---
title: When they found that the Moslems were constructing tremendous engine… — Legends of the conquest of Spain · tree and pragmatics
description: When they found that the Moslems were constructing tremendous engines for the destruction of their walls, they lost all courage, and, surrounding the governor in a clamorous multitude, compelled him to send forth persons to capitulate. Who acts: citizens, Moslems. A sentence of «Legends of the conqu
---

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# Legends of the conquest of Spain, Muza Besieges the City of Merida., sentence 46

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When they found that the Moslems were constructing tremendous engines for the destruction of their walls, they lost all courage, and, surrounding the governor in a clamorous multitude, compelled him to send forth persons to capitulate.

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**Who acts:** citizens, Moslems · **What happens:** find, construct, lose, surround, compel, send · **To what, where:** tremendous engines, courage, governor, word, persons, walls · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is a sentence of «Legends of the conquest of Spain» by Washington Irving, Muza Besieges the City of Merida.. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (citizens, Moslems), 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:pg77685:30:46
# text = When they found that the Moslems were constructing tremendous engines for the destruction of their walls, they lost all courage, and, surrounding the governor in a clamorous multitude, compelled him to send forth persons to capitulate.
1	When	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	3	advmod	_	_
2	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
3	found	find	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	19	advcl	_	_
4	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	8	mark	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	Moslems	Moslem	PROPN	NNPS	Number=Plur	8	nsubj	_	_
7	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	8	aux	_	_
8	constructing	construct	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	3	ccomp	_	_
9	tremendous	tremendous	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	engines	engine	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	obj	_	_
11	for	for	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	destruction	destruction	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	_
14	of	of	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
15	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	16	nmod:poss	_	_
16	walls	wall	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	13	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	3	punct	_	_
18	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	19	nsubj	_	_
19	lost	lose	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
20	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	21	det	_	_
21	courage	courage	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	19	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	33	punct	_	_
23	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	33	cc	_	SpaceAfter=No
24	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	23	punct	_	_
25	surrounding	surround	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	33	advcl	_	_
26	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	27	det	_	_
27	governor	governor	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	25	obj	_	_
28	in	in	ADP	IN	_	31	case	_	_
29	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	31	det	_	_
30	clamorous	clamorous	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	31	amod	_	_
31	multitude	multitude	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	25	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
32	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	25	punct	_	_
33	compelled	compel	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	19	conj	_	_
34	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	33	obj	_	_
35	to	to	PART	TO	_	36	mark	_	_
36	send	send	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	33	xcomp	_	_
37	forth	forth	ADV	RB	_	36	advmod	_	_
38	persons	person	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	36	obj	_	_
39	to	to	PART	TO	_	40	mark	_	_
40	capitulate	capitulate	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	38	acl	_	SpaceAfter=No
41	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	19	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **find** | past | citizens *= citizen* |  |  |  |  |  | vn declare-29.4-1-1 «NP V what S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Theme |
| 2 | **construct** | past · progressive | the Moslems | tremendous engines |  |  |  | for the destruction of citizens's walls | vn create-26.4 «NP V NP PP.beneficiary»: agent=Agent engine=Result for destruction=Beneficiary |
| 3 | **lose** | past | citizens *= citizen* | all courage |  |  |  |  | vn succeed-74-3-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent courage=Eventuality |
| 4 | **surround** | gerund |  | the governor |  |  |  | in a clamorous multitude | vn fill-9.8-1 «NP V NP PP.theme»: agent=Agent governor=Destination in multitude=Theme |
| 5 | **compel** | past | citizens *= citizen* *not said here* | word |  |  |  |  | vn compel-59.1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Agent he=Patient clause=Result |
| 6 | **send** | to-infinitive | citizens *= citizen* *not said here* | persons |  |  |  | forth *property* | vn confine-92-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent person=Theme |
| 7 | **capitulate** | to-infinitive | citizens *= citizen* *not said here* | persons *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn acquiesce-95.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 8 | **destroy** |  |  | citizens's walls |  |  |  |  | nom destruction «act transitive»: of=patient |

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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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