---
title: As they returned to the gate the neighbours said, “Although she is s… — Gleanings from Chinese folklore · tree and pragmatics
description: As they returned to the gate the neighbours said, “Although she is so poor, she is most particular as to observing good customs.” Who acts: neighbours, Yü. A sentence of «Gleanings from Chinese folklore» by Nellie Naomi Russell, A Story of Old China, part 3, with its dependency tree and the pragmati
---

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# Gleanings from Chinese folklore, A Story of Old China, part 3, sentence 139

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As they returned to the gate the neighbours said, “Although she is so poor, she is most particular as to observing good customs.”

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**Who acts:** neighbours, Yü · **What happens:** return, say, be, observe · **To what, where:** good customs · **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 3. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (neighbours, Yü), 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:pg75089:19:139
# text = As they returned to the gate the neighbours said, “Although she is so poor, she is most particular as to observing good customs.”
1	As	as	SCONJ	IN	_	3	mark	_	_
2	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
3	returned	return	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	9	advcl	_	_
4	to	to	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	gate	gate	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	neighbours	neighbour	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	nsubj	_	_
9	said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	21	punct	_	_
11	“	"	PUNCT	``	_	21	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	Although	although	SCONJ	IN	_	16	mark	_	_
13	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	16	nsubj	_	_
14	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	16	cop	_	_
15	so	so	ADV	RB	_	16	advmod	_	_
16	poor	poor	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	21	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	16	punct	_	_
18	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	21	nsubj	_	_
19	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	21	cop	_	_
20	most	most	ADV	RBS	Degree=Sup	21	advmod	_	_
21	particular	particular	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	ccomp	_	_
22	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	24	mark	_	_
23	to	to	ADP	IN	_	22	fixed	_	_
24	observing	observe	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	21	advcl	_	_
25	good	good	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	26	amod	_	_
26	customs	custom	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	24	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
27	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	9	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
28	”	"	PUNCT	''	_	9	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **return** | past | neighbours *= neighbour* |  |  |  |  | to the gate *result* | vn convert-26.6.2-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Patient to gate=Result |
| 2 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | the neighbours |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **is** *in a quote* | present | Yü |  |  |  |  | poor *property* | tree rules |
| 4 | **is** *in a quote* | present | Yü |  |  |  |  | particular *property* | tree rules |
| 5 | **observe** *in a quote* | gerund | Yü *not said here* | good customs |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: agent=Agent custom=Topic |

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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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