---
title: “These words of Count Julian,” said he, “may be false and deceitful;… — Legends of the conquest of Spain · tree and pragmatics
description: “These words of Count Julian,” said he, “may be false and deceitful; or he may not possess the power to fulfil his promises. Who acts: words, JULIAN. A sentence of «Legends of the conquest of Spain» by Washington Irving, Chapter IX., with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of every clause.
---

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# Legends of the conquest of Spain, Chapter IX., sentence 20

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“These words of Count Julian,” said he, “may be false and deceitful; or he may not possess the power to fulfil his promises.

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**Who acts:** words, JULIAN · **What happens:** say, be, not possess, fulfil, word, promise · **To what, where:** power, promises, Count Julian · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is a sentence of «Legends of the conquest of Spain» by Washington Irving, Chapter IX.. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (words, JULIAN), 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:pg77685:10:20
# text = “These words of Count Julian,” said he, “may be false and deceitful; or he may not possess the power to fulfil his promises.
1	“	"	PUNCT	``	_	9	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	These	this	DET	DT	Number=Plur|PronType=Dem	3	det	_	_
3	words	word	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	nsubj	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	Count	Count	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	6	compound	_	_
6	Julian	Julian	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	3	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	”	"	PUNCT	''	_	3	punct	_	_
9	said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
10	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	15	punct	_	_
12	“	"	PUNCT	``	_	15	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	may	may	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	15	aux	_	_
14	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	15	cop	_	_
15	false	false	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	parataxis	_	_
16	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	17	cc	_	_
17	deceitful	deceitful	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	15	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	;	;	PUNCT	,	_	23	punct	_	_
19	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	23	cc	_	_
20	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	23	nsubj	_	_
21	may	may	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	23	aux	_	_
22	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	23	advmod	_	_
23	possess	possess	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	9	conj	_	_
24	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	25	det	_	_
25	power	power	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	23	obj	_	_
26	to	to	PART	TO	_	27	mark	_	_
27	fulfil	fulfil	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	23	advcl	_	_
28	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	29	nmod:poss	_	_
29	promises	promise	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	27	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
30	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	9	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | this words of Count Julian |  |  |  |  | JULIAN *nsubj* | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **is** *in a quote* | may |  |  |  |  |  | false *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **be** *in a quote* |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 4 | **not** **possess** *in a quote* | may | JULIAN | the power |  |  |  |  | vn own-100.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot power=Theme |
| 5 | **fulfil** *in a quote* | to-infinitive | JULIAN *not said here* | JULIAN's promises |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 6 | **word** *in a quote* |  |  | Count Julian |  |  |  |  | nom word «communication transitive»: of=patient |
| 7 | **promise** *in a quote* |  | JULIAN |  |  |  |  |  | nom promise «communication transitive»: poss=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:** «Legends of the conquest of Spain» by Washington Irving, Project Gutenberg book 77685 (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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