---
title: Altogether it seems likely that it is one of the oldest folk-tales i… — Celtic Fairy Tales · tree and pragmatics
description: Altogether it seems likely that it is one of the oldest folk-tales in existence, and belonged to the story-store of the original Aryans, whoever they were, was passed by them with their language on to the Hellenes and perhaps to the Indians, was developed in its modern form in Scandinavia (where its
---

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# Celtic Fairy Tales, XXIV. Battle of Birds., sentence 18

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Altogether it seems likely that it is one of the oldest folk-tales in existence, and belonged to the story-store of the original Aryans, whoever they were, was passed by them with their language on to the Hellenes and perhaps to the Indians, was developed in its modern form in Scandinavia (where its best representative "The Master Maid" of Asbjoernsen is still found), was passed by them to the Celts and possibly was transmitted by these latter to other parts of Europe, perhaps by early Irish monks (see notes on "Sea-Maiden").

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** it, story, Tales, early Irish monks · **What happens:** seem, be, belong, pass, develop, find · **To what, where:** one, Hellenes, Indians, modern form, best representative, Celts

<!-- .vabout -->
This is a sentence of «Celtic Fairy Tales» by Joseph Jacobs, XXIV. Battle of Birds.. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (it, story, Tales, early Irish monks), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree.

<!-- .note-en -->
**Parsed by Mova, not checked by a teacher.** This tree is Mova's own parse (the `en` model, on the CPU, when the site is built); it may be wrong.

## The tree {#tree}

```conllu
# sent_id = book:pg7885:58:18
# text = Altogether it seems likely that it is one of the oldest folk-tales in existence, and belonged to the story-store of the original Aryans, whoever they were, was passed by them with their language on to the Hellenes and perhaps to the Indians, was developed in its modern form in Scandinavia (where its best representative "The Master Maid" of Asbjoernsen is still found), was passed by them to the Celts and possibly was transmitted by these latter to other parts of Europe, perhaps by early Irish monks (see notes on "Sea-Maiden").
1	Altogether	altogether	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
2	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
3	seems	seem	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	likely	likely	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	xcomp	_	_
5	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	8	mark	_	_
6	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	_
7	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	cop	_	_
8	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	4	xcomp	_	_
9	of	of	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
11	oldest	old	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	14	amod	_	_
12	folk	folk	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	12	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	tales	tale	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	nmod	_	_
15	in	in	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
16	existence	existence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	19	punct	_	_
18	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	19	cc	_	_
19	belonged	belong	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
20	to	to	ADP	IN	_	24	case	_	_
21	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	24	det	_	_
22	story	story	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	24	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	22	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
24	store	store	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	19	obl	_	_
25	of	of	ADP	IN	_	28	case	_	_
26	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	28	det	_	_
27	original	original	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	28	amod	_	_
28	Aryans	Aryan	PROPN	NNPS	Number=Plur	24	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
29	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	30	punct	_	_
30	whoever	whoever	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	3	parataxis	_	_
31	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	32	nsubj	_	_
32	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	30	acl:relcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
33	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	35	punct	_	_
34	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	35	aux:pass	_	_
35	passed	pass	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	conj	_	_
36	by	by	ADP	IN	_	37	case	_	_
37	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	35	obl	_	_
38	with	with	ADP	IN	_	40	case	_	_
39	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	40	nmod:poss	_	_
40	language	language	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	35	obl	_	_
41	on	on	ADP	IN	_	44	case	_	_
42	to	to	ADP	IN	_	44	case	_	_
43	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	44	det	_	_
44	Hellenes	hellene	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	35	obl	_	_
45	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	52	cc	_	_
46	perhaps	perhaps	ADV	RB	_	52	advmod	_	_
47	to	to	ADP	IN	_	49	case	_	_
48	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	49	det	_	_
49	Indians	Indian	PROPN	NNPS	Number=Plur	52	nsubj:pass	_	SpaceAfter=No
50	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	49	punct	_	_
51	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	52	aux:pass	_	_
52	developed	develop	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	44	conj	_	_
53	in	in	ADP	IN	_	56	case	_	_
54	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	56	nmod:poss	_	_
55	modern	modern	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	56	amod	_	_
56	form	form	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	52	obl	_	_
57	in	in	ADP	IN	_	58	case	_	_
58	Scandinavia	Scandinavia	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	52	obl	_	_
59	(	(	PUNCT	-LRB-	_	73	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
60	where	where	ADV	WRB	PronType=Rel	73	advmod	_	_
61	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	63	nmod:poss	_	_
62	best	good	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	63	amod	_	_
63	representative	representative	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	73	nsubj:pass	_	_
64	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	67	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
65	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	67	det	_	_
66	Master	Master	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	67	compound	_	_
67	Maid	Maid	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	63	appos	_	SpaceAfter=No
68	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	67	punct	_	_
69	of	of	ADP	IN	_	70	case	_	_
70	Asbjoernsen	Asbjoernsen	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	67	nmod	_	_
71	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	73	aux:pass	_	_
72	still	still	ADV	RB	_	73	advmod	_	_
73	found	find	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	58	acl:relcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
74	)	)	PUNCT	-RRB-	_	73	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
75	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	77	punct	_	_
76	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	77	aux:pass	_	_
77	passed	pass	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	conj	_	_
78	by	by	ADP	IN	_	79	case	_	_
79	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	77	obl	_	_
80	to	to	ADP	IN	_	82	case	_	_
81	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	82	det	_	_
82	Celts	Celt	PROPN	NNPS	Number=Plur	77	obl	_	_
83	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	86	cc	_	_
84	possibly	possibly	ADV	RB	_	86	advmod	_	_
85	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	86	aux:pass	_	_
86	transmitted	transmit	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	77	conj	_	_
87	by	by	ADP	IN	_	89	case	_	_
88	these	this	PRON	DT	Number=Plur|PronType=Dem	89	nsubj	_	_
89	latter	latter	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	86	obl	_	_
90	to	to	ADP	IN	_	92	case	_	_
91	other	other	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	92	amod	_	_
92	parts	part	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	89	obl	_	_
93	of	of	ADP	IN	_	94	case	_	_
94	Europe	Europe	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	92	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
95	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	100	punct	_	_
96	perhaps	perhaps	ADV	RB	_	100	advmod	_	_
97	by	by	ADP	IN	_	100	case	_	_
98	early	early	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	100	amod	_	_
99	Irish	Irish	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	100	amod	_	_
100	monks	monk	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	86	obl	_	_
101	(	(	PUNCT	-LRB-	_	102	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
102	see	see	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	100	acl	_	_
103	notes	note	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	102	obj	_	_
104	on	on	ADP	IN	_	108	case	_	_
105	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	108	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
106	Sea	Sea	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	108	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
107	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	108	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
108	Maiden	Maiden	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	102	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
109	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	102	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
110	)	)	PUNCT	-RRB-	_	102	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
111	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **seem** | present | it |  |  |  |  | altogether, likely *property* | vn seem-109-1-1-1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **is a** | present | story | one |  |  |  | of the oldest folk tales in existence | tree rules |
| 3 | **belong** | past |  |  |  |  |  | to the story store of the original Aryans | vn attend-107.4-2 «NP V PP»: agent=Theme |
| 4 | **pass** | past · passive | Tales *= tale* |  |  | the Hellenes |  | with Tales's language | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V PP»: agent=Theme on hellene=Location |
| 5 | **develop** | past · passive |  | the Indians |  | story's modern form |  | in Scandinavia; perhaps *property* | vn build-26.1 «NP V NP»: subject=Product |
| 6 | **find** | present · passive |  | story's best representative |  |  | still |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: subject=Topic |
| 7 | **pass** | past · passive | Tales *= tale* |  |  | the Celts |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1-3 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme to celt=Initial\_Location |
| 8 | **transmit** | past · passive | early Irish monks |  |  |  |  | by latter; possibly *property* | vn send-11.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 9 | **see** | infinitive | early Irish monks *not said here* | notes |  | Sea Maiden |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer note=Stimulus |
| 10 | **form** |  | story |  |  |  |  |  | nom form «communication transitive»: 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:** «Celtic Fairy Tales» by Joseph Jacobs, Project Gutenberg book 7885 (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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