In Ghostly Japan, Names of Incense Used., part 8, sentence 16
I have frequently known poems to be written under the most trying circumstances of misery or suffering,—nay even upon a bed of death;-and if the verses did not display any extraordinary talent, they at least afforded extraordinary proof of self-mastery under pain….
Who acts: I, verses · What happens: know, write, try, not display, afford, proof · To what, where: poems, trying circumstances, extraordinary talent, verses, least, self mastery
This is a sentence of «In Ghostly Japan» by Lafcadio Hearn, Names of Incense Used., part 8. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (I, verses), 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 | I | I | PRON | Case=Nom Number=Sing Person=1 PronType=Prs | 4 known | nsubj |
| 2 | have | have | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=1 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 4 known | aux |
| 3 | frequently | frequently | ADV | _ | 4 known | advmod |
| 4 | known | know | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part | root | root |
| 5 | poems | poem | NOUN | Number=Plur | 4 known | obj |
| 6 | to | to | PART | _ | 8 written | mark |
| 7 | be | be | AUX | VerbForm=Inf | 8 written | aux:pass |
| 8 | written | write | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 5 poems | acl |
| 9 | under | under | ADP | _ | 13 circumstances | case |
| 10 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 13 circumstances | det |
| 11 | most | most | ADV | Degree=Sup | 12 trying | advmod |
| 12 | trying | try | VERB | VerbForm=Ger | 13 circumstances | amod |
| 13 | circumstances | circumstance | NOUN | Number=Plur | 8 written | obl |
| 14 | of | of | ADP | _ | 15 misery | case |
| 15 | misery | misery | NOUN | Number=Sing | 13 circumstances | nmod |
| 16 | or | or | CCONJ | _ | 17 suffering | cc |
| 17 | suffering | suffering | NOUN | Number=Sing | 15 misery | conj |
| 18 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 24 bed | punct |
| 19 | — | - | PUNCT | _ | 24 bed | punct |
| 20 | nay | nay | INTJ | _ | 24 bed | discourse |
| 21 | even | even | ADV | _ | 24 bed | advmod |
| 22 | upon | upon | ADP | _ | 24 bed | case |
| 23 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 24 bed | det |
| 24 | bed | bed | NOUN | Number=Sing | 5 poems | conj |
| 25 | of | of | ADP | _ | 26 death | case |
| 26 | death | death | NOUN | Number=Sing | 24 bed | nmod |
| 27 | ; | ; | PUNCT | _ | 35 display | punct |
| 28 | - | - | PUNCT | _ | 35 display | punct |
| 29 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 35 display | cc |
| 30 | if | if | SCONJ | _ | 35 display | mark |
| 31 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 32 verses | det |
| 32 | verses | verse | NOUN | Number=Plur | 35 display | nsubj |
| 33 | did | do | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 35 display | aux |
| 34 | not | not | PART | Polarity=Neg | 35 display | advmod |
| 35 | display | display | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 4 known | parataxis |
| 36 | any | any | DET | PronType=Ind | 38 talent | det |
| 37 | extraordinary | extraordinary | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 38 talent | amod |
| 38 | talent | talent | NOUN | Number=Sing | 35 display | obj |
| 39 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 43 afforded | punct |
| 40 | they | they | PRON | Case=Nom Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs | 43 afforded | nsubj:pass |
| 41 | at | at | ADP | _ | 42 least | case |
| 42 | least | least | ADJ | Degree=Sup | 43 afforded | obl |
| 43 | afforded | afford | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 35 display | conj |
| 44 | extraordinary | extraordinary | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 45 proof | amod |
| 45 | proof | proof | NOUN | Number=Sing | 43 afforded | obj |
| 46 | of | of | ADP | _ | 49 mastery | case |
| 47 | self | self | NOUN | Number=Sing | 49 mastery | compound |
| 48 | - | - | PUNCT | _ | 47 self | punct |
| 49 | mastery | mastery | NOUN | Number=Sing | 45 proof | nmod |
| 50 | under | under | ADP | _ | 51 pain | case |
| 51 | pain | pain | NOUN | Number=Sing | 43 afforded | obl |
| 52 | …. | .. | PUNCT | _ | 4 known | punct |
Pragmatics
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | know | present · perfect | I | poems and a bed of death | frequently property | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Experiencer poem=Stimulus | |||
| 2 | write | to-infinitive · passive | I not said here | poems and a bed of death not said here | the trying circumstances of misery or suffering | vn scribble-25.2-1 «NP V» | |||
| 3 | try | gerund | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Experiencer | ||||||
| 4 | not display a condition, not said to happen | past · do-support | the verses | any extraordinary talent | vn reflexive_appearance-48.1.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent talent=Theme | ||||
| 5 | afford | participle · passive | verses = verse | least | under pain; extraordinary proof of self mastery obj | tree rules | |||
| 6 | proof | self mastery | nom proof «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/pg8128/10/16/