---
title: Nien Chi urged Mr. Kao to introduce him that day, but the latter cha… — Gleanings from Chinese folklore · tree and pragmatics
description: Nien Chi urged Mr. Kao to introduce him that day, but the latter changed the subject of conversation, and then Nien Chi proposed that they should see who could take the most wine. Who acts: Nien, latter, servants. A sentence of «Gleanings from Chinese folklore» by Nellie Naomi Russell, A Story of Ol
---

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# Gleanings from Chinese folklore, A Story of Old China, part 1, sentence 54

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Nien Chi urged Mr. Kao to introduce him that day, but the latter changed the subject of conversation, and then Nien Chi proposed that they should see who could take the most wine.

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**Who acts:** Nien, latter, servants · **What happens:** urge, introduce, change, propose, see, take · **To what, where:** Kao, subject, most wine · **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 (Nien, latter, servants), 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:pg75089:17:54
# text = Nien Chi urged Mr. Kao to introduce him that day, but the latter changed the subject of conversation, and then Nien Chi proposed that they should see who could take the most wine.
1	Nien	Nien	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
2	Chi	Chi	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	1	flat	_	_
3	urged	urge	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	Mr.	Mr.	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	5	nmod:desc	_	_
5	Kao	Kao	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
7	introduce	introduce	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	xcomp	_	_
8	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	obj	_	_
9	that	that	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	10	det	_	_
10	day	day	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl:unmarked	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	15	punct	_	_
12	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	15	cc	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	latter	latter	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	15	nsubj	_	_
15	changed	change	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
16	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
17	subject	subject	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	obj	_	_
18	of	of	ADP	IN	_	19	case	_	_
19	conversation	conversation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	25	punct	_	_
21	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	25	cc	_	_
22	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	25	advmod	_	_
23	Nien	Nien	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	25	nsubj	_	_
24	Chi	Chi	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	23	flat	_	_
25	proposed	propose	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
26	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	29	mark	_	_
27	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	29	nsubj	_	_
28	should	should	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	29	aux	_	_
29	see	see	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	25	ccomp	_	_
30	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	32	nsubj	_	_
31	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	32	aux	_	_
32	take	take	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	29	ccomp	_	_
33	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	35	det	_	_
34	most	most	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	35	amod	_	_
35	wine	wine	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	32	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
36	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **urge** | past | Nien | Kao  Mr. |  |  |  |  | vn urge-58.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent kao=Recipient clause=Topic |
| 2 | **introduce** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | Nien *not said here* | Kao |  |  | day |  | vn amalgamate-22.2-3-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent he=Patient |
| 3 | **change** | past | the latter | the subject of conversation |  |  |  |  | vn dress-41.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=Patient |
| 4 | **propose** | past | Nien |  |  |  | then |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 5 | **see** | should | servants *= servant* |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V how S\_INF»: agent=Experiencer clause=Stimulus |
| 6 | **take** | could |  | the most wine |  |  |  | who *nsubj* | vn bring-11.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent wine=Theme |

<!-- .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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