---
title: The kite has come to be, in Western lands, merely an amusement, but… — Gleanings from Chinese folklore · tree and pragmatics
description: The kite has come to be, in Western lands, merely an amusement, but in China, where it was probably invented, it ever carries with the sport the message, “Strength of mind is greater than strength of body.” Who acts: kite, Strength. A sentence of «Gleanings from Chinese folklore» by Nellie Naomi Rus
---

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# Gleanings from Chinese folklore, A Chinese Hero, sentence 102

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The kite has come to be, in Western lands, merely an amusement, but in China, where it was probably invented, it ever carries with the sport the message, “Strength of mind is greater than strength of body.”

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**Who acts:** kite, Strength · **What happens:** come, be, invent, carry · **To what, where:** Western lands, kite, China, message

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This is a sentence of «Gleanings from Chinese folklore» by Nellie Naomi Russell, A Chinese Hero. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (kite, Strength), 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:pg75089:9:102
# text = The kite has come to be, in Western lands, merely an amusement, but in China, where it was probably invented, it ever carries with the sport the message, “Strength of mind is greater than strength of body.”
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	kite	kite	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	has	have	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	come	come	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
5	to	to	PART	TO	_	6	mark	_	_
6	be	be	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
8	in	in	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	Western	western	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	lands	land	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
12	merely	merely	ADV	RB	_	14	advmod	_	_
13	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	amusement	amusement	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	24	punct	_	_
16	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	24	cc	_	_
17	in	in	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
18	China	China	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	24	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	24	punct	_	_
20	where	where	ADV	WRB	PronType=Rel	24	advmod	_	_
21	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	24	nsubj:pass	_	_
22	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	24	aux:pass	_	_
23	probably	probably	ADV	RB	_	24	advmod	_	_
24	invented	invent	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	parataxis	_	SpaceAfter=No
25	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	28	punct	_	_
26	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	28	nsubj	_	_
27	ever	ever	ADV	RB	PronType=Ind	28	advmod	_	_
28	carries	carry	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	24	conj	_	_
29	with	with	ADP	IN	_	31	case	_	_
30	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	31	det	_	_
31	sport	sport	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	28	obl	_	_
32	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	33	det	_	_
33	message	message	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	28	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
34	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	36	punct	_	_
35	“	"	PUNCT	``	_	36	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
36	Strength	strength	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	40	nsubj	_	_
37	of	of	ADP	IN	_	38	case	_	_
38	mind	mind	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	36	nmod	_	_
39	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	40	cop	_	_
40	greater	great	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	28	xcomp	_	_
41	than	than	ADP	IN	_	42	case	_	_
42	strength	strength	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	40	obl	_	_
43	of	of	ADP	IN	_	44	case	_	_
44	body	body	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	42	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
45	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
46	”	"	PUNCT	''	_	4	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **come** | present · perfect | the kite |  |  | Western lands and a amusement |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **be** | to-infinitive | the kite *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 3 | **invent** | past · passive |  | kite |  | China |  | probably *property* | vn create-26.4-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Result |
| 4 | **carry** | present | kite | the message |  |  | ever | with the sport | vn carry-11.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent message=Theme |
| 5 | **is** *in a quote* | present | Strength of mind |  |  |  |  | than strength of body; great *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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