---
title: When he could no longer doubt he said, “My life is sweet because the… — Gleanings from Chinese folklore · tree and pragmatics
description: When he could no longer doubt he said, “My life is sweet because the gods have given me such a daughter. Who acts: father, doubt, life. A sentence of «Gleanings from Chinese folklore» by Nellie Naomi Russell, A Daughter of the Orient, with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of every clause.
---

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# Gleanings from Chinese folklore, A Daughter of the Orient, sentence 40

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When he could no longer doubt he said, “My life is sweet because the gods have given me such a daughter.

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**Who acts:** father, doubt, life · **What happens:** doubt, say, be, give · **To what, where:** gods, doubt · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is a sentence of «Gleanings from Chinese folklore» by Nellie Naomi Russell, A Daughter of the Orient. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (father, doubt, life), 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:pg75089:7:40
# text = When he could no longer doubt he said, “My life is sweet because the gods have given me such a daughter.
1	When	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	6	advmod	_	_
2	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj	_	_
3	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
4	no	no	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	longer	long	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	6	advmod	_	_
6	doubt	doubt	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
7	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	_
8	said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
10	“	"	PUNCT	``	_	14	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	My	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	12	nmod:poss	_	_
12	life	life	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	nsubj	_	_
13	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	14	cop	_	_
14	sweet	sweet	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	ccomp	_	_
15	because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	19	mark	_	_
16	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
17	gods	god	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	19	nsubj:pass	_	_
18	have	have	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	19	aux	_	_
19	given	give	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	14	advcl	_	_
20	me	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	19	iobj	_	_
21	such	such	DET	PDT	PronType=Ind	23	det:predet	_	_
22	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	23	det	_	_
23	daughter	daughter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	19	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
24	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	8	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **doubt** | could | father |  |  |  |  | long *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | doubt |  |  |  |  | father *nsubj* | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **is** *in a quote* | present | My life |  |  |  |  | sweet *property* | tree rules |
| 4 | **give** *in a quote* | present · perfect · passive |  | the gods | doubt |  |  | such daughter *obl* | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP-Dative NP»: subject=Recipient i=Theme |

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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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