---
title: [4] It was scarcely possible to recognise, in these idle wassailers… — Legends of the conquest of Spain · tree and pragmatics
description: [4] It was scarcely possible to recognise, in these idle wassailers and soft voluptuaries, the descendants of the stern and frugal warriors of the frozen north; who had braved flood and mountain, and heat and cold, and had battled their way to empire across half a world in arms. Who acts: 4. A sente
---

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# Legends of the conquest of Spain, The Rise of Don Roderick.—his Government., sentence 35

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\[4\] It was scarcely possible to recognise, in these idle wassailers and soft voluptuaries, the descendants of the stern and frugal warriors of the frozen north; who had braved flood and mountain, and heat and cold, and had battled their way to empire across half a world in arms.

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**Who acts:** 4 · **What happens:** be, recognise, freeze, brave, battle · **To what, where:** idle wassailers, stern warriors, flood, way, world

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This is a sentence of «Legends of the conquest of Spain» by Washington Irving, The Rise of Don Roderick.—his Government.. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (4), 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:pg77685:3:35
# text = [4] It was scarcely possible to recognise, in these idle wassailers and soft voluptuaries, the descendants of the stern and frugal warriors of the frozen north; who had braved flood and mountain, and heat and cold, and had battled their way to empire across half a world in arms.
1	[	[	PUNCT	-LRB-	_	7	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	4	4	NUM	CD	NumForm=Digit|NumType=Card	7	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	]	]	PUNCT	-RRB-	_	2	punct	_	_
4	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj	_	_
5	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
6	scarcely	scarcely	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
7	possible	possible	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
8	to	to	PART	TO	_	9	mark	_	_
9	recognise	recognise	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	csubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
11	in	in	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
12	these	this	DET	DT	Number=Plur|PronType=Dem	14	det	_	_
13	idle	idle	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	14	amod	_	_
14	wassailers	wassailer	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	obj	_	_
15	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	17	cc	_	_
16	soft	soft	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	17	amod	_	_
17	voluptuaries	voluptuary	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	14	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	20	punct	_	_
19	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	20	det	_	_
20	descendants	descendant	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	14	conj	_	_
21	of	of	ADP	IN	_	26	case	_	_
22	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	26	det	_	_
23	stern	stern	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	26	amod	_	_
24	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	25	cc	_	_
25	frugal	frugal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	23	conj	_	_
26	warriors	warrior	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	20	nmod	_	_
27	of	of	SCONJ	IN	_	29	mark	_	_
28	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	29	det	_	_
29	frozen	freeze	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	26	acl	_	_
30	north	north	ADV	RB	_	29	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
31	;	;	PUNCT	,	_	34	punct	_	_
32	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	34	nsubj	_	_
33	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	34	aux	_	_
34	braved	brave	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	29	conj	_	_
35	flood	flood	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	34	obj	_	_
36	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	37	cc	_	_
37	mountain	mountain	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	35	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
38	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	40	punct	_	_
39	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	40	cc	_	_
40	heat	heat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	34	obl	_	_
41	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	42	cc	_	_
42	cold	cold	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	40	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
43	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	46	punct	_	_
44	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	46	cc	_	_
45	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	46	aux	_	_
46	battled	battle	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	34	conj	_	_
47	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	48	nmod:poss	_	_
48	way	way	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	46	obj	_	_
49	to	to	ADP	IN	_	50	case	_	_
50	empire	empire	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	46	obl	_	_
51	across	across	ADP	IN	_	54	case	_	_
52	half	half	DET	PDT	NumForm=Word|NumType=Frac|PronType=Ind	54	det:predet	_	_
53	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	54	det	_	_
54	world	world	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	46	obl	_	_
55	in	in	ADP	IN	_	56	case	_	_
56	arms	arm	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	46	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
57	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | 4 |  |  |  |  | It *nsubj*; possible, scarcely *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **recognise** | to-infinitive |  | this idle wassailers and soft voluptuaries and the descendants of the stern warriors |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer wassailer=Stimulus |
| 3 | **freeze** | participle |  | the stern warriors *not said here* |  |  |  | north *property* | vn other\_cos-45.4-1 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient |
| 4 | **brave** | past · perfect |  | flood and mountain |  |  |  | heat *obl*; who *nsubj* | vn confront-98 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent flood=Theme |
| 5 | **battle** | past · perfect |  | flood's way |  | half world |  | to empire; in arms | vn battle-36.4-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent way=Co-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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