---
title: Then the boatman deemed that he was a dead man, and prayed for mercy… — Morien: A Metrical Romance Rendered into English… · tree and pragmatics
description: Then the boatman deemed that he was a dead man, and prayed for mercy, beholding his face, for he though he might scarce be a Christian. Who acts: boatman, Tis. A sentence of «Morien: A Metrical Romance Rendered into English Prose from the Mediæval Dutch» by Jessie L. Weston, Opening, part 9, with it
---

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# Morien: A Metrical Romance Rendered into English Prose from the Mediæval Dutch, Opening, part 9, sentence 85

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Then the boatman deemed that he was a dead man, and prayed for mercy, beholding his face, for he though he might scarce be a Christian.

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**Who acts:** boatman, Tis · **What happens:** deem, be, pray, behold · **To what, where:** dead man, face

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This is a sentence of «Morien: A Metrical Romance Rendered into English Prose from the Mediæval Dutch» by Jessie L. Weston, Opening, 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 (boatman, Tis), 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:pg8447:9:85
# text = Then the boatman deemed that he was a dead man, and prayed for mercy, beholding his face, for he though he might scarce be a Christian.
1	Then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	4	advmod	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	boatman	boatman	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	deemed	deem	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	10	mark	_	_
6	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	nsubj	_	_
7	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	10	cop	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
9	dead	dead	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	man	man	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
12	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	13	cc	_	_
13	prayed	pray	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	conj	_	_
14	for	for	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
15	mercy	mercy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	17	punct	_	_
17	beholding	behold	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	13	advcl	_	_
18	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	19	nmod:poss	_	_
19	face	face	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	29	punct	_	_
21	for	for	ADP	IN	_	29	case	_	_
22	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	29	nsubj	_	_
23	though	though	SCONJ	IN	_	26	mark	_	_
24	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	26	nsubj	_	_
25	might	might	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	26	aux	_	_
26	scarce	scarce	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	29	amod	_	_
27	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	29	cop	_	_
28	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	29	det	_	_
29	Christian	Christian	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	13	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
30	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **deem** | past | the boatman |  |  |  | then |  | vn consider-29.9-1 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **is a** | past | Tis | a dead man |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **pray** | past | the boatman *not said here* |  |  |  |  | for mercy | vn long-32.2 «NP V PP.theme»: agent=Pivot for mercy=Theme |
| 4 | **behold** | gerund | the boatman *not said here* | Tis's face |  |  |  |  | vn sight-30.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer face=Stimulus |
| 5 | **is** | infinitive | Tis |  |  |  |  | for a scarce Christian | tree rules |

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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:** «Morien: A Metrical Romance Rendered into English Prose from the Mediæval Dutch» by Jessie L. Weston, Project Gutenberg book 8447 (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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