---
title: “Senior,” said he, in his letter, “the legions of Africa are upon us… — Legends of the conquest of Spain · tree and pragmatics
description: “Senior,” said he, in his letter, “the legions of Africa are upon us, but whether they come from heaven or earth I know not. Who acts: Theodomir, legions. A sentence of «Legends of the conquest of Spain» by Washington Irving, Letter of Muza to the Caliph.—second Expedition of Taric El Tuerto., with 
---

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# Legends of the conquest of Spain, Letter of Muza to the Caliph.—second Expedition of Taric El Tuerto., sentence 49

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“Senior,” said he, in his letter, “the legions of Africa are upon us, but whether they come from heaven or earth I know not.

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**Who acts:** Theodomir, legions · **What happens:** say, be, come, not know, letter · **To what, where:** letter, heaven · **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 (Theodomir, legions), 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:pg77685:11:49
# text = “Senior,” said he, in his letter, “the legions of Africa are upon us, but whether they come from heaven or earth I know not.
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	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
8	in	in	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	10	nmod:poss	_	_
10	letter	letter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	19	punct	_	_
12	“	"	PUNCT	``	_	19	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	legions	legion	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	19	nsubj	_	_
15	of	of	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
16	Africa	Africa	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	14	nmod	_	_
17	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	19	cop	_	_
18	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	19	case	_	_
19	us	we	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs	10	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	24	punct	_	_
21	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	24	cc	_	_
22	whether	whether	SCONJ	IN	_	24	mark	_	_
23	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	24	nsubj	_	_
24	come	come	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	conj	_	_
25	from	from	ADP	IN	_	26	case	_	_
26	heaven	heaven	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	24	obl	_	_
27	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	28	cc	_	_
28	earth	earth	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	26	conj	_	_
29	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	30	nsubj	_	_
30	know	know	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	26	acl:relcl	_	_
31	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	30	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
32	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	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 | Theodomir |  |  | Theodomir's letter |  |  | vn pronounce-29.3.1 «NP V NP PP.manner»: agent=Agent in letter=Manner |
| 2 | **is** *in a quote* | present | the legions of Africa |  |  |  |  | upon us | tree rules |
| 3 | **come** *in a quote* | present | legions *= legion* |  |  | heaven or earth |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme from heaven=Initial\_Location |
| 4 | **not** **know** *in a quote* | present | Theodomir | heaven or earth *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Experiencer heaven=Stimulus |
| 5 | **letter** |  | Theodomir |  |  |  |  |  | nom letter «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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