---
title: When they reached the temple he saw her at the altar, prostrating he… — Gleanings from Chinese folklore · tree and pragmatics
description: When they reached the temple he saw her at the altar, prostrating herself and worshipping; kneeling beside her he said: Who acts: companions, Nien. 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 ev
---

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# Gleanings from Chinese folklore, A Story of Old China, part 1, sentence 28

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When they reached the temple he saw her at the altar, prostrating herself and worshipping; kneeling beside her he said:

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**Who acts:** companions, Nien · **What happens:** reach, see, prostrate, worshipp, kneel, say · **To what, where:** temple, woman, altar · **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 (companions, Nien), 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:pg75089:17:28
# text = When they reached the temple he saw her at the altar, prostrating herself and worshipping; kneeling beside her he said:
1	When	when	SCONJ	WRB	_	3	mark	_	_
2	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
3	reached	reach	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	22	advcl	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	temple	temple	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj	_	_
7	saw	see	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	acl:relcl	_	_
8	her	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	obj	_	_
9	at	at	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	altar	altar	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
13	prostrating	prostrate	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	3	advcl	_	_
14	herself	herself	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes	13	obj	_	_
15	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	16	cc	_	_
16	worshipping	worshipp	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	13	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	18	punct	_	_
18	kneeling	kneel	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	3	advcl	_	_
19	beside	beside	ADP	IN	_	20	case	_	_
20	her	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	18	obl	_	_
21	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	22	nsubj	_	_
22	said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	22	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **reach** | past | companions *= companion* | the temple |  |  |  |  | vn body\_motion-49.2-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Agent temple=Theme |
| 2 | **see** | past | Nien | woman |  | the altar |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer she=Stimulus |
| 3 | **prostrate** | gerund | companions *= companion* *not said here* | woman |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 4 | **worshipp** | gerund | companions *= companion* *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 5 | **kneel** | gerund | companions *= companion* *not said here* |  |  |  |  | beside woman | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent beside she=Location |
| 6 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | Nien |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |

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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:** «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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