---
title: Sometimes they were self-imposed: thus Fergus Mac Roy and Cuchullain… — The foray of Queen Meave, and other legends of I… · tree and pragmatics
description: Sometimes they were self-imposed: thus Fergus Mac Roy and Cuchullain also, had bound themselves in youth never to refuse an invitation to the feast of a good man, however humble. A sentence of «The foray of Queen Meave, and other legends of Ireland's heroic age» by Aubrey De Vere, Opening, part 16, 
---

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# The foray of Queen Meave, and other legends of Ireland's heroic age, Opening, part 16, sentence 59

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Sometimes they were self-imposed: thus Fergus Mac Roy and Cuchullain also, had bound themselves in youth never to refuse an invitation to the feast of a good man, however humble.

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**What happens:** impose, bind, not refuse · **To what, where:** characters, Fergus, youth, invitation

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This is a sentence of «The foray of Queen Meave, and other legends of Ireland's heroic age» by Aubrey De Vere, Opening, part 16. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: 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:pg78491:16:60
# text = Sometimes they were self-imposed: thus Fergus Mac Roy and Cuchullain also, had bound themselves in youth never to refuse an invitation to the feast of a good man, however humble.
1	Sometimes	sometimes	ADV	RB	PronType=Ind	6	advmod	_	_
2	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	aux:pass	_	_
4	self	self	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	4	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	imposed	impose	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	17	punct	_	_
8	thus	thus	ADV	RB	_	17	advmod	_	_
9	Fergus	Fergus	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	17	nsubj:pass	_	_
10	Mac	Mac	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	9	flat	_	_
11	Roy	Roy	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	9	flat	_	_
12	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	13	cc	_	_
13	Cuchullain	Cuchullain	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	9	conj	_	_
14	also	also	ADV	RB	_	17	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
16	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	17	aux	_	_
17	bound	bind	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	6	parataxis	_	_
18	themselves	themselves	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes	17	obj	_	_
19	in	in	ADP	IN	_	20	case	_	_
20	youth	youth	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	obl	_	_
21	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	23	advmod	_	_
22	to	to	PART	TO	_	23	mark	_	_
23	refuse	refuse	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	17	parataxis	_	_
24	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	25	det	_	_
25	invitation	invitation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	23	obj	_	_
26	to	to	ADP	IN	_	28	case	_	_
27	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	28	det	_	_
28	feast	feast	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	23	obl	_	_
29	of	of	ADP	IN	_	32	case	_	_
30	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	32	det	_	_
31	good	good	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	32	amod	_	_
32	man	man	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	28	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
33	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	35	punct	_	_
34	however	however	ADV	RB	_	35	advmod	_	_
35	humble	humble	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
36	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **impose** | past · passive |  | characters *= character* |  |  |  | self *compound*; sometimes *property* | vn enforce-63 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |
| 2 | **bind** | past · perfect · passive |  | Fergus and Cuchullain |  | youth |  | characters *= character* *obj*; thus *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **not** **refuse** | to-infinitive |  | a invitation |  |  |  | to the feast of a good man | vn reject-77.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent invitation=Theme |

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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:** «The foray of Queen Meave, and other legends of Ireland's heroic age» by Aubrey De Vere, Project Gutenberg book 78491 (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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