---
title: How little is known of the fierce, stupendous struggles in the long… — Gleanings from Chinese folklore · tree and pragmatics
description: How little is known of the fierce, stupendous struggles in the long ago, when China was not one country but was composed of many small kingdoms whose people were constantly fighting with each other for supremacy. Who acts: China, people. A sentence of «Gleanings from Chinese folklore» by Nellie Naom
---

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# Gleanings from Chinese folklore, A Chinese Hero, sentence 3

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How little is known of the fierce, stupendous struggles in the long ago, when China was not one country but was composed of many small kingdoms whose people were constantly fighting with each other for supremacy.

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**Who acts:** China, people · **What happens:** know, not be, compose, fight · **To what, where:** little, one country

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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 (China, people), 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:pg75089:9:3
# text = How little is known of the fierce, stupendous struggles in the long ago, when China was not one country but was composed of many small kingdoms whose people were constantly fighting with each other for supremacy.
1	How	how	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	2	advmod	_	_
2	little	little	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	known	know	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
7	fierce	fierce	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
9	stupendous	stupendous	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	struggles	struggle	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	_
11	in	in	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
13	long	long	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	14	advmod	_	_
14	ago	ago	ADV	RB	_	10	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	21	punct	_	_
16	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	21	advmod	_	_
17	China	China	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	21	nsubj	_	_
18	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	21	cop	_	_
19	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	21	advmod	_	_
20	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	21	nummod	_	_
21	country	country	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	conj	_	_
22	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	24	cc	_	_
23	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	24	aux:pass	_	_
24	composed	compose	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	conj	_	_
25	of	of	ADP	IN	_	28	case	_	_
26	many	many	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	28	amod	_	_
27	small	small	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	28	amod	_	_
28	kingdoms	kingdom	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	24	obl	_	_
29	whose	whose	PRON	WP$	Poss=Yes|PronType=Rel	30	nmod:poss	_	_
30	people	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	33	nsubj	_	_
31	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	33	aux	_	_
32	constantly	constantly	ADV	RB	_	33	advmod	_	_
33	fighting	fight	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	28	acl:relcl	_	_
34	with	with	ADP	IN	_	35	case	_	_
35	each	each	DET	DT	ExtPos=PRON|PronType=Rcp	33	obl	_	_
36	other	other	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	35	fixed	_	_
37	for	for	ADP	IN	_	38	case	_	_
38	supremacy	supremacy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	33	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
39	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **know** | present · passive |  | little |  |  |  | of the fierce stupendous struggles and one country | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: subject=Stimulus |
| 2 | **not** **is a** | past | China | one country |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **compose** | past · passive |  |  |  |  |  | of many small kingdoms | vn create-26.4-1 «NP V» |
| 4 | **fight** | past · progressive | people |  |  |  |  | with each; for supremacy; constantly *property* | vn battle-36.4-1 «NP V PP.co-agent»: agent=Agent with each=Co-Agent |

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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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