_	_
13	master	master	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	appos	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	18	punct	_	_
15	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	18	cc	_	_
16	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	18	nsubj	_	_
17	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	18	advmod	_	_
18	knew	know	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	conj	_	_
19	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	20	nsubj	_	_
20	had	have	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	18	ccomp	_	_
21	any	any	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	22	det	_	_
22	children	child	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	20	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | that sovereign |  |  |  |  | Mobarec *nsubj* | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **is a** *in a quote* | past |  | my master |  |  |  | my *nmod:poss*; formerly *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **not** **know** *in a quote* | past | that sovereign *= sovereign* |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Experiencer clause=Stimulus |
| 4 | **have** *in a quote* | past | Mobarec | any children |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent child=Patient |

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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:** «The Jade Story Book; Stories from the Orient» by Penrhyn Wingfield Coussens, Project Gutenberg book 65965 (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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