---
title: When one of the British Legation buildings in Peking was being built… — Gleanings from Chinese folklore · tree and pragmatics
description: When one of the British Legation buildings in Peking was being built, they paid five dollars to have the song sung, and it is always the special for all large Chinese buildings. Who acts: father, song. A sentence of «Gleanings from Chinese folklore» by Nellie Naomi Russell, A Story of Old China, par
---

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# Gleanings from Chinese folklore, A Story of Old China, part 5, sentence 21

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When one of the British Legation buildings in Peking was being built, they paid five dollars to have the song sung, and it is always the special for all large Chinese buildings.

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**Who acts:** father, song · **What happens:** build, pay, have, sing, be · **To what, where:** one, five dollars, song

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This is a sentence of «Gleanings from Chinese folklore» by Nellie Naomi Russell, A Story of Old China, part 5. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (father, song), 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:pg75089:21:21
# text = When one of the British Legation buildings in Peking was being built, they paid five dollars to have the song sung, and it is always the special for all large Chinese buildings.
1	When	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	12	advmod	_	_
2	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	12	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
5	British	British	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
6	Legation	Legation	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	7	compound	_	_
7	buildings	building	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nmod	_	_
8	in	in	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	Peking	Peking	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	7	nmod	_	_
10	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	12	aux:pass	_	_
11	being	be	AUX	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	12	aux:pass	_	_
12	built	build	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	15	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
14	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	15	nsubj	_	_
15	paid	pay	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
16	five	five	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	17	nummod	_	_
17	dollars	dollar	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	15	obj	_	_
18	to	to	PART	TO	_	19	mark	_	_
19	have	have	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	15	advcl	_	_
20	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	21	det	_	_
21	song	song	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	19	obj	_	_
22	sung	sing	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	19	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	29	punct	_	_
24	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	29	cc	_	_
25	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	29	nsubj	_	_
26	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	29	cop	_	_
27	always	always	ADV	RB	PronType=Tot	29	advmod	_	_
28	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	29	det	_	_
29	special	special	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	15	conj	_	_
30	for	for	ADP	IN	_	34	case	_	_
31	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	34	det	_	_
32	large	large	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	34	amod	_	_
33	Chinese	Chinese	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	34	amod	_	_
34	buildings	building	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	29	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
35	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	15	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **build** | past · passive |  | one of the British Legation buildings in Peking |  |  |  |  | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: subject=Product |
| 2 | **pay** | past | father | five dollars |  |  |  |  | vn pay-68-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent dollar=Asset |
| 3 | **have** | to-infinitive | father *not said here* | the song |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 4 | **sing** *speech: express* | participle | the song *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn sound\_emission-43.2 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 5 | **is** | present | song |  |  |  |  | for all large Chinese buildings; always, special *property* | tree rules |

<!-- .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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