---
title: The onset was fierce, and the struggle desperate: the swarthy sons o… — Legends of the conquest of Spain · tree and pragmatics
description: The onset was fierce, and the struggle desperate: the swarthy sons of the desert were light and vigorous, and of fiery spirits; but the Goths, inured to danger on this frontier, retained the stubborn valour of their race, so impaired among their brethren in Spain. Who acts: onset, struggle desperate
---

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# Legends of the conquest of Spain, Chapter VIII., sentence 12

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The onset was fierce, and the struggle desperate: the swarthy sons of the desert were light and vigorous, and of fiery spirits; but the Goths, inured to danger on this frontier, retained the stubborn valour of their race, so impaired among their brethren in Spain.

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**Who acts:** onset, struggle desperate, sons · **What happens:** be, inure, retain, impair, race · **To what, where:** Goths, stubborn valour

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This is a sentence of «Legends of the conquest of Spain» by Washington Irving, Chapter VIII.. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (onset, struggle desperate, sons), 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:pg77685:9:12
# text = The onset was fierce, and the struggle desperate: the swarthy sons of the desert were light and vigorous, and of fiery spirits; but the Goths, inured to danger on this frontier, retained the stubborn valour of their race, so impaired among their brethren in Spain.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	onset	onset	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
4	fierce	fierce	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	18	punct	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	18	cc	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	struggle	struggle	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	compound	_	_
9	desperate	desperate	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	18	punct	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
12	swarthy	swarthy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	13	amod	_	_
13	sons	son	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	18	nsubj	_	_
14	of	of	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
15	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
16	desert	desert	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	nmod	_	_
17	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	18	cop	_	_
18	light	light	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	conj	_	_
19	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	20	cc	_	_
20	vigorous	vigorous	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	18	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	38	punct	_	_
22	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	38	cc	_	_
23	of	of	ADP	IN	_	25	case	_	_
24	fiery	fiery	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	25	amod	_	_
25	spirits	spirit	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	38	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
26	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	29	punct	_	_
27	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	29	cc	_	_
28	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	29	det	_	_
29	Goths	Goth	PROPN	NNPS	Number=Plur	25	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
30	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	31	punct	_	_
31	inured	inure	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	29	acl	_	_
32	to	to	ADP	IN	_	33	case	_	_
33	danger	danger	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	31	obl	_	_
34	on	on	ADP	IN	_	36	case	_	_
35	this	this	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	36	det	_	_
36	frontier	frontier	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	33	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
37	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	25	punct	_	_
38	retained	retain	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	18	parataxis	_	_
39	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	41	det	_	_
40	stubborn	stubborn	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	41	amod	_	_
41	valour	valour	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	38	obj	_	_
42	of	of	ADP	IN	_	44	case	_	_
43	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	44	nmod:poss	_	_
44	race	race	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	41	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
45	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	47	punct	_	_
46	so	so	ADV	RB	_	47	advmod	_	_
47	impaired	impair	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	38	conj	_	_
48	among	among	ADP	IN	_	50	case	_	_
49	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	50	nmod:poss	_	_
50	brethren	brethren	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	47	obl	_	_
51	in	in	ADP	IN	_	52	case	_	_
52	Spain	Spain	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	50	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
53	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | the onset |  |  |  |  | fierce *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **is** | past | the struggle desperate |  |  |  |  | the swarthy sons of the desert *nsubj*; light *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **be** |  | the struggle desperate *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 4 | **inure** | participle |  | the Goths *not said here* |  |  |  | to danger on this frontier | tree rules |
| 5 | **retain** | past |  | the stubborn valour of sons's race |  |  |  | of fiery spirits  the Goths | tree rules |
| 6 | **impair** | participle |  |  |  |  |  | among sons's brethren in Spain | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Experiencer |
| 7 | **race** |  | sons *= son* |  |  |  |  |  | nom race «event intransitive»: poss=agent |

<!-- .note -->
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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