---
title: He inquired of Mr. Tu when he was going, and on learning that the re… — Gleanings from Chinese folklore · tree and pragmatics
description: He inquired of Mr. Tu when he was going, and on learning that the relief caravan was just starting, he said: Who acts: caravan, relief caravan. A sentence of «Gleanings from Chinese folklore» by Nellie Naomi Russell, A Story of Old China, part 1, with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of every 
---

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# Gleanings from Chinese folklore, A Story of Old China, part 1, sentence 10

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He inquired of Mr. Tu when he was going, and on learning that the relief caravan was just starting, he said:

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**Who acts:** caravan, relief caravan · **What happens:** inquire, go, learn, start, say · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is a sentence of «Gleanings from Chinese folklore» by Nellie Naomi Russell, A Story of Old China, part 1. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (caravan, relief caravan), 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:pg75089:17:10
# text = He inquired of Mr. Tu when he was going, and on learning that the relief caravan was just starting, he said:
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	inquired	inquire	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	Mr.	Mr.	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	5	nmod:desc	_	_
5	Tu	Tu	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
6	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	9	advmod	_	_
7	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	nsubj	_	_
8	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	9	aux	_	_
9	going	go	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	2	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	23	punct	_	_
11	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	23	cc	_	_
12	on	on	SCONJ	IN	_	13	mark	_	_
13	learning	learn	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	23	advcl	_	_
14	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	20	mark	_	_
15	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
16	relief	relief	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	compound	_	_
17	caravan	caravan	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	20	nsubj	_	_
18	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	20	aux	_	_
19	just	just	ADV	RB	_	20	advmod	_	_
20	starting	start	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	13	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
22	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	23	nsubj	_	_
23	said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	parataxis	_	SpaceAfter=No
24	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	23	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **inquire** *speech: other* | past | caravan |  |  |  |  | of Tu  Mr. | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V PP.recipient how S»: agent=Agent of tu=Recipient |
| 2 | **go** | past · progressive | caravan |  |  |  |  |  | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 3 | **learn** | gerund | caravan *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn learn-14-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 4 | **start** | past · progressive | the relief caravan |  |  |  |  |  | vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP.eventuality V»: agent=Eventuality |
| 5 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | caravan |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |

<!-- .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:** «Gleanings from Chinese folklore» by Nellie Naomi Russell, Project Gutenberg book 75089 (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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