--- title: He had in his hand a broken comb and, spread out before him, a part… — Gleanings from Chinese folklore · tree and pragmatics description: He had in his hand a broken comb and, spread out before him, a part of a silk handkerchief and a broken mirror, and with tears in his eyes Mr. Tu waved the men aside and asked the boy who he was and where he came from. Who acts: lot, Tu. A sentence of «Gleanings from Chinese folklore» by Nellie Naom --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg75089/18/110/) [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 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg75089/18/) / 110 # Gleanings from Chinese folklore, A Story of Old China, part 2, sentence 110 He had in his hand a broken comb and, spread out before him, a part of a silk handkerchief and a broken mirror, and with tears in his eyes Mr. Tu waved the men aside and asked the boy who he was and where he came from. **Who acts:** lot, Tu · **What happens:** have, break, spread out, wave, ask, come · **To what, where:** broken comb, hand, men, boy This is a sentence of «Gleanings from Chinese folklore» by Nellie Naomi Russell, A Story of Old China, part 2. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (lot, Tu), 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:pg75089:18:110 # text = He had in his hand a broken comb and, spread out before him, a part of a silk handkerchief and a broken mirror, and with tears in his eyes Mr. Tu waved the men aside and asked the boy who he was and where he came from. 1 He he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 2 nsubj _ _ 2 had have VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 3 in in ADP IN _ 5 case _ _ 4 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 5 nmod:poss _ _ 5 hand hand NOUN NN Number=Sing 2 obl _ _ 6 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 8 det _ _ 7 broken break VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 8 amod _ _ 8 comb comb NOUN NN Number=Sing 2 obj _ _ 9 and and CCONJ CC _ 11 cc _ SpaceAfter=No 10 , , PUNCT , _ 11 punct _ _ 11 spread spread VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 2 conj _ _ 12 out out ADP RP _ 11 compound:prt _ _ 13 before before ADP IN _ 14 case _ _ 14 him he PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 11 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 15 , , PUNCT , _ 17 punct _ _ 16 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 17 det _ _ 17 part part NOUN NN Number=Sing 14 conj _ _ 18 of of ADP IN _ 21 case _ _ 19 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 21 det _ _ 20 silk silk NOUN NN Number=Sing 21 compound _ _ 21 handkerchief handkerchief NOUN NN Number=Sing 17 nmod _ _ 22 and and CCONJ CC _ 25 cc _ _ 23 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 25 det _ _ 24 broken break VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 25 amod _ _ 25 mirror mirror NOUN NN Number=Sing 21 conj _ SpaceAfter=No 26 , , PUNCT , _ 35 punct _ _ 27 and and CCONJ CC _ 35 cc _ _ 28 with with ADP IN _ 29 case _ _ 29 tears tear NOUN NNS Number=Plur 35 obl _ _ 30 in in ADP IN _ 32 case _ _ 31 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 32 nmod:poss _ _ 32 eyes eye NOUN NNS Number=Plur 29 nmod _ _ 33 Mr. Mr. PROPN NNP Number=Sing 34 nmod:desc _ _ 34 Tu Tu PROPN NNP Number=Sing 35 nsubj _ _ 35 waved wave VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 2 conj _ _ 36 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 37 det _ _ 37 men man NOUN NNS Number=Plur 35 obj _ _ 38 aside aside ADV RB _ 35 advmod _ _ 39 and and CCONJ CC _ 40 cc _ _ 40 asked ask VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 2 parataxis _ _ 41 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 42 det _ _ 42 boy boy NOUN NN Number=Sing 40 iobj _ _ 43 who who PRON WP PronType=Rel 46 nsubj _ _ 44 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 46 nsubj _ _ 45 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 46 cop _ _ 46 and and CCONJ CC _ 42 cc _ _ 47 where where ADV WRB PronType=Rel 49 advmod _ _ 48 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 49 nsubj _ _ 49 came come VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 46 advcl _ _ 50 from from ADP IN _ 49 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 51 . . PUNCT . _ 2 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **have** | past | lot | a broken comb | | lot's hand | | | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent comb=Patient | | 2 | **break** | participle | | | | | | | vn hurt-40.8.3-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Patient | | 3 | **spread out** | participle | lot *not said here* | | | | before lot | | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme before he=Location | | 4 | **break** | participle | | | | | | | vn hurt-40.8.3-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Patient | | 5 | **wave** | past | Tu Mr. | the men | | | | with tears in lot's eyes; aside *property* | vn wink-40.3.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent man=Patient | | 6 | **ask** *speech: ask* | past | | | the boy | | | | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent boy=Recipient | | 7 | **come** | past | lot | | | | | | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | 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 109](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg75089/18/109/) - next →: [sentence 111](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg75089/18/111/) - ↑ back to [A Story of Old China, part 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg75089/18/)