---
title: He would have engaged the governor in his service, or have persuaded… — Legends of the conquest of Spain · tree and pragmatics
description: He would have engaged the governor in his service, or have persuaded him to remain in the city, as an illustrious vassal of the caliph; but the noble-minded Sacarus refused to bend to the yoke of the conquerors; nor could he bring himself to reside contentedly in his country, when subjected to the d
---

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# Legends of the conquest of Spain, Muza Besieges the City of Merida., sentence 76

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He would have engaged the governor in his service, or have persuaded him to remain in the city, as an illustrious vassal of the caliph; but the noble-minded Sacarus refused to bend to the yoke of the conquerors; nor could he bring himself to reside contentedly in his country, when subjected to the domination of the infidels.

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**Who acts:** minded Sacarus, Sacarus, infidels · **What happens:** engage, persuade, remain, refuse, not bend, bring · **To what, where:** Sacarus, service, city, yoke, country

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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 (minded Sacarus, Sacarus, infidels), 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:pg77685:30:76
# text = He would have engaged the governor in his service, or have persuaded him to remain in the city, as an illustrious vassal of the caliph; but the noble-minded Sacarus refused to bend to the yoke of the conquerors; nor could he bring himself to reside contentedly in his country, when subjected to the domination of the infidels.
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	have	have	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	aux	_	_
4	engaged	engage	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	governor	governor	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
7	in	in	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	9	nmod:poss	_	_
9	service	service	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
11	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	13	cc	_	_
12	have	have	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	13	aux	_	_
13	persuaded	persuade	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	4	conj	_	_
14	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	13	obj	_	_
15	to	to	PART	TO	_	16	mark	_	_
16	remain	remain	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	13	ccomp	_	_
17	in	in	ADP	IN	_	19	case	_	_
18	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	19	det	_	_
19	city	city	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	24	punct	_	_
21	as	as	ADP	IN	_	24	case	_	_
22	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	24	det	_	_
23	illustrious	illustrious	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	24	amod	_	_
24	vassal	vassal	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	obl	_	_
25	of	of	ADP	IN	_	27	case	_	_
26	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	27	det	_	_
27	caliph	caliph	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	24	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
28	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	35	punct	_	_
29	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	35	cc	_	_
30	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	34	det	_	_
31	noble	noble	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	33	amod	_	SpaceAfter=No
32	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	31	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
33	minded	minded	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	34	amod	_	_
34	Sacarus	Sacarus	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	35	nsubj	_	_
35	refused	refuse	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	conj	_	_
36	to	to	PART	TO	_	37	mark	_	_
37	bend	bend	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	35	xcomp	_	_
38	to	to	ADP	IN	_	40	case	_	_
39	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	40	det	_	_
40	yoke	yoke	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	37	obl	_	_
41	of	of	ADP	IN	_	43	case	_	_
42	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	43	det	_	_
43	conquerors	conqueror	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	40	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
44	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	48	punct	_	_
45	nor	nor	CCONJ	CC	Polarity=Neg	48	cc	_	_
46	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	48	aux	_	_
47	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	48	nsubj	_	_
48	bring	bring	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	conj	_	_
49	himself	himself	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes	48	obj	_	_
50	to	to	PART	TO	_	51	mark	_	_
51	reside	reside	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	48	advcl	_	_
52	contentedly	contentedly	ADV	RB	_	51	advmod	_	_
53	in	in	ADP	IN	_	55	case	_	_
54	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	55	nmod:poss	_	_
55	country	country	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	51	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
56	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	58	punct	_	_
57	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	58	advmod	_	_
58	subjected	subject	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	55	acl	_	_
59	to	to	ADP	IN	_	61	case	_	_
60	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	61	det	_	_
61	domination	domination	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	58	obl	_	_
62	of	of	ADP	IN	_	64	case	_	_
63	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	64	det	_	_
64	infidels	infidel	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	61	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
65	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **engage** | would · perfect · passive |  | Sacarus |  | Sacarus's service |  | the governor *obj* | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP ADJ»: subject=Experiencer governor=Result |
| 2 | **persuade** | infinitive · perfect |  | Sacarus |  |  |  |  | vn compel-59.1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Agent he=Patient clause=Result |
| 3 | **remain** | to-infinitive |  |  |  | the city |  | as a illustrious vassal of the caliph | vn exist-47.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme in city=Location |
| 4 | **refuse** | past | the minded Sacarus |  |  |  |  |  | vn reject-77.2 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Agent clause=Theme |
| 5 | **not** **bend** | to-infinitive | the minded Sacarus *not said here* |  |  | the yoke of the conquerors |  |  | vn meander-47.7-1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme to yoke=Location |
| 6 | **bring** | could | Sacarus | Sacarus |  |  |  |  | vn bring-11.3-1 «NP V NP together»: agent=Agent himself=Theme |
| 7 | **reside** | to-infinitive | Sacarus *not said here* |  |  | Sacarus's country |  | contentedly *property* | vn exist-47.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme in country=Location |
| 8 | **subject** | participle |  |  |  |  |  | to the domination of the infidels | tree rules |
| 9 | **service** |  | Sacarus |  |  |  |  |  | nom service «act transitive»: poss=agent |
| 10 | **dominate** |  | the infidels |  |  |  |  |  | nom domination «act intransitive»: of=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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