--- title: The servant said “his master had heard much of the wisdom of young M… — Gleanings from Chinese folklore · tree and pragmatics description: The servant said “his master had heard much of the wisdom of young Mr. Kao; he was most desirous of calling on him, making his acquaintance, and would he please accept the small, insignificant gifts as an expression of friendship.” Who acts: servant, master, Chi. A sentence of «Gleanings from Chines --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg75089/17/46/) [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/) / [Gleanings from Chinese folklore](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg75089/) / [A Story of Old China, part 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg75089/17/) / 46 # Gleanings from Chinese folklore, A Story of Old China, part 1, sentence 46 The servant said “his master had heard much of the wisdom of young Mr. Kao; he was most desirous of calling on him, making his acquaintance, and would he please accept the small, insignificant gifts as an expression of friendship.” **Who acts:** servant, master, Chi · **What happens:** say, hear, be, call, make, accept · **To what, where:** much, acquaintance, small insignificant gifts · **Speech:** someone speaks here 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 (servant, master, Chi), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree. **Mova's own parse.** This tree may be wrong. ## The tree {#tree} ```conllu # sent_id = book:pg75089:17:46 # text = The servant said “his master had heard much of the wisdom of young Mr. Kao; he was most desirous of calling on him, making his acquaintance, and would he please accept the small, insignificant gifts as an expression of friendship.” 1 The the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 2 det _ _ 2 servant servant NOUN NN Number=Sing 3 nsubj _ _ 3 said say VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 4 “ " PUNCT `` _ 8 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 5 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 6 nmod:poss _ _ 6 master master NOUN NN Number=Sing 8 nsubj _ _ 7 had have AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 8 aux _ _ 8 heard hear VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part 3 conj _ _ 9 much much ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 8 obj _ _ 10 of of ADP IN _ 12 case _ _ 11 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 12 det _ _ 12 wisdom wisdom NOUN NN Number=Sing 9 nmod _ _ 13 of of ADP IN _ 16 case _ _ 14 young young ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 16 amod _ _ 15 Mr. Mr. PROPN NNP Number=Sing 16 nmod:desc _ _ 16 Kao Kao PROPN NNP Number=Sing 12 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 17 ; ; PUNCT , _ 21 punct _ _ 18 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 21 nsubj _ _ 19 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 21 cop _ _ 20 most most ADV RBS Degree=Sup 21 advmod _ _ 21 desirous desirous ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 3 parataxis _ _ 22 of of SCONJ IN _ 23 mark _ _ 23 calling call VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 21 advcl _ _ 24 on on ADP IN _ 25 case _ _ 25 him he PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 23 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 26 , , PUNCT , _ 27 punct _ _ 27 making make VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 23 conj _ _ 28 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 29 nmod:poss _ _ 29 acquaintance acquaintance NOUN NN Number=Sing 27 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 30 , , PUNCT , _ 35 punct _ _ 31 and and CCONJ CC _ 35 cc _ _ 32 would would AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 35 aux _ _ 33 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 35 nsubj _ _ 34 please please INTJ UH _ 35 discourse _ _ 35 accept accept VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 3 ccomp _ _ 36 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 40 det _ _ 37 small small ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 40 amod _ SpaceAfter=No 38 , , PUNCT , _ 37 punct _ _ 39 insignificant insignificant ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 40 amod _ _ 40 gifts gift NOUN NNS Number=Plur 35 obj _ _ 41 as as ADP IN _ 43 case _ _ 42 an a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 43 det _ _ 43 expression expression NOUN NN Number=Sing 35 obl _ _ 44 of of ADP IN _ 45 case _ _ 45 friendship friendship NOUN NN Number=Sing 43 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 46 . . PUNCT . _ 35 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 47 ” " PUNCT '' _ 35 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | the servant | | | | | | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic | | 2 | **hear** *in a quote* | past · perfect | Chi's master | much of the wisdom of young Kao Mr. | | | | | vn see-30.1-1-1 «NP V S»: agent=Experiencer much=Stimulus | | 3 | **is** *in a quote* | past | master | | | | | desirous *property* | tree rules | | 4 | **call** *in a quote* | gerund | master *not said here* | | | | | on Chi | vn initiate\_communication-37.4.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent | | 5 | **make** *in a quote* | gerund | master *not said here* | Chi's acquaintance | | | | | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset acquaintance=Product | | 6 | **accept** *in a quote* | would | master | the small insignificant gifts | | | | as a expression of friendship | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent gift=Theme as expression=Attribute | | 7 | **acquaint** *in a quote* | | Chi | | | | | | nom acquaintance «cognition transitive»: poss=agent | 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:** «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. - ← previous: [sentence 45](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg75089/17/45/) - next →: [sentence 47](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg75089/17/47/) - ↑ back to [A Story of Old China, part 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg75089/17/)