---
title: To this Ting Lang replied, “At first we were supported by my grandpa… — Gleanings from Chinese folklore · tree and pragmatics
description: To this Ting Lang replied, “At first we were supported by my grandparents, but they are dead now; died poor, and my mother, for some time, has had to take in washing. Who acts: Lang, grandparents, mother. A sentence of «Gleanings from Chinese folklore» by Nellie Naomi Russell, A Story of Old China, 
---

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# Gleanings from Chinese folklore, A Story of Old China, part 3, sentence 34

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To this Ting Lang replied, “At first we were supported by my grandparents, but they are dead now; died poor, and my mother, for some time, has had to take in washing.

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**Who acts:** Lang, grandparents, mother · **What happens:** reply, support, be, die, have, take in · **To what, where:** Ting, we, washing · **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 (Lang, grandparents, mother), 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:pg75089:19:34
# text = To this Ting Lang replied, “At first we were supported by my grandparents, but they are dead now; died poor, and my mother, for some time, has had to take in washing.
1	To	to	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
2	this	this	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	3	det	_	_
3	Ting	ting	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
4	Lang	Lang	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
5	replied	reply	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
7	“	"	PUNCT	``	_	12	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	At	at	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	first	first	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord	12	obl	_	_
10	we	we	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs	12	nsubj	_	_
11	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	12	aux:pass	_	_
12	supported	support	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	5	ccomp	_	_
13	by	by	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
14	my	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	15	nmod:poss	_	_
15	grandparents	grandparent	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	12	obl:agent	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	20	punct	_	_
17	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	20	cc	_	_
18	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	20	nsubj	_	_
19	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	20	cop	_	_
20	dead	dead	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	advcl	_	_
21	now	now	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	20	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	23	punct	_	_
23	died	die	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	parataxis	_	_
24	poor	poor	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	23	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
25	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	35	punct	_	_
26	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	35	cc	_	_
27	my	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	28	nmod:poss	_	_
28	mother	mother	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	35	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
29	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	32	punct	_	_
30	for	for	ADP	IN	_	32	case	_	_
31	some	some	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	32	det	_	_
32	time	time	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	28	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
33	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	28	punct	_	_
34	has	have	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	35	aux	_	_
35	had	have	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	23	conj	_	_
36	to	to	PART	TO	_	37	mark	_	_
37	take	take	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	35	xcomp	_	_
38	in	in	ADP	RP	_	37	compound:prt	_	_
39	washing	washing	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	37	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
40	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **reply** *speech: assert* | past | Lang |  | this Ting |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1 «NP V PP.recipient S-Quote»: agent=Agent to ting=Recipient clause=Topic |
| 2 | **support** *in a quote* | past · passive | my grandparents | we |  |  |  |  | vn admire-31.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer subject=Stimulus |
| 3 | **is** *in a quote* | present | grandparents *= grandparent* |  |  |  | now | dead *property* | tree rules |
| 4 | **die** *in a quote* | past |  |  |  |  |  | poor *property* | vn calibratable\_cos-45.6.1 «NP.attribute V»: agent=Attribute |
| 5 | **have** *in a quote* | present · perfect | my mother and some time |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 6 | **take in** *in a quote* | to-infinitive | my mother and some time *not said here* | washing |  |  |  |  | vn bring-11.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent washing=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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