Sample Meaning
text moved (e.g. fronted) text
[in O] where moved text "came from"
Note analytic note
<text> complement clause
{text} relative clause
«text» direct quotation

Constituent chart: "Little Hans"

from Longacre, Robert E. and Shin Ja J.Hwang. n.d. Discourse Analysis/Textlinguistics: a Field Manual. Used by permission.

S# Notes Introducers Preposed Dependent Clauses Independent Clauses Postposed Dependent Clauses
    S-I S-M conj. S P O, etc. S P O, Comp, Others conj. S P O, etc.
1 Stage             The winter afternoon was dark and grey over Old Strasbourg.        
2a               Little flurries of snow came whirling down between the chimneys        
 b     and         a biting wind blew in the narrow streets.        
3a VS order Above the roofs,     Ø rising high into the clouds, [in O] stood the great cathedral,   its stones Ø dim in the gathering gloom,
 b                       its windows catching the lights within.
4               Fine people were hurrying up the broad steps —ladies with furs, gentlemen in splendid attire,   many of them coming in their carriages.
5               Little Hans watched them.        
6a         Ø Ø Perished with cold,              
 b         Ø Ø ragged,              
 c Durative       Ø Ø an unwanted bit of humanity, he snuggled between two buttresses— a retreat from the wind—        
 d     and         Ø wished          
 e               < he dare go into the cathedral {where all was warm and bright, and where (as he could dimly hear) the organ was pealing loudly.}>        
7a Punctil. Suddenly           a little girl left her mother as she came up the steps,
 b     Ø         Ø ran towards him (all loveliness as she smiled)        
 c     and         Ø thrust a big rosy apple into his hands.        
8a               «That 's for you, little boy,»        
 b               she said.          
9a   Then           she and her mother went in at the great west door,        
 b     and         Hans stared at the apple.        
10a               He thought at first        
 b               <he would eat it there and then,>        
 c     but         he wanted          
 d               <Ø to keep it for a time,>        
 e     so         he held it in his hands,        
 f     and         Ø went timidly to the door of the cathedral.        
11a               Most of the folk were in,          
 b     and         the service had begun.          
12               No one turned him away. [in V]        
13a               He plucked up courage        
 b     and         Ø crept inside,     Ø slinking into a pew at the back.
14a   Only vaguely           [in V] could he understand the service,        
 b     but         it was wonderful.        
15               He loved the singing, the colour, the warmth.        
16   Then           something terrible happened.          
17a       Before he realized it, dignified men {coming down the aisles} were taking up the collection,        
 b     and         Hans— poor Hans— had nothing to give.        
18a               He would have run out          
 b               [in V] had he not been too frightened to move.        
19   What           [in V] was he to do?          
20a               Others were giving money        
 b               —he could hear it.        
21a               He had nothing ... nothing to give God except his apple,        
 b     and         he could not give that.        
22               He dare not.          
23   What           [in V] would all the people say?          
24   What           [in V] would the man in the fine clothes say —the one {standing on the steps amid all the bright candles at the far end} ?        
25   And           [in V] wouldn't God be angry, too?        
26a               It seemed to Hans        
 b Adv phr occurs between subord conj and S   <as if         all eyes were fixed on him> when, in an agony of fear, he timidly placed the red apple on the plate.
27a               He held his breath,        
 b     but         no one spoke,          
 c     and         the man {who took the apple} did not frown.          
28a               He allowed          
 b               <it to remain on the plate with the silver coins.>        
29a   Slowly           he walked along the aisle and up the steps to the choir,        
 b                   {where he handed the plate to the priest,        
 c                   {who blessed the gifts and then Ø reverently placed them on the altar.}}        
30   And behold,   as little Hans watched,   the apple changed.          
31               It became shining gold— the most precious of all gifts, and well-pleasing in the sight of God.        
32               His joy was boundless.