---
title: It was a grievous sight that he saw; there was not a foot of earth o… — Stories of Charlemagne and the twelve Peers of F… · tree and pragmatics
description: It was a grievous sight that he saw; there was not a foot of earth on which there lay not the body of some Frenchman or heathen. Who acts: It, Roncesvalles, foot. A sentence of «Stories of Charlemagne and the twelve Peers of France» by Alfred John Church, How Charlemagne Sought Vengeance, with its d
---

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# Stories of Charlemagne and the twelve Peers of France, How Charlemagne Sought Vengeance, sentence 2

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It was a grievous sight that he saw; there was not a foot of earth on which there lay not the body of some Frenchman or heathen.

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**Who acts:** It, Roncesvalles, foot · **What happens:** be, see, not lie · **To what, where:** grievous sight, body, earth

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This is a sentence of «Stories of Charlemagne and the twelve Peers of France» by Alfred John Church, How Charlemagne Sought Vengeance. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (It, Roncesvalles, foot), 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:pg75339:36:2
# text = It was a grievous sight that he saw; there was not a foot of earth on which there lay not the body of some Frenchman or heathen.
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	grievous	grievous	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	sight	sight	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
6	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	8	mark	_	_
7	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	_
8	saw	see	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	acl:relcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	;	;	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
10	there	there	PRON	EX	PronType=Dem	11	expl	_	_
11	was	be	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	conj	_	_
12	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	14	advmod	_	_
13	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	foot	foot	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nsubj	_	_
15	of	of	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
16	earth	earth	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	nmod	_	_
17	on	on	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
18	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	20	obl	_	_
19	there	there	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	20	advmod	_	_
20	lay	lie	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	16	acl:relcl	_	_
21	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	20	advmod	_	_
22	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	23	det	_	_
23	body	body	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	20	obj	_	_
24	of	of	ADP	IN	_	26	case	_	_
25	some	some	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	26	det	_	_
26	Frenchman	frenchman	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	23	nmod	_	_
27	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	28	cc	_	_
28	heathen	heathen	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	26	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
29	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | past | It | a grievous sight |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **see** | past | Roncesvalles | a grievous sight *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer sight=Stimulus |
| 3 | **be** | past | a foot of earth |  |  | there |  |  | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 4 | **not** **lie** | past |  | the body of some Frenchman or heathen |  | earth; there |  |  | vn spatial\_configuration-47.6 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location body=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:** «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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