---
title: A herald was despatched defying Taric ben Zeyad to the contest, and… — Legends of the conquest of Spain · tree and pragmatics
description: A herald was despatched defying Taric ben Zeyad to the contest, and the defiance was gladly accepted by the Moslem chieftain. Who acts: Moslem chieftain. A sentence of «Legends of the conquest of Spain» by Washington Irving, Skirmishing of the Armies.—pelistes and His Son.—pelistes and the Bishop., 
---

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# Legends of the conquest of Spain, Skirmishing of the Armies.—pelistes and His Son.—pelistes and the Bishop., sentence 42

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A herald was despatched defying Taric ben Zeyad to the contest, and the defiance was gladly accepted by the Moslem chieftain.

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**Who acts:** Moslem chieftain · **What happens:** despatch, defy, accept · **To what, where:** herald, Taric, defiance

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This is a sentence of «Legends of the conquest of Spain» by Washington Irving, Skirmishing of the Armies.—pelistes and His Son.—pelistes and the Bishop.. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (Moslem chieftain), 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:pg77685:16:42
# text = A herald was despatched defying Taric ben Zeyad to the contest, and the defiance was gladly accepted by the Moslem chieftain.
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	herald	herald	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	despatched	despatch	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	defying	defy	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	4	advcl	_	_
6	Taric	Taric	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
7	ben	BenJacoby@ECT	X	GW	_	6	flat:foreign	_	_
8	Zeyad	Zeyad	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	6	flat	_	_
9	to	to	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	contest	contest	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	18	punct	_	_
13	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	18	cc	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	defiance	defiance	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	nsubj:pass	_	_
16	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	18	aux:pass	_	_
17	gladly	gladly	ADV	RB	_	18	advmod	_	_
18	accepted	accept	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	parataxis	_	_
19	by	by	ADP	IN	_	22	case	_	_
20	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	22	det	_	_
21	Moslem	Moslem	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	22	amod	_	_
22	chieftain	chieftain	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **despatch** | past · passive |  | a herald |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **defy** | gerund |  | Taric |  |  |  | to the contest | tree rules |
| 3 | **accept** | past · passive | the Moslem chieftain | the defiance |  |  |  | gladly *property* | vn obtain-13.5.2 «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:** «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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