---
title: Therefore he besieged the place meaning to reduce it by famine, for… — Stories of Charlemagne and the twelve Peers of F… · tree and pragmatics
description: Therefore he besieged the place meaning to reduce it by famine, for he perceived that it could not be taken by force. Who acts: King, force. A sentence of «Stories of Charlemagne and the twelve Peers of France» by Alfred John Church, Of the Treachery of King John, with its dependency tree and the pr
---

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# Stories of Charlemagne and the twelve Peers of France, Of the Treachery of King John, sentence 14

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Therefore he besieged the place meaning to reduce it by famine, for he perceived that it could not be taken by force.

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**Who acts:** King, force · **What happens:** besiege, mean, reduce, perceive, not take · **To what, where:** place, it

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This is a sentence of «Stories of Charlemagne and the twelve Peers of France» by Alfred John Church, Of the Treachery of King John. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (King, force), 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:pg75339:7:14
# text = Therefore he besieged the place meaning to reduce it by famine, for he perceived that it could not be taken by force.
1	Therefore	therefore	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
2	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
3	besieged	besiege	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	place	place	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	meaning	mean	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	3	advcl	_	_
7	to	to	PART	TO	_	8	mark	_	_
8	reduce	reduce	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	xcomp	_	_
9	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	obj	_	_
10	by	by	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	famine	famine	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	15	punct	_	_
13	for	for	SCONJ	IN	_	15	mark	_	_
14	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	15	nsubj	_	_
15	perceived	perceive	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
16	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	21	mark	_	_
17	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	21	nsubj:pass	_	_
18	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	21	aux	_	_
19	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	21	advmod	_	_
20	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	21	aux:pass	_	_
21	taken	take	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	15	ccomp	_	_
22	by	by	ADP	IN	_	23	case	_	_
23	force	force	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	21	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
24	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **besiege** | past | King | the place |  |  |  | therefore *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **mean** | gerund | King *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 3 | **reduce** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | King *not said here* | place |  |  |  | by famine | vn limit-76 «NP V NP»: agent=Causer it=Patient |
| 4 | **perceive** | past | King |  |  |  |  |  | vn see-30.1-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Experiencer clause=Stimulus |
| 5 | **not** **take** | could · passive | force | it |  |  |  |  | vn bring-11.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=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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