---
title: We would then have had merely to determine approximately the date of… — Early Bardic Literature, Ireland. · tree and pragmatics
description: We would then have had merely to determine approximately the date of the introduction of letters, and allowing a margin on account of the bardic system and the commission of family and national history to the keeping of rhymed and alliterated verse, fix upon some reasonable point, and set down in or
---

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# Early Bardic Literature, Ireland., Early Bardic Literature, Ireland., part 2, sentence 9

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We would then have had merely to determine approximately the date of the introduction of letters, and allowing a margin on account of the bardic system and the commission of family and national history to the keeping of rhymed and alliterated verse, fix upon some reasonable point, and set down in order, the old successions of kings and the battles and other remarkable events.

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**Who acts:** We · **What happens:** have, determine, allow, keep, rhyme, alliterate · **To what, where:** date, margin, account, order, letters, bardic system

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This is a sentence of «Early Bardic Literature, Ireland.» by Standish O'Grady, Early Bardic Literature, Ireland., part 2. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (We), 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:pg8109:2:9
# text = We would then have had merely to determine approximately the date of the introduction of letters, and allowing a margin on account of the bardic system and the commission of family and national history to the keeping of rhymed and alliterated verse, fix upon some reasonable point, and set down in order, the old successions of kings and the battles and other remarkable events.
1	We	we	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
2	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
3	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	5	advmod	_	_
4	have	have	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	aux	_	_
5	had	have	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
6	merely	merely	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
7	to	to	PART	TO	_	8	mark	_	_
8	determine	determine	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	xcomp	_	_
9	approximately	approximately	ADV	RB	_	11	advmod	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	date	date	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
12	of	of	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	introduction	introduction	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nmod	_	_
15	of	of	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
16	letters	letter	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	14	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	45	punct	_	_
18	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	45	cc	_	_
19	allowing	allow	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	45	advcl	_	_
20	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	21	det	_	_
21	margin	margin	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	19	obj	_	_
22	on	on	ADP	IN	_	23	case	_	_
23	account	account	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	19	obl	_	_
24	of	of	ADP	IN	_	27	case	_	_
25	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	27	det	_	_
26	bardic	bardic	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	27	amod	_	_
27	system	system	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	23	nmod	_	_
28	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	30	cc	_	_
29	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	30	det	_	_
30	commission	commission	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	27	conj	_	_
31	of	of	ADP	IN	_	32	case	_	_
32	family	family	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	30	nmod	_	_
33	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	35	cc	_	_
34	national	national	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	35	amod	_	_
35	history	history	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	27	conj	_	_
36	to	to	ADP	IN	_	43	case	_	_
37	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	43	det	_	_
38	keeping	keep	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	43	csubj	_	_
39	of	of	SCONJ	IN	_	40	mark	_	_
40	rhymed	rhyme	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	38	xcomp	_	_
41	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	42	cc	_	_
42	alliterated	alliterate	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	40	conj	_	_
43	verse	verse	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	19	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
44	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	19	punct	_	_
45	fix	fix	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	conj	_	_
46	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	49	case	_	_
47	some	some	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	49	det	_	_
48	reasonable	reasonable	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	49	amod	_	_
49	point	point	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	45	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
50	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	52	punct	_	_
51	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	52	cc	_	_
52	set	set	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	45	conj	_	_
53	down	down	ADP	RP	_	52	compound:prt	_	_
54	in	in	ADP	IN	_	55	case	_	_
55	order	order	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	52	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
56	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	59	punct	_	_
57	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	59	det	_	_
58	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	59	amod	_	_
59	successions	succession	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	55	appos	_	_
60	of	of	ADP	IN	_	61	case	_	_
61	kings	king	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	59	nmod	_	_
62	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	64	cc	_	_
63	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	64	det	_	_
64	battles	battle	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	61	conj	_	_
65	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	68	cc	_	_
66	other	other	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	68	amod	_	_
67	remarkable	remarkable	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	68	amod	_	_
68	events	event	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	61	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
69	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **have** | would · perfect | We |  |  |  | then | merely *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **determine** | to-infinitive | We *not said here* | the date of the introduction of letters |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent date=Topic |
| 3 | **allow** | gerund |  | a margin |  | account of the bardic system and the commission of family and national history |  | to the verse *goal* | vn future\_having-13.3 «NP V NP PP.goal»: agent=Agent margin=Theme to verse=Goal |
| 4 | **keep** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 5 | **rhyme** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn amalgamate-22.2-2-1 «NP V»: agent=Patient |
| 6 | **alliterate** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 7 | **fix** | infinitive | We *not said here* |  |  |  |  | upon some reasonable point | vn shake-22.3-2 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Patient |
| 8 | **set down** | infinitive | We *not said here* |  |  | order |  |  | vn put-9.1-2 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent in order=Destination |
| 9 | **introduce** |  |  | letters |  |  |  |  | nom introduction «act transitive»: of=patient |
| 10 | **account** |  |  | the bardic system and the commission of family and national history |  |  |  |  | nom account «communication transitive»: of=patient |

<!-- .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:** «Early Bardic Literature, Ireland.» by Standish O'Grady, Project Gutenberg book 8109 (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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