--- title: A noise startled them; looking around they perceived the dogs behind… — Legends and tales of the Harz Mountains · tree and pragmatics description: A noise startled them; looking around they perceived the dogs behind a portion of the broken altar, scratching and digging, without troubling themselves at the presence of their masters, as if they had been fastened by enchantment to the spot. Who acts: noise, curiosity, enchantment. A sentence of « --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg74323/24/71/) [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/) / [Legends and tales of the Harz Mountains](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg74323/) / [A Historical Tale., part 7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg74323/24/) / 71 # Legends and tales of the Harz Mountains, A Historical Tale., part 7, sentence 71 A noise startled them; looking around they perceived the dogs behind a portion of the broken altar, scratching and digging, without troubling themselves at the presence of their masters, as if they had been fastened by enchantment to the spot. **Who acts:** noise, curiosity, enchantment · **What happens:** startle, look around, perceive, break, scratch, dig · **To what, where:** curiosity, dogs, portion, presence 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 (noise, curiosity, enchantment), 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:pg74323:24:71 # text = A noise startled them; looking around they perceived the dogs behind a portion of the broken altar, scratching and digging, without troubling themselves at the presence of their masters, as if they had been fastened by enchantment to the spot. 1 A a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 2 det _ _ 2 noise noise NOUN NN Number=Sing 3 nsubj _ _ 3 startled startle VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 4 them they PRON PRP Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 3 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 5 ; ; PUNCT : _ 6 punct _ _ 6 looking look VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 3 advcl _ _ 7 around around ADP IN _ 9 mark _ _ 8 they they PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 9 nsubj _ _ 9 perceived perceive VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 6 ccomp _ _ 10 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 11 det _ _ 11 dogs dog NOUN NNS Number=Plur 9 obj _ _ 12 behind behind ADP IN _ 14 case _ _ 13 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 14 det _ _ 14 portion portion NOUN NN Number=Sing 9 obl _ _ 15 of of ADP IN _ 18 case _ _ 16 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 18 det _ _ 17 broken break VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 18 amod _ _ 18 altar altar NOUN NN Number=Sing 14 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 19 , , PUNCT , _ 20 punct _ _ 20 scratching scratch VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 6 conj _ _ 21 and and CCONJ CC _ 22 cc _ _ 22 digging dig VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 20 conj _ SpaceAfter=No 23 , , PUNCT , _ 25 punct _ _ 24 without without SCONJ IN _ 25 mark _ _ 25 troubling trouble VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 6 conj _ _ 26 themselves themselves PRON PRP Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes 25 obj _ _ 27 at at ADP IN _ 29 case _ _ 28 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 29 det _ _ 29 presence presence NOUN NN Number=Sing 25 obl _ _ 30 of of ADP IN _ 32 case _ _ 31 their their PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 32 nmod:poss _ _ 32 masters master NOUN NNS Number=Plur 29 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 33 , , PUNCT , _ 39 punct _ _ 34 as as SCONJ IN _ 39 mark _ _ 35 if if SCONJ IN _ 39 mark _ _ 36 they they PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 39 nsubj:pass _ _ 37 had have AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 39 aux _ _ 38 been be AUX VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part 39 aux:pass _ _ 39 fastened fasten VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 3 conj _ _ 40 by by ADP IN _ 41 case _ _ 41 enchantment enchantment NOUN NN Number=Sing 39 obl _ _ 42 to to ADP IN _ 44 case _ _ 43 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 44 det _ _ 44 spot spot NOUN NN Number=Sing 39 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 45 . . PUNCT . _ 3 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **startle** | past | a noise | curiosity | | | | | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus they=Experiencer | | 2 | **look around** | gerund | a noise *not said here* | | | | | | tree rules | | 3 | **perceive** | past | curiosity | the dogs | | a portion of the broken altar | | | vn see-30.1-1 «NP V S»: agent=Experiencer dog=Stimulus | | 4 | **break** | participle | | | | | | | vn hurt-40.8.3-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Patient | | 5 | **scratch** | gerund | a noise *not said here* | | | | | | vn scribble-25.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent | | 6 | **dig** | gerund | a noise *not said here* | | | | | | vn create-26.4-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent | | 7 | **trouble** | gerund | a noise *not said here* | curiosity | | the presence of curiosity's masters | | | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus themselves=Experiencer | | 8 | **fasten** *a condition, not said to happen* | past · perfect · passive | enchantment | curiosity | | | | to the spot | vn shake-22.3-2-1 «NP V NP PP»: agent=Agent subject=Patient to spot=Co-Patient | 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:** «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. - ← previous: [sentence 70](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg74323/24/70/) - next →: [sentence 72](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg74323/24/72/) - ↑ back to [A Historical Tale., part 7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg74323/24/)