---
title: Some of his companions did not want to, but he insisted and, owing t… — Gleanings from Chinese folklore · tree and pragmatics
description: Some of his companions did not want to, but he insisted and, owing to this delay and the ashes in his eyes, they did not overtake the chair till just as it entered the gate of the ladies’ home. Who acts: companions, Nien, chair. A sentence of «Gleanings from Chinese folklore» by Nellie Naomi Russell
---

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# Gleanings from Chinese folklore, A Story of Old China, part 1, sentence 38

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Some of his companions did not want to, but he insisted and, owing to this delay and the ashes in his eyes, they did not overtake the chair till just as it entered the gate of the ladies’ home.

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**Who acts:** companions, Nien, chair · **What happens:** not want, insist, owe, not overtake, enter · **To what, where:** delay, chair, gate

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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, chair), 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:pg75089:17:38
# text = Some of his companions did not want to, but he insisted and, owing to this delay and the ashes in his eyes, they did not overtake the chair till just as it entered the gate of the ladies’ home.
1	Some	some	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	4	det	_	_
2	of	of	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
3	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	4	nmod:poss	_	_
4	companions	companion	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nsubj	_	_
5	did	do	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	aux	_	_
6	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	7	advmod	_	_
7	want	want	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
8	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
10	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
11	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	12	nsubj	_	_
12	insisted	insist	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	parataxis	_	_
13	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	15	cc	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	15	punct	_	_
15	owing	owe	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	12	conj	_	_
16	to	to	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
17	this	this	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	18	det	_	_
18	delay	delay	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	obl	_	_
19	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	21	cc	_	_
20	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	21	det	_	_
21	ashes	ash	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	18	conj	_	_
22	in	in	ADP	IN	_	24	case	_	_
23	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	24	nmod:poss	_	_
24	eyes	eye	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	18	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
25	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	29	punct	_	_
26	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	29	nsubj	_	_
27	did	do	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	29	aux	_	_
28	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	29	advmod	_	_
29	overtake	overtake	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	conj	_	_
30	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	31	det	_	_
31	chair	chair	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	29	obj	_	_
32	till	till	ADV	RB	_	29	advmod	_	_
33	just	just	ADV	RB	_	36	advmod	_	_
34	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	36	mark	_	_
35	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	36	nsubj	_	_
36	entered	enter	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	29	advcl	_	_
37	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	38	det	_	_
38	gate	gate	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	36	obj	_	_
39	of	of	ADP	IN	_	43	case	_	_
40	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	41	det	_	_
41	ladies	lady	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	43	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
42	’	's	PART	POS	_	41	case	_	_
43	home	home	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	38	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
44	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **want** | past · do-support | Nien's companions |  |  |  |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Pivot |
| 2 | **insist** *speech: other* | past | Nien |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **owe** | gerund | Nien *not said here* |  |  |  |  | to this delay in Nien's eyes and the ashes *goal* | vn future\_having-13.3 «NP V NP PP.goal»: agent=Agent to delay=Goal |
| 4 | **not** **overtake** | past · do-support | companions *= companion* | the chair |  |  |  | till *property* | tree rules |
| 5 | **enter** | past | chair | the gate of the ladies's home |  |  |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1-2 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme gate=Destination |

<!-- .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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