--- title: Mr. Kao inquired who his master was, and when he learned it was the… — Gleanings from Chinese folklore · tree and pragmatics description: Mr. Kao inquired who his master was, and when he learned it was the steward of the great Yen Sung, who was almost as powerful as the Emperor, and at whose word a man was made an official or deposed, he was greatly troubled, but he did not dare refuse. Who acts: Kao, master, acquaintance, steward. 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The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (Kao, master, acquaintance, steward), 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:pg75089:17:47 # text = Mr. Kao inquired who his master was, and when he learned it was the steward of the great Yen Sung, who was almost as powerful as the Emperor, and at whose word a man was made an official or deposed, he was greatly troubled, but he did not dare refuse. 1 Mr. Mr. PROPN NNP Number=Sing 2 nmod:desc _ _ 2 Kao Kao PROPN NNP Number=Sing 3 nsubj _ _ 3 inquired inquire VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 4 who who PRON WP PronType=Int 3 ccomp _ _ 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 4 nsubj _ _ 7 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 4 cop _ SpaceAfter=No 8 , , PUNCT , _ 12 punct _ _ 9 and and CCONJ CC _ 12 cc _ _ 10 when when ADV WRB PronType=Int 12 advmod _ _ 11 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 12 nsubj _ _ 12 learned learn VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 3 conj _ _ 13 it it PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 16 nsubj _ _ 14 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 16 cop _ _ 15 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 16 det _ _ 16 steward steward NOUN NN Number=Sing 12 ccomp _ _ 17 of of ADP IN _ 20 case _ _ 18 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 20 det _ _ 19 great great ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 20 amod _ _ 20 Yen Yen PROPN NNP Number=Sing 16 nmod _ _ 21 Sung Sung PROPN NNP Number=Sing 20 flat _ SpaceAfter=No 22 , , PUNCT , _ 27 punct _ _ 23 who who PRON WP PronType=Rel 27 nsubj _ _ 24 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 27 cop _ _ 25 almost almost ADV RB _ 27 advmod _ _ 26 as as ADV RB _ 27 advmod _ _ 27 powerful powerful ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 16 conj _ _ 28 as as ADP IN _ 30 case _ _ 29 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 30 det _ _ 30 Emperor Emperor PROPN NNP Number=Sing 27 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 31 , , PUNCT , _ 35 punct _ _ 32 and and CCONJ CC _ 35 cc _ _ 33 at at ADP IN _ 35 case _ _ 34 whose whose PRON WP$ Poss=Yes|PronType=Rel 35 nmod:poss _ _ 35 word word NOUN NN Number=Sing 3 obl _ _ 36 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 37 det _ _ 37 man man NOUN NN Number=Sing 39 nsubj:pass _ _ 38 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 39 aux:pass _ _ 39 made make VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 35 acl:relcl _ _ 40 an a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 41 det _ _ 41 official official ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 39 xcomp _ _ 42 or or CCONJ CC _ 43 cc _ _ 43 deposed depose VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 41 conj _ SpaceAfter=No 44 , , PUNCT , _ 48 punct _ _ 45 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 48 nsubj _ _ 46 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 48 cop _ _ 47 greatly greatly ADV RB _ 48 advmod _ _ 48 troubled troubled ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 41 conj _ SpaceAfter=No 49 , , PUNCT , _ 54 punct _ _ 50 but but CCONJ CC _ 54 cc _ _ 51 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 54 nsubj _ _ 52 did do AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 54 aux _ _ 53 not not PART RB Polarity=Neg 54 advmod _ _ 54 dare dare VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 48 parataxis _ _ 55 refuse refuse NOUN NN Number=Sing 54 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 56 . . PUNCT . _ 3 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **inquire** *speech: other* | past | Kao Mr. | | | word | | | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V»: agent=Agent | | 2 | **is a** | past | Kao's master | | | | | | tree rules | | 3 | **learn** | past | master | | | | | | vn learn-14-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent | | 4 | **is a** | past | acquaintance | the steward | | | | of the great Yen | tree rules | | 5 | **is** | past | the steward | | | | | as the Emperor; almost, powerful *property* | tree rules | | 6 | **make** | past · passive | word *not said here* | a man | | | | official *property* | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: subject=Product | | 7 | **depose** | participle | word *not said here* | | | | | | vn remove-10.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent | | 8 | **is** | past | master | | | | | greatly, troubled *property* | tree rules | | 9 | **not** **dare** | past · do-support | master | refuse | | | | | vn urge-58.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent refuse=Recipient | 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 46](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg75089/17/46/) - next →: [sentence 48](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg75089/17/48/) - ↑ back to [A Story of Old China, part 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg75089/17/)