---
title: At daybreak, they were startled by the loud neighing of a horse and… — Winning Buddha's smile · tree and pragmatics
description: At daybreak, they were startled by the loud neighing of a horse and Yeng-So-Yei, who had gone to the narrow opening which served as a window to their cell, cried: Who acts: Yei, narrow opening, Yeng. A sentence of «Winning Buddha's smile», Winning Buddha’s Smile, part 9, with its dependency tree and
---

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# Winning Buddha's smile, Winning Buddha’s Smile, part 9, sentence 123

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
At daybreak, they were startled by the loud neighing of a horse and Yeng-So-Yei, who had gone to the narrow opening which served as a window to their cell, cried:

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**Who acts:** Yei, narrow opening, Yeng · **What happens:** startle, neigh, go, serve, cry · **To what, where:** exactions, daybreak, narrow opening

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This is a sentence of «Winning Buddha's smile», Winning Buddha’s Smile, part 9. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (Yei, narrow opening, Yeng), 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:pg78208:11:125
# text = At daybreak, they were startled by the loud neighing of a horse and Yeng-So-Yei, who had gone to the narrow opening which served as a window to their cell, cried:
1	At	at	ADP	IN	_	2	case	_	_
2	daybreak	daybreak	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	2	punct	_	_
4	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj	_	_
5	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	aux:pass	_	_
6	startled	startle	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
7	by	by	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	loud	loud	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	xcomp	_	_
10	neighing	neigh	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	9	advcl	_	_
11	of	of	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	horse	horse	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obl	_	_
14	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	37	cc	_	_
15	Yeng	Yeng	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	37	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	15	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	So	so	ADV	RB	_	37	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	19	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	Yei	Yei	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	37	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	23	punct	_	_
21	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	23	nsubj	_	_
22	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	23	aux	_	_
23	gone	go	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	19	acl	_	_
24	to	to	ADP	IN	_	27	case	_	_
25	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	27	det	_	_
26	narrow	narrow	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	27	amod	_	_
27	opening	opening	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	23	obl	_	_
28	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	29	nsubj	_	_
29	served	serve	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	27	acl:relcl	_	_
30	as	as	ADP	IN	_	32	case	_	_
31	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	32	det	_	_
32	window	window	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	29	obl	_	_
33	to	to	ADP	IN	_	35	case	_	_
34	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	35	nmod:poss	_	_
35	cell	cell	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	29	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
36	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	19	punct	_	_
37	cried	cry	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
38	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	6	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **startle** | past · passive |  | exactions *= exaction* |  | daybreak |  | loud *property* | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: subject=Experiencer |
| 2 | **neigh** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  | of a horse | vn animal\_sounds-38 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **go** | past · perfect | Yei |  |  | the narrow opening |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme to opening=Initial\_Location |
| 4 | **serve** | past | the narrow opening |  |  |  |  | as a window; to exactions's cell | vn masquerade-29.6-2 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Agent as window=Attribute |
| 5 | **cry** *speech: express* | past | Yeng |  |  |  |  | Yei *nsubj* | vn manner\_speaking-37.3 «NP V»: agent=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:** «Winning Buddha's smile», Project Gutenberg book 78208 (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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