---
title: “Senior,” said she, “I am an ancient woman; and it is now full sixty… — Legends of the conquest of Spain · tree and pragmatics
description: “Senior,” said she, “I am an ancient woman; and it is now full sixty years, past and gone, since, as I was keeping vigils one winter’s night by the fireside, I heard my father, who was an exceeding old man, read a prophecy, said to have been written by a holy friar; and this was the purport of the p
---

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# Legends of the conquest of Spain, Letter of Muza to the Caliph.—second Expedition of Taric El Tuerto., sentence 30

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“Senior,” said she, “I am an ancient woman; and it is now full sixty years, past and gone, since, as I was keeping vigils one winter’s night by the fireside, I heard my father, who was an exceeding old man, read a prophecy, said to have been written by a holy friar; and this was the purport of the prophecy: that a time would arrive when our country would be invaded and conquered by a people from Africa, of a strange garb, a strange tongue, and a strange religion.

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**Who acts:** female, presence, father, holy friar, this, time · **What happens:** say, be, keep, hear, exceed, read · **To what, where:** ancient woman, full sixty years, vigils, father, exceeding old man, prophecy · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is a sentence of «Legends of the conquest of Spain» by Washington Irving, Letter of Muza to the Caliph.—second Expedition of Taric El Tuerto.. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (female, presence, father, holy friar), 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:pg77685:11:30
# text = “Senior,” said she, “I am an ancient woman; and it is now full sixty years, past and gone, since, as I was keeping vigils one winter’s night by the fireside, I heard my father, who was an exceeding old man, read a prophecy, said to have been written by a holy friar; and this was the purport of the prophecy: that a time would arrive when our country would be invaded and conquered by a people from Africa, of a strange garb, a strange tongue, and a strange religion.
1	“	"	PUNCT	``	_	5	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	Senior	senior	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	2	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	”	"	PUNCT	''	_	2	punct	_	_
5	said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
8	“	"	PUNCT	``	_	13	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	13	nsubj	_	_
10	am	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	13	cop	_	_
11	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
12	ancient	ancient	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	13	amod	_	_
13	woman	woman	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	;	;	PUNCT	,	_	21	punct	_	_
15	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	21	cc	_	_
16	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	21	nsubj	_	_
17	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	21	cop	_	_
18	now	now	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	21	advmod	_	_
19	full	full	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	21	amod	_	_
20	sixty	sixty	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	21	nummod	_	_
21	years	year	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	23	punct	_	_
23	past	past	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	21	conj	_	_
24	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	25	cc	_	_
25	gone	gone	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	23	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
26	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	27	punct	_	_
27	since	since	ADV	RB	_	23	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
28	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	32	punct	_	_
29	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	32	mark	_	_
30	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	32	nsubj	_	_
31	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	32	aux	_	_
32	keeping	keep	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	5	advcl	_	_
33	vigils	vigil	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	32	obj	_	_
34	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	35	nummod	_	_
35	winter	winter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	37	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
36	’s	's	PART	POS	_	35	case	_	_
37	night	night	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	32	obl:unmarked	_	_
38	by	by	ADP	IN	_	40	case	_	_
39	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	40	det	_	_
40	fireside	fireside	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	32	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
41	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	43	punct	_	_
42	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	43	nsubj	_	_
43	heard	hear	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	parataxis	_	_
44	my	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	45	nmod:poss	_	_
45	father	father	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	43	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
46	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	52	punct	_	_
47	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	52	nsubj	_	_
48	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	52	cop	_	_
49	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	52	det	_	_
50	exceeding	exceed	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	52	amod	_	_
51	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	52	amod	_	_
52	man	man	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	45	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
53	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	54	punct	_	_
54	read	read	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	43	conj	_	_
55	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	56	det	_	_
56	prophecy	prophecy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	54	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
57	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	58	punct	_	_
58	said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	43	conj	_	_
59	to	to	PART	TO	_	62	mark	_	_
60	have	have	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	62	aux	_	_
61	been	be	AUX	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	62	aux:pass	_	_
62	written	write	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	58	ccomp	_	_
63	by	by	ADP	IN	_	66	case	_	_
64	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	66	det	_	_
65	holy	holy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	66	amod	_	_
66	friar	friar	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	62	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
67	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	72	punct	_	_
68	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	72	cc	_	_
69	this	this	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	72	nsubj	_	_
70	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	72	cop	_	_
71	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	72	det	_	_
72	purport	purport	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	parataxis	_	_
73	of	of	ADP	IN	_	75	case	_	_
74	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	75	det	_	_
75	prophecy	prophecy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	72	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
76	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	81	punct	_	_
77	that	that	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	79	det	_	_
78	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	79	det	_	_
79	time	time	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	81	nsubj	_	_
80	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	81	aux	_	_
81	arrive	arrive	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	72	parataxis	_	_
82	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	87	advmod	_	_
83	our	our	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	84	nmod:poss	_	_
84	country	country	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	87	nsubj:pass	_	_
85	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	87	aux	_	_
86	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	87	aux:pass	_	_
87	invaded	invade	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	81	advcl	_	_
88	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	89	cc	_	_
89	conquered	conquer	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	87	conj	_	_
90	by	by	ADP	IN	_	92	case	_	_
91	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	92	det	_	_
92	people	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	87	obl:agent	_	_
93	from	from	ADP	IN	_	94	case	_	_
94	Africa	Africa	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	92	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
95	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	99	punct	_	_
96	of	of	ADP	IN	_	99	case	_	_
97	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	99	det	_	_
98	strange	strange	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	99	amod	_	_
99	garb	garb	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	87	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
100	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	103	punct	_	_
101	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	103	det	_	_
102	strange	strange	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	103	amod	_	_
103	tongue	tongue	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	99	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
104	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	108	punct	_	_
105	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	108	cc	_	_
106	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	108	det	_	_
107	strange	strange	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	108	amod	_	_
108	religion	religion	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	72	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
109	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | female |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **is a** *in a quote* | present | female | a ancient woman |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **is a** *in a quote* | present | presence | full sixty years |  |  | now |  | tree rules |
| 4 | **be** *in a quote* |  | presence *not said here* |  |  |  |  | since *property* | tree rules |
| 5 | **keep** *in a quote* | past · progressive | female | vigils |  |  | night | by the fireside | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP PP.location»: agent=Agent vigil=Theme by fireside=Location |
| 6 | **hear** *in a quote* | past | female | my father and a exceeding old man |  |  |  |  | vn see-30.1-1-1 «NP V S»: agent=Experiencer father=Stimulus |
| 7 | **exceed** *in a quote* | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn exceed-90 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot |
| 8 | **is a** *in a quote* | past | my father and a exceeding old man | a exceeding old man |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 9 | **read** *in a quote* | infinitive | female *not said here* | a prophecy |  |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent prophecy=Topic |
| 10 | **say** *speech: assert* *in a quote* | past | female *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V how S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 11 | **write** *in a quote* | to-infinitive · perfect · passive | a holy friar |  |  |  |  |  | vn scribble-25.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 12 | **is a** *in a quote* | past | this | the purport and a strange religion |  |  |  | of the prophecy; a strange religion *conj* | tree rules |
| 13 | **arrive** *in a quote* | would | that time |  |  |  |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 14 | **invade** *in a quote* | would · passive | a people from Africa | our country |  |  |  | of a strange garb and a strange tongue | tree rules |
| 15 | **conquer** *in a quote* | participle | a people from Africa *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn subjugate-42.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |

<!-- .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:** «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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