--- title: The eldest brother of Burd Ellen was not to be put off, by any fear… — English Fairy Tales · tree and pragmatics description: The eldest brother of Burd Ellen was not to be put off, by any fear of danger, from attempting to get her back, so he begged the Warlock Merlin to tell him what he should do, and what he should not do, in going to seek his sister. Who acts: Merlin. A sentence of «English Fairy Tales» by Joseph Jacob --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg7439/24/9/) [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/) / [English Fairy Tales](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg7439/) / [Childe Rowland](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg7439/24/) / 9 # English Fairy Tales, Childe Rowland, sentence 9 The eldest brother of Burd Ellen was not to be put off, by any fear of danger, from attempting to get her back, so he begged the Warlock Merlin to tell him what he should do, and what he should not do, in going to seek his sister. **Who acts:** Merlin · **What happens:** not put off, attempt, get, beg, tell, do · **To what, where:** eldest brother, back, Warlock Merlin, Merlin, sister, danger · **Speech:** someone speaks here This is a sentence of «English Fairy Tales» by Joseph Jacobs, Childe Rowland. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (Merlin), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree. **Parsed by Mova, not checked by a teacher.** This tree is Mova's own parse (the `en` model, on the CPU, when the site is built); it may be wrong. ## The tree {#tree} ```conllu # sent_id = book:pg7439:24:9 # text = The eldest brother of Burd Ellen was not to be put off, by any fear of danger, from attempting to get her back, so he begged the Warlock Merlin to tell him what he should do, and what he should not do, in going to seek his sister. 1 The the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 3 det _ _ 2 eldest eld ADJ JJS Degree=Sup 3 amod _ _ 3 brother brother NOUN NN Number=Sing 11 nsubj:pass _ _ 4 of of ADP IN _ 5 case _ _ 5 Burd Burd PROPN NNP Number=Sing 3 nmod _ _ 6 Ellen Ellen PROPN NNP Number=Sing 5 flat _ _ 7 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 11 aux:pass _ _ 8 not not PART RB Polarity=Neg 11 advmod _ _ 9 to to PART TO _ 11 mark _ _ 10 be be AUX VB VerbForm=Inf 11 aux:pass _ _ 11 put put VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 0 root _ _ 12 off off ADP RP _ 11 compound:prt _ SpaceAfter=No 13 , , PUNCT , _ 16 punct _ _ 14 by by ADP IN _ 16 case _ _ 15 any any DET DT PronType=Ind 16 det _ _ 16 fear fear NOUN NN Number=Sing 11 conj _ _ 17 of of ADP IN _ 18 case _ _ 18 danger danger NOUN NN Number=Sing 16 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 19 , , PUNCT , _ 21 punct _ _ 20 from from SCONJ IN _ 21 mark _ _ 21 attempting attempt VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 11 advcl _ _ 22 to to PART TO _ 23 mark _ _ 23 get get VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 21 xcomp _ _ 24 her her PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 25 nmod:poss _ _ 25 back back NOUN NN Number=Sing 23 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 26 , , PUNCT , _ 29 punct _ _ 27 so so ADV RB _ 29 advmod _ _ 28 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 29 nsubj _ _ 29 begged beg VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 11 conj _ _ 30 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 32 det _ _ 31 Warlock Warlock PROPN NNP Number=Sing 32 compound _ _ 32 Merlin Merlin PROPN NNP Number=Sing 29 obj _ _ 33 to to PART TO _ 34 mark _ _ 34 tell tell VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 29 advcl _ _ 35 him he PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 34 iobj _ _ 36 what what PRON WP PronType=Int 39 obj _ _ 37 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 39 nsubj _ _ 38 should should AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 39 aux _ _ 39 do do VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 34 ccomp _ SpaceAfter=No 40 , , PUNCT , _ 46 punct _ _ 41 and and CCONJ CC _ 46 cc _ _ 42 what what PRON WP PronType=Int 46 obj _ _ 43 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 46 nsubj _ _ 44 should should AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 46 aux _ _ 45 not not PART RB Polarity=Neg 46 advmod _ _ 46 do do VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 11 conj _ SpaceAfter=No 47 , , PUNCT , _ 49 punct _ _ 48 in in SCONJ IN _ 49 mark _ _ 49 going go VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 46 advcl _ _ 50 to to PART TO _ 51 mark _ _ 51 seek seek VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 49 xcomp _ _ 52 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 53 nmod:poss _ _ 53 sister sister NOUN NN Number=Sing 51 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 54 . . PUNCT . _ 11 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **not** **put off** | past · passive | | the eldest brother of Burd | | | | | vn invest-13.5.4-1 «NP V PP»: subject=Goal | | 2 | **attempt** | gerund | | | | | | | vn try-61.1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality | | 3 | **get** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | | Burd's back | | | | | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer back=Stimulus | | 4 | **beg** *speech: request* | past | Merlin | | the Warlock Merlin | | | | vn beg-58.2-1-1 «NP V NP PP.Topic»: agent=Agent merlin=Recipient | | 5 | **tell** *speech: assert* | to-infinitive | Merlin *not said here* | | Merlin | | | | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP what S»: agent=Agent he=Recipient clause=Topic | | 6 | **do** | should | Merlin | | | | | | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent what=Eventuality | | 7 | **not** **do** | should | Merlin | | | | | | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent what=Eventuality | | 8 | **go** | gerund | Merlin *not said here* | | | | | | vn say-37.7 «NP V S-Quote»: agent=Agent clause=Topic | | 9 | **seek** | to-infinitive | Merlin *not said here* | Merlin's sister | | | | | vn hunt-35.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent sister=Theme | | 10 | **fear** | | | danger | | | | | nom fear «feeling transitive»: of=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:** «English Fairy Tales» by Joseph Jacobs, Project Gutenberg book 7439 (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 8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg7439/24/8/) - next →: [sentence 10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg7439/24/10/) - ↑ back to [Childe Rowland](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg7439/24/)