In Ghostly Japan, Names of Incense Used., part 8, sentence 36
_” Unless you happen to know the pretty Japanese symbolism of the butterfly in relation to happy marriage, and the old custom of sending with the wedding-gift a large pair of paper-butterflies (_ochō-mechō_), the verse might well seem to be less than commonplace.
Who acts: old custom, verse · What happens: happen, know, send, seem, be · To what, where: pretty Japanese symbolism, large pair
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 (old custom, verse), 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 | _ | 5 happen | nsubj |
| 2 | ” | " | PUNCT | _ | 1 _ | punct |
| 3 | Unless | unless | SCONJ | _ | 5 happen | mark |
| 4 | you | you | PRON | Case=Nom Person=2 PronType=Prs | 5 happen | nsubj |
| 5 | happen | happen | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 6 | to | to | PART | _ | 7 know | mark |
| 7 | know | know | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 5 happen | xcomp |
| 8 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 11 symbolism | det |
| 9 | pretty | pretty | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 11 symbolism | amod |
| 10 | Japanese | Japanese | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 11 symbolism | amod |
| 11 | symbolism | symbolism | NOUN | Number=Sing | 7 know | obj |
| 12 | of | of | ADP | _ | 14 butterfly | case |
| 13 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 14 butterfly | det |
| 14 | butterfly | butterfly | NOUN | Number=Sing | 11 symbolism | nmod |
| 15 | in | in | ADP | _ | 16 relation | case |
| 16 | relation | relation | NOUN | Number=Sing | 14 butterfly | nmod |
| 17 | to | to | ADP | _ | 19 marriage | case |
| 18 | happy | happy | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 19 marriage | amod |
| 19 | marriage | marriage | NOUN | Number=Sing | 16 relation | nmod |
| 20 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 24 custom | punct |
| 21 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 24 custom | cc |
| 22 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 24 custom | det |
| 23 | old | old | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 24 custom | amod |
| 24 | custom | custom | NOUN | Number=Sing | 5 happen | parataxis |
| 25 | of | of | SCONJ | _ | 26 sending | mark |
| 26 | sending | send | VERB | VerbForm=Ger | 24 custom | acl |
| 27 | with | with | ADP | _ | 31 gift | case |
| 28 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 31 gift | det |
| 29 | wedding | wedding | NOUN | Number=Sing | 31 gift | compound |
| 30 | - | - | PUNCT | _ | 29 wedding | punct |
| 31 | gift | gift | NOUN | Number=Sing | 26 sending | obl |
| 32 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 34 pair | det |
| 33 | large | large | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 34 pair | amod |
| 34 | pair | pair | NOUN | Number=Sing | 26 sending | obj |
| 35 | of | of | ADP | _ | 38 butterflies | case |
| 36 | paper | paper | NOUN | Number=Sing | 38 butterflies | compound |
| 37 | - | - | PUNCT | _ | 36 paper | punct |
| 38 | butterflies | butterfly | NOUN | Number=Plur | 34 pair | nmod |
| 39 | ( | ( | PUNCT | _ | 43 mechō | punct |
| 40 | _ | _ | PUNCT | _ | 43 mechō | punct |
| 41 | ochō | ochō | NOUN | Number=Sing | 43 mechō | compound |
| 42 | - | - | PUNCT | _ | 41 ochō | punct |
| 43 | mechō | mechō | NOUN | Number=Sing | 38 butterflies | acl |
| 44 | _ | _ | PUNCT | _ | 43 mechō | punct |
| 45 | ) | ) | PUNCT | _ | 43 mechō | punct |
| 46 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 51 seem | punct |
| 47 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 48 verse | det |
| 48 | verse | verse | NOUN | Number=Sing | 51 seem | nsubj |
| 49 | might | might | AUX | VerbForm=Fin | 51 seem | aux |
| 50 | well | well | ADV | Degree=Pos | 51 seem | advmod |
| 51 | seem | seem | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 43 mechō | parataxis |
| 52 | to | to | PART | _ | 54 less | mark |
| 53 | be | be | AUX | VerbForm=Inf | 54 less | cop |
| 54 | less | less | ADJ | Degree=Cmp | 51 seem | xcomp |
| 55 | than | than | ADP | _ | 56 commonplace | case |
| 56 | commonplace | commonplace | NOUN | Number=Sing | 54 less | obl |
| 57 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 5 happen | punct |
Pragmatics
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | happen in a quote | present | you nsubj; the old custom parataxis | tree rules | |||||
| 2 | know in a quote | to-infinitive | the pretty Japanese symbolism of the butterfly in relation to happy marriage | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Experiencer symbolism=Stimulus | |||||
| 3 | send in a quote | gerund | the old custom not said here | a large pair of paper butterflies ochō mechō | with the wedding gift | vn confine-92-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent pair=Theme | |||
| 4 | seem in a quote | might | the verse | well property | vn seem-109-1-1-1 «NP V S_INF»: agent=Theme | ||||
| 5 | is in a quote | to-infinitive | the verse not said here | than commonplace; less property | tree rules |
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/pg8128/10/36/