---
title: They could scarcely distinguish the spot where the altar had stood,… — Legends and tales of the Harz Mountains · tree and pragmatics
description: They could scarcely distinguish the spot where the altar had stood, and where masses of broken, scattered stones betrayed the fury of the storm that had destroyed it. Who acts: curiosity, altar, masses. A sentence of «Legends and tales of the Harz Mountains» by Toofie Lauder, A Historical Tale., par
---

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# Legends and tales of the Harz Mountains, A Historical Tale., part 7, sentence 69

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They could scarcely distinguish the spot where the altar had stood, and where masses of broken, scattered stones betrayed the fury of the storm that had destroyed it.

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**Who acts:** curiosity, altar, masses · **What happens:** distinguish, stand, break, betray, destroy, infuriate · **To what, where:** spot, fury, storm

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This is a sentence of «Legends and tales of the Harz Mountains» by Toofie Lauder, A Historical Tale., part 7. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (curiosity, altar, masses), 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:pg74323:24:69
# text = They could scarcely distinguish the spot where the altar had stood, and where masses of broken, scattered stones betrayed the fury of the storm that had destroyed it.
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
2	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	scarcely	scarcely	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	distinguish	distinguish	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	spot	spot	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
7	where	where	ADV	WRB	PronType=Rel	11	advmod	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	altar	altar	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nsubj	_	_
10	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	11	aux	_	_
11	stood	stand	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	6	acl:relcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	21	punct	_	_
13	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	21	cc	_	_
14	where	where	ADV	WRB	PronType=Rel	21	advmod	_	_
15	masses	mass	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	21	nsubj	_	_
16	of	of	ADP	IN	_	20	case	_	_
17	broken	break	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	20	amod	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	19	punct	_	_
19	scattered	scatter	ADJ	VBN	_	20	amod	_	_
20	stones	stone	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	15	nmod	_	_
21	betrayed	betray	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	parataxis	_	_
22	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	23	det	_	_
23	fury	fury	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	21	obj	_	_
24	of	of	ADP	IN	_	26	case	_	_
25	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	26	det	_	_
26	storm	storm	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	23	nmod	_	_
27	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	29	nsubj:pass	_	_
28	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	29	aux	_	_
29	destroyed	destroy	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	26	acl:relcl	_	_
30	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	29	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
31	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **distinguish** | could | curiosity | the spot |  |  |  | scarcely *property* | vn distinguish-23.5-1 «NP V NP PP»: agent=Attribute spot=Theme |
| 2 | **stand** | past · perfect | the altar |  |  |  |  |  | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **break** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn hurt-40.8.3-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Patient |
| 4 | **betray** | past | masses of broken scattered stones | the fury of the storm |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 5 | **destroy** | past · perfect · passive |  | the storm |  |  |  | fury *obj* | tree rules |
| 6 | **infuriate** |  |  | the storm |  |  |  |  | nom fury «feeling transitive»: of=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:** «Legends and tales of the Harz Mountains» by Toofie Lauder, Project Gutenberg book 74323 (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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