---
title: When the man heard the salutation, he said, "Sir, speak softly, I pr… — Stories of Charlemagne and the twelve Peers of F… · tree and pragmatics
description: When the man heard the salutation, he said, "Sir, speak softly, I pray you; if the Duke of this city should know you to be Christian man, he would assuredly slay you. Who acts: man, Sir, Duke. A sentence of «Stories of Charlemagne and the twelve Peers of France» by Alfred John Church, Of the End of 
---

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# Stories of Charlemagne and the twelve Peers of France, Of the End of the False Duke Macaire, sentence 4

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When the man heard the salutation, he said, "Sir, speak softly, I pray you; if the Duke of this city should know you to be Christian man, he would assuredly slay you.

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**Who acts:** man, Sir, Duke · **What happens:** hear, say, speak, pray, know, be · **To what, where:** salutation, you, Christian man · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is a sentence of «Stories of Charlemagne and the twelve Peers of France» by Alfred John Church, Of the End of the False Duke Macaire. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (man, Sir, Duke), 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:pg75339:40:4
# text = When the man heard the salutation, he said, "Sir, speak softly, I pray you; if the Duke of this city should know you to be Christian man, he would assuredly slay you.
1	When	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	4	advmod	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	man	man	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	heard	hear	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	9	advcl	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	salutation	salutation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	4	punct	_	_
8	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	nsubj	_	_
9	said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
11	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	14	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	Sir	Sir	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	14	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
14	speak	speak	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	9	ccomp	_	_
15	softly	softly	ADV	RB	_	14	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	18	punct	_	_
17	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	18	nsubj	_	_
18	pray	pray	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	14	conj	_	_
19	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Person=2|PronType=Prs	18	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	28	punct	_	_
21	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	28	mark	_	_
22	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	23	det	_	_
23	Duke	Duke	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	28	nsubj	_	_
24	of	of	ADP	IN	_	26	case	_	_
25	this	this	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	26	det	_	_
26	city	city	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	23	nmod	_	_
27	should	should	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	28	aux	_	_
28	know	know	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	9	ccomp	_	_
29	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Person=2|PronType=Prs	28	obj	_	_
30	to	to	PART	TO	_	33	mark	_	_
31	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	33	cop	_	_
32	Christian	Christian	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	33	amod	_	_
33	man	man	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	28	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
34	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	38	punct	_	_
35	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	38	nsubj	_	_
36	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	38	aux	_	_
37	assuredly	assuredly	ADV	RB	_	38	advmod	_	_
38	slay	slay	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	28	conj	_	_
39	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Person=2|PronType=Prs	38	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
40	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	9	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **hear** | past | the man | the salutation |  |  |  |  | vn see-30.1-1-1 «NP V S»: agent=Experiencer salutation=Stimulus |
| 2 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | man |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 3 | **speak** *speech: other* *in a quote* | infinitive | Sir |  |  |  |  | softly *property* | vn talk-37.5 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 4 | **pray** *in a quote* | present | man | you |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 5 | **know** *a condition, not said to happen, in a quote* | should | the Duke of this city | you |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Experiencer you=Stimulus |
| 6 | **is a** *in a quote* | to-infinitive |  | Christian man |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 7 | **slay** *in a quote* | would | man | you |  |  |  | assuredly *property* | vn murder-42.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent you=Patient |

<!-- .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:** «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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