---
title: The Abbess and her plotting nuns were found awfully disfigured; and… — Legends and tales of the Harz Mountains · tree and pragmatics
description: The Abbess and her plotting nuns were found awfully disfigured; and now, it is said, the Abbess appears in form of a serpent every seven years near the grave under the lindens. Who acts: Abbess. A sentence of «Legends and tales of the Harz Mountains» by Toofie Lauder, Legends and Tales., part 3, wit
---

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# Legends and tales of the Harz Mountains, Legends and Tales., part 3, sentence 24

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The Abbess and her plotting nuns were found awfully disfigured; and now, it is said, the Abbess appears in form of a serpent every seven years near the grave under the lindens.

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**Who acts:** Abbess · **What happens:** plot, find, disfigure, say, appear, form · **To what, where:** Abbess, pillar, form, serpent · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is a sentence of «Legends and tales of the Harz Mountains» by Toofie Lauder, Legends and Tales., part 3. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (Abbess), 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:pg74323:4:24
# text = The Abbess and her plotting nuns were found awfully disfigured; and now, it is said, the Abbess appears in form of a serpent every seven years near the grave under the lindens.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	Abbess	Abbess	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	8	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
4	her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	6	nmod:poss	_	_
5	plotting	plot	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	6	amod	_	_
6	nuns	nun	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	conj	_	_
7	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	8	aux:pass	_	_
8	found	find	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
9	awfully	awfully	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	_
10	disfigured	disfigure	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	8	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	17	punct	_	_
12	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	17	cc	_	_
13	now	now	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	17	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	17	punct	_	_
15	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	17	nsubj	_	_
16	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	17	aux:pass	_	_
17	said	say	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	8	parataxis	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	21	punct	_	_
19	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	20	det	_	_
20	Abbess	Abbess	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	21	nsubj	_	_
21	appears	appear	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	17	conj	_	_
22	in	in	ADP	IN	_	23	case	_	_
23	form	form	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	21	obl	_	_
24	of	of	ADP	IN	_	26	case	_	_
25	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	26	det	_	_
26	serpent	serpent	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	23	nmod	_	_
27	every	every	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	29	det	_	_
28	seven	seven	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	29	nummod	_	_
29	years	year	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	21	obl:unmarked	_	_
30	near	near	ADP	IN	_	32	case	_	_
31	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	32	det	_	_
32	grave	grave	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	29	nmod	_	_
33	under	under	ADP	IN	_	35	case	_	_
34	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	35	det	_	_
35	lindens	linden	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	21	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
36	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	8	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **plot** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn correspond-36.1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **find** | past · passive |  | the Abbess and Abbess's plotting nuns |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: subject=Topic |
| 3 | **disfigure** | participle |  |  |  |  |  | awfully *property* | vn destroy-44 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 4 | **say** *speech: assert* | present · passive |  | pillar |  |  | now |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: subject=Topic |
| 5 | **appear** | present | the Abbess |  |  | form of a serpent | year | under the lindens | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme in form=Location |
| 6 | **form** |  |  | a serpent |  |  |  |  | nom form «communication transitive»: of=patient |

<!-- .note -->
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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