---
title: To MacPherson, however, I will do this justice, that he had the meri… — Early Bardic Literature, Ireland. · tree and pragmatics
description: To MacPherson, however, I will do this justice, that he had the merit to perceive, even in the debased and floating ballads of the highlands, traces of some past greatness and sublimity of thought, and to understand, he, for the first time, how much more they meant than what met the ear. Who acts: I
---

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# Early Bardic Literature, Ireland., Early Bardic Literature, Ireland., part 5, sentence 18

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To MacPherson, however, I will do this justice, that he had the merit to perceive, even in the debased and floating ballads of the highlands, traces of some past greatness and sublimity of thought, and to understand, he, for the first time, how much more they meant than what met the ear.

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**Who acts:** I, MacPherson, greatness · **What happens:** do, have, perceive, debase, float, understand · **To what, where:** justice, MacPherson, merit, ear · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is a sentence of «Early Bardic Literature, Ireland.» by Standish O'Grady, Early Bardic Literature, Ireland., part 5. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (I, MacPherson, greatness), 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:pg8109:5:18
# text = To MacPherson, however, I will do this justice, that he had the merit to perceive, even in the debased and floating ballads of the highlands, traces of some past greatness and sublimity of thought, and to understand, he, for the first time, how much more they meant than what met the ear.
1	To	to	ADP	IN	_	2	case	_	_
2	MacPherson	MacPherson	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	2	punct	_	_
4	however	however	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	4	punct	_	_
6	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	_
7	will	will	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	8	aux	_	_
8	do	do	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	43	advcl	_	_
9	this	this	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	10	det	_	_
10	justice	justice	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
12	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	14	mark	_	_
13	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	14	nsubj	_	_
14	had	have	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	8	conj	_	_
15	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
16	merit	merit	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	obj	_	_
17	to	to	PART	TO	_	18	mark	_	_
18	perceive	perceive	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	16	acl	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	26	punct	_	_
20	even	even	ADV	RB	_	26	advmod	_	_
21	in	in	ADP	IN	_	26	case	_	_
22	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	26	det	_	_
23	debased	debase	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	26	amod	_	_
24	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	26	cc	_	_
25	floating	float	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	26	amod	_	_
26	ballads	ballad	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	14	parataxis	_	_
27	of	of	ADP	IN	_	29	case	_	_
28	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	29	det	_	_
29	highlands	highland	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	26	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
30	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	31	punct	_	_
31	traces	trace	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	29	conj	_	_
32	of	of	ADP	IN	_	35	case	_	_
33	some	some	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	35	det	_	_
34	past	past	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	35	amod	_	_
35	greatness	greatness	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	31	nmod	_	_
36	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	37	cc	_	_
37	sublimity	sublimity	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	35	conj	_	_
38	of	of	ADP	IN	_	39	case	_	_
39	thought	thought	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	37	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
40	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	43	punct	_	_
41	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	43	cc	_	_
42	to	to	PART	TO	_	43	mark	_	_
43	understand	understand	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
44	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	45	punct	_	_
45	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	43	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
46	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	50	punct	_	_
47	for	for	ADP	IN	_	50	case	_	_
48	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	50	det	_	_
49	first	first	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos|NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord	50	amod	_	_
50	time	time	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	43	parataxis	_	SpaceAfter=No
51	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	56	punct	_	_
52	how	how	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	53	advmod	_	_
53	much	much	ADV	RB	_	54	advmod	_	_
54	more	more	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	56	advmod	_	_
55	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	56	nsubj	_	_
56	meant	mean	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	50	advcl	_	_
57	than	than	SCONJ	IN	_	59	mark	_	_
58	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	59	nsubj	_	_
59	met	meet	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	56	ccomp	_	_
60	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	61	det	_	_
61	ear	ear	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	59	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
62	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	43	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **do** | future | I | this justice | MacPherson |  |  | however *property* | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent justice=Eventuality |
| 2 | **have** | past | MacPherson | the merit |  |  |  | the debased floating ballads of the highlands and traces of some past greatness and sublimity of thought *parataxis* | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent merit=Patient |
| 3 | **perceive** | to-infinitive | MacPherson *not said here* | the merit *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn see-30.1-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Experiencer |
| 4 | **debase** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn remedy-45.7 «NP V NP.patient»: agent=Agent |
| 5 | **float** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn run-51.3.2-2 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 6 | **understand** | to-infinitive |  | MacPherson |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer |
| 7 | **mean** | past | greatness |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 8 | **meet** | past |  | the ear |  |  |  | what *nsubj* | vn meet-36.3-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent ear=Co-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:** «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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