---
title: The third day Ting Lang was singing he caught sight of a lady sittin… — Gleanings from Chinese folklore · tree and pragmatics
description: The third day Ting Lang was singing he caught sight of a lady sitting by the window listening. Who acts: third day, Ting, lady. A sentence of «Gleanings from Chinese folklore» by Nellie Naomi Russell, A Story of Old China, part 3, with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of every clause.
---

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# Gleanings from Chinese folklore, A Story of Old China, part 3, sentence 16

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The third day Ting Lang was singing he caught sight of a lady sitting by the window listening.

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**Who acts:** third day, Ting, lady · **What happens:** sing, catch, sit, listen, sight · **To what, where:** sight, lady · **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 (third day, Ting, lady), 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:pg75089:19:16
# text = The third day Ting Lang was singing he caught sight of a lady sitting by the window listening.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	third	third	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos|NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord	3	amod	_	_
3	day	day	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
4	Ting	Ting	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	appos	_	_
5	Lang	Lang	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	flat	_	_
6	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	aux	_	_
7	singing	sing	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
8	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	nsubj	_	_
9	caught	catch	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	ccomp	_	_
10	sight	sight	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obj	_	_
11	of	of	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	lady	lady	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nmod	_	_
14	sitting	sit	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	13	acl	_	_
15	by	by	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
16	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
17	window	window	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	obl	_	_
18	listening	listen	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	14	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **sing** *speech: express* | past · progressive | the third day |  |  |  |  |  | vn manner\_speaking-37.3 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **catch** | past | Ting | sight of a lady |  |  |  |  | vn get-13.5.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent sight=Theme |
| 3 | **sit** | gerund | a lady *not said here* |  |  |  |  | by the window | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent by window=Location |
| 4 | **listen** | gerund | a lady *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn peer-30.3 «NP V PP.theme»: agent=Agent |
| 5 | **sight** |  |  | a lady |  |  |  |  | nom sight «cognition transitive»: of=patient |

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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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