---
title: Balan, who was admiral of the Moors in Spain, had a son, Fierabras b… — Stories of Charlemagne and the twelve Peers of F… · tree and pragmatics
description: Balan, who was admiral of the Moors in Spain, had a son, Fierabras by name, who was the most marvellous giant that ever was born of woman. Who acts: Balan, name. A sentence of «Stories of Charlemagne and the twelve Peers of France» by Alfred John Church, How Fierabras Defied King Charles, with its d
---

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# Stories of Charlemagne and the twelve Peers of France, How Fierabras Defied King Charles, sentence 1

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Balan, who was admiral of the Moors in Spain, had a son, Fierabras by name, who was the most marvellous giant that ever was born of woman.

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**Who acts:** Balan, name · **What happens:** be, have, bear · **To what, where:** admiral, son, marvellous giant

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This is a sentence of «Stories of Charlemagne and the twelve Peers of France» by Alfred John Church, How Fierabras Defied King Charles. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (Balan, name), 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:pg75339:16:1
# text = Balan, who was admiral of the Moors in Spain, had a son, Fierabras by name, who was the most marvellous giant that ever was born of woman.
1	Balan	Balan	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	12	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	5	punct	_	_
3	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	5	nsubj	_	_
4	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
5	admiral	admiral	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	appos	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	Moors	moor	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nmod	_	_
9	in	in	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	Spain	Spain	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	8	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
12	had	have	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
13	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	son	son	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	16	punct	_	_
16	Fierabras	Fierabras	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	14	appos	_	_
17	by	by	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
18	name	name	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	25	punct	_	_
20	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	25	nsubj	_	_
21	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	25	cop	_	_
22	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	25	det	_	_
23	most	most	ADV	RBS	Degree=Sup	24	advmod	_	_
24	marvellous	marvellous	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	25	amod	_	_
25	giant	giant	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	appos	_	_
26	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	29	nsubj:pass	_	_
27	ever	ever	ADV	RB	PronType=Ind	29	advmod	_	_
28	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	29	aux:pass	_	_
29	born	bear	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	25	acl:relcl	_	_
30	of	of	ADP	IN	_	31	case	_	_
31	woman	woman	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	29	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
32	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	12	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | past | Balan | admiral |  |  |  | of the Moors in Spain | tree rules |
| 2 | **have** | past | Balan | a son |  |  |  | by name | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent son=Patient |
| 3 | **is a** | past | name | the marvellous giant |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 4 | **bear** | past · passive |  | the marvellous giant |  |  | ever | of woman | vn birth-28.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Patient |

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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:** «Stories of Charlemagne and the twelve Peers of France» by Alfred John Church, Project Gutenberg book 75339 (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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