--- title: And he staggered on, like a wooden doll, on feet that moved of their… — The descent of the sun: A cycle of birth · tree and pragmatics description: And he staggered on, like a wooden doll, on feet that moved of their own accord, till as before he reached the tank, and sank down upon the ground, knowing neither where he was nor what he did, puzzled about the quarters of the world[1]. Who acts: sight, feet. A sentence of «The descent of the sun: --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg68641/8/13/) [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 descent of the sun: A cycle of birth](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg68641/) / [A Sleep and a Dream., part 6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg68641/8/) / 13 # The descent of the sun: A cycle of birth, A Sleep and a Dream., part 6, sentence 13 And he staggered on, like a wooden doll, on feet that moved of their own accord, till as before he reached the tank, and sank down upon the ground, knowing neither where he was nor what he did, puzzled about the quarters of the world\[1\]. **Who acts:** sight, feet · **What happens:** stagger, move, reach, sink down, know, be · **To what, where:** tank This is a sentence of «The descent of the sun: A cycle of birth» by Unknown, A Sleep and a Dream., part 6. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (sight, feet), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree. **Mova's own parse.** This tree may be wrong. ## The tree {#tree} ```conllu # sent_id = book:pg68641:8:13 # text = And he staggered on, like a wooden doll, on feet that moved of their own accord, till as before he reached the tank, and sank down upon the ground, knowing neither where he was nor what he did, puzzled about the quarters of the world[1]. 1 And and CCONJ CC _ 3 cc _ _ 2 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 3 nsubj _ _ 3 staggered stagger VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 4 on on ADV RB _ 3 advmod _ SpaceAfter=No 5 , , PUNCT , _ 9 punct _ _ 6 like like ADP IN _ 9 case _ _ 7 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 9 det _ _ 8 wooden wooden ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 9 amod _ _ 9 doll doll NOUN NN Number=Sing 3 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 10 , , PUNCT , _ 12 punct _ _ 11 on on ADP IN _ 12 case _ _ 12 feet foot NOUN NNS Number=Plur 9 conj _ _ 13 that that PRON WDT PronType=Rel 14 nsubj _ _ 14 moved move VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 12 acl:relcl _ _ 15 of of ADP IN _ 18 case _ _ 16 their their PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 18 nmod:poss _ _ 17 own own ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 18 amod _ _ 18 accord accord NOUN NN Number=Sing 14 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 19 , , PUNCT , _ 24 punct _ _ 20 till till SCONJ IN _ 24 mark _ _ 21 as as ADV RB _ 24 advmod _ _ 22 before before SCONJ IN _ 24 mark _ _ 23 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 24 nsubj _ _ 24 reached reach VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 3 conj _ _ 25 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 26 det _ _ 26 tank tank NOUN NN Number=Sing 24 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 27 , , PUNCT , _ 29 punct _ _ 28 and and CCONJ CC _ 29 cc _ _ 29 sank sink VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 3 parataxis _ _ 30 down down ADV RB _ 29 advmod _ _ 31 upon upon ADP IN _ 33 case _ _ 32 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 33 det _ _ 33 ground ground NOUN NN Number=Sing 29 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 34 , , PUNCT , _ 35 punct _ _ 35 knowing know VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 29 advcl _ _ 36 neither neither ADV RB _ 37 advmod _ _ 37 where where ADV WRB PronType=Rel 35 ccomp _ _ 38 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 41 nsubj _ _ 39 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 41 cop _ _ 40 nor nor CCONJ CC Polarity=Neg 41 cc _ _ 41 what what PRON WP PronType=Rel 37 conj _ _ 42 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 43 nsubj _ _ 43 did do VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 41 acl:relcl _ SpaceAfter=No 44 , , PUNCT , _ 45 punct _ _ 45 puzzled puzzle VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 41 acl:relcl _ _ 46 about about ADP IN _ 48 case _ _ 47 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 48 det _ _ 48 quarters quarter NOUN NNS Number=Plur 45 obl _ _ 49 of of ADP IN _ 51 case _ _ 50 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 51 det _ _ 51 world world NOUN NN Number=Sing 48 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 52 [ [ PUNCT -LRB- _ 53 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 53 1 1 NUM LS NumForm=Digit|NumType=Card 45 flat _ SpaceAfter=No 54 ] ] PUNCT -RRB- _ 53 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 55 . . PUNCT . _ 3 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **stagger** | past | sight | | | | | like a wooden doll and feet | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Experiencer | | 2 | **move** | past | feet | | | | | of feet's own accord | vn roll-51.3.1 «NP V PP.trajectory»: agent=Theme of accord=Trajectory | | 3 | **reach** | past | sight | the tank | | | | | vn body\_motion-49.2-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Agent tank=Theme | | 4 | **sink down** | past | | | | | | upon the ground; down *property* | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient | | 5 | **know** | gerund | | | | | | | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer | | 6 | **is a** | past | sight | | | | | | tree rules | | 7 | **do** | past | sight | | | | | | vn act-114-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent | | 8 | **puzzle** | participle | | | | | | about the quarters of the world; 1 *flat* | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Experiencer | 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 descent of the sun: A cycle of birth» by Unknown, Project Gutenberg book 68641 (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 12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg68641/8/12/) - next →: [sentence 14](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg68641/8/14/) - ↑ back to [A Sleep and a Dream., part 6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg68641/8/)