---
title: The ambition of this veteran was to make the Moslem conquest complet… — Legends of the conquest of Spain · tree and pragmatics
description: The ambition of this veteran was to make the Moslem conquest complete, by expelling the Christians from the African shores; with this view his troops menaced the few remaining Gothic fortresses of Tingitania, while he himself sat down in person before the walls of Ceuta. Who acts: ambition, troops, 
---

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# Legends of the conquest of Spain, Chapter VIII., sentence 9

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The ambition of this veteran was to make the Moslem conquest complete, by expelling the Christians from the African shores; with this view his troops menaced the few remaining Gothic fortresses of Tingitania, while he himself sat down in person before the walls of Ceuta.

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**Who acts:** ambition, troops, Almagreb, veteran · **What happens:** be, expel, menace, remain, sit down, ambition · **To what, where:** Christians, African shores, few remaining Gothic fortresses

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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 (ambition, troops, Almagreb, veteran), 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:pg77685:9:9
# text = The ambition of this veteran was to make the Moslem conquest complete, by expelling the Christians from the African shores; with this view his troops menaced the few remaining Gothic fortresses of Tingitania, while he himself sat down in person before the walls of Ceuta.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	ambition	ambition	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	this	this	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	5	det	_	_
5	veteran	veteran	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
6	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	8	cop	_	_
7	to	to	PART	TO	_	8	mark	_	_
8	make	make	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
10	Moslem	Moslem	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
11	conquest	conquest	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
12	complete	complete	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	15	punct	_	_
14	by	by	SCONJ	IN	_	15	mark	_	_
15	expelling	expel	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	8	advcl	_	_
16	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
17	Christians	Christian	PROPN	NNPS	Number=Plur	15	obj	_	_
18	from	from	ADP	IN	_	21	case	_	_
19	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	21	det	_	_
20	African	African	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	21	amod	_	_
21	shores	shore	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	15	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	28	punct	_	_
23	with	with	ADP	IN	_	25	case	_	_
24	this	this	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	25	det	_	_
25	view	view	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	28	obl	_	_
26	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	27	nmod:poss	_	_
27	troops	troops	NOUN	NNS	Number=Ptan	28	nsubj	_	_
28	menaced	menace	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	8	parataxis	_	_
29	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	33	det	_	_
30	few	few	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	33	amod	_	_
31	remaining	remain	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	33	amod	_	_
32	Gothic	gothic	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	33	amod	_	_
33	fortresses	fortress	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	28	obj	_	_
34	of	of	ADP	IN	_	35	case	_	_
35	Tingitania	Tingitania	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	33	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
36	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	40	punct	_	_
37	while	while	SCONJ	IN	_	40	mark	_	_
38	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	40	nsubj	_	_
39	himself	himself	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Emp|Reflex=Yes	38	nmod:unmarked	_	_
40	sat	sit	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	28	conj	_	_
41	down	down	ADP	RP	_	40	compound:prt	_	_
42	in	in	ADP	IN	_	43	case	_	_
43	person	person	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	40	obl	_	_
44	before	before	ADP	IN	_	46	case	_	_
45	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	46	det	_	_
46	walls	wall	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	40	obl	_	_
47	of	of	ADP	IN	_	48	case	_	_
48	Ceuta	Ceuta	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	46	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
49	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	8	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | the ambition of this veteran |  |  |  |  | the Moslem conquest *obj*; complete, make *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **expel** | gerund | the ambition of this veteran *not said here* | the Christians |  | the African shores |  |  | vn banish-10.2 «NP V NP PP.source»: agent=Agent christian=Theme from shore=Source |
| 3 | **menace** | past | Almagreb's troops | the few remaining Gothic fortresses of Tingitania |  |  |  | with this view | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus fortress=Experiencer |
| 4 | **remain** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 5 | **sit down** | past | Almagreb |  |  |  | before the walls of Ceuta | in person | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent in person=Location |
| 6 | **ambition** |  | this veteran |  |  |  |  |  | nom ambition «feeling 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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