In Ghostly Japan, Opening, sentence 159
_’ In ancient times there were men of superior wisdom and virtue who, by reason of their vow, obtained perception of the odor; but we, who are born with inferior wisdom and virtue in these later days, cannot obtain such perception.
Who acts: men · What happens: obtain, bear, not obtain, vow, perceive · To what, where: we, such perception, odor
This is a sentence of «In Ghostly Japan» by Lafcadio Hearn, Opening. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (men), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree.
Mova's own parse. This tree may be wrong.
The tree
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | _ | _ | PUNCT | _ | 2 ’ | punct |
| 2 | ’ | ' | PUNCT | _ | root | root |
| 3 | In | in | ADP | _ | 5 times | case |
| 4 | ancient | ancient | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 5 times | amod |
| 5 | times | time | NOUN | Number=Plur | 2 ’ | obl |
| 6 | there | there | PRON | PronType=Dem | 7 were | expl |
| 7 | were | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 5 times | acl:relcl |
| 8 | men | man | NOUN | Number=Plur | 7 were | nsubj |
| 9 | of | of | ADP | _ | 11 wisdom | case |
| 10 | superior | superior | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 11 wisdom | amod |
| 11 | wisdom | wisdom | NOUN | Number=Sing | 8 men | nmod |
| 12 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 13 virtue | cc |
| 13 | virtue | virtue | NOUN | Number=Sing | 11 wisdom | conj |
| 14 | who | who | PRON | PronType=Rel | 13 virtue | appos |
| 15 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 17 reason | punct |
| 16 | by | by | ADP | _ | 17 reason | case |
| 17 | reason | reason | NOUN | Number=Sing | 14 who | nsubj |
| 18 | of | of | ADP | _ | 20 vow | case |
| 19 | their | their | PRON | Case=Gen Number=Plur Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 20 vow | nmod:poss |
| 20 | vow | vow | NOUN | Number=Sing | 17 reason | nmod |
| 21 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 23 perception | punct |
| 22 | obtained | obtain | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 23 perception | amod |
| 23 | perception | perception | NOUN | Number=Sing | 20 vow | appos |
| 24 | of | of | ADP | _ | 26 odor | case |
| 25 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 26 odor | det |
| 26 | odor | odor | NOUN | Number=Sing | 23 perception | nmod |
| 27 | ; | ; | PUNCT | _ | 33 born | punct |
| 28 | but | but | CCONJ | _ | 33 born | cc |
| 29 | we | we | PRON | Case=Nom Number=Plur Person=1 PronType=Prs | 33 born | nsubj:pass |
| 30 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 33 born | punct |
| 31 | who | who | PRON | PronType=Rel | 33 born | nsubj:pass |
| 32 | are | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=1 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 33 born | aux:pass |
| 33 | born | bear | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 7 were | conj |
| 34 | with | with | ADP | _ | 36 wisdom | case |
| 35 | inferior | inferior | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 36 wisdom | amod |
| 36 | wisdom | wisdom | NOUN | Number=Sing | 33 born | obl |
| 37 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 38 virtue | cc |
| 38 | virtue | virtue | NOUN | Number=Sing | 36 wisdom | conj |
| 39 | in | in | ADP | _ | 42 days | case |
| 40 | these | this | DET | Number=Plur PronType=Dem | 42 days | det |
| 41 | later | late | ADJ | Degree=Cmp | 42 days | amod |
| 42 | days | day | NOUN | Number=Plur | 38 virtue | nmod |
| 43 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 46 obtain | punct |
| 44 | can | can | AUX | VerbForm=Fin | 46 obtain | aux |
| 45 | not | not | PART | Polarity=Neg | 46 obtain | advmod |
| 46 | obtain | obtain | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 33 born | conj |
| 47 | such | such | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 48 perception | amod |
| 48 | perception | perception | NOUN | Number=Sing | 46 obtain | obj |
| 49 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 2 ’ | punct |
Pragmatics
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | obtain | participle | vn obtain-13.5.2-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset | ||||||
| 2 | bear | present · passive | we | with inferior wisdom and virtue in this later days; who nsubj:pass | vn birth-28.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Patient | ||||
| 3 | not obtain | can | such perception | vn obtain-13.5.2-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset perception=Theme | |||||
| 4 | vow | men = man | nom vow «communication transitive»: poss=agent | ||||||
| 5 | perceive | the odor | nom perception «cognition transitive»: of=patient |
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.
Text: «In Ghostly Japan» by Lafcadio Hearn, Project Gutenberg book 8128 (public domain in the USA). Tree: Mova's own parse, Elamur Cosmic License. Frames: Mova's frames reader (prag), the chapter read in order.
This page in Markdown → https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg8128/1/159/