--- title: On hearing this the gentleman said, “I have a proposition to make to… — Gleanings from Chinese folklore · tree and pragmatics description: On hearing this the gentleman said, “I have a proposition to make to you; I am a rich man and have large estates, but I have no son to inherit them or care for me when I am old. Who acts: I, son. A sentence of «Gleanings from Chinese folklore» by Nellie Naomi Russell, A Story of Old China, part 2, w --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg75089/18/91/) [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/) / 91 # Gleanings from Chinese folklore, A Story of Old China, part 2, sentence 91 On hearing this the gentleman said, “I have a proposition to make to you; I am a rich man and have large estates, but I have no son to inherit them or care for me when I am old. **Who acts:** I, son · **What happens:** hear, say, have, make, be, inherit · **To what, where:** this, proposition, you, rich man, large estates, son · **Speech:** someone speaks here 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 (I, son), 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:pg75089:18:91 # text = On hearing this the gentleman said, “I have a proposition to make to you; I am a rich man and have large estates, but I have no son to inherit them or care for me when I am old. 1 On on SCONJ IN _ 2 mark _ _ 2 hearing hear VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 6 advcl _ _ 3 this this PRON DT Number=Sing|PronType=Dem 2 obj _ _ 4 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 5 det _ _ 5 gentleman gentleman NOUN NN Number=Sing 2 obj _ _ 6 said say VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ SpaceAfter=No 7 , , PUNCT , _ 10 punct _ _ 8 “ " PUNCT `` _ 10 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 9 I I PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs 10 nsubj _ _ 10 have have VERB VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 6 ccomp _ _ 11 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 12 det _ _ 12 proposition proposition NOUN NN Number=Sing 10 obj _ _ 13 to to PART TO _ 14 mark _ _ 14 make make VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 12 acl _ _ 15 to to ADP IN _ 16 case _ _ 16 you you PRON PRP Case=Acc|Person=2|PronType=Prs 14 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 17 ; ; PUNCT , _ 22 punct _ _ 18 I I PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs 22 nsubj _ _ 19 am be AUX VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 22 cop _ _ 20 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 22 det _ _ 21 rich rich ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 22 amod _ _ 22 man man NOUN NN Number=Sing 6 ccomp _ _ 23 and and CCONJ CC _ 24 cc _ _ 24 have have VERB VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 22 conj _ _ 25 large large ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 26 amod _ _ 26 estates estate NOUN NNS Number=Plur 24 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 27 , , PUNCT , _ 30 punct _ _ 28 but but CCONJ CC _ 30 cc _ _ 29 I I PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs 30 nsubj _ _ 30 have have VERB VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 6 conj _ _ 31 no no DET DT PronType=Neg 32 det _ _ 32 son son NOUN NN Number=Sing 30 obj _ _ 33 to to PART TO _ 34 mark _ _ 34 inherit inherit VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 30 xcomp _ _ 35 them they PRON PRP Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 34 obj _ _ 36 or or CCONJ CC _ 37 cc _ _ 37 care care VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 34 conj _ _ 38 for for ADP IN _ 39 case _ _ 39 me I PRON PRP Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs 37 obl _ _ 40 when when SCONJ WRB _ 43 mark _ _ 41 I I PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs 43 nsubj _ _ 42 am be AUX VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 43 cop _ _ 43 old old ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 37 advcl _ SpaceAfter=No 44 . . PUNCT . _ 6 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **hear** | gerund | | this | | | | the gentleman *obj* | tree rules | | 2 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | | | | | | | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic | | 3 | **have** *in a quote* | present | I | a proposition | | | | | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent proposition=Patient | | 4 | **make** *in a quote* | to-infinitive | I *not said here* | a proposition *not said here* | you | | | | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset | | 5 | **is a** *in a quote* | present | I | a rich man | | | | | tree rules | | 6 | **have** *in a quote* | present | I *not said here* | large estates | | | | | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent estate=Patient | | 7 | **have** *in a quote* | present | I | no son | | | | | tree rules | | 8 | **inherit** *in a quote* | to-infinitive | no son *not said here* | estates *= estate* | | | | | vn obtain-13.5.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent they=Theme | | 9 | **care** *in a quote* | infinitive | no son *not said here* | | | | | for me | vn caring-75.2-2 «NP V PP»: agent=Agent for i=Theme | | 10 | **is** *in a quote* | present | I | | | | | old *property* | tree rules | 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 90](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg75089/18/90/) - next →: [sentence 92](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg75089/18/92/) - ↑ back to [A Story of Old China, part 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg75089/18/)