In Ghostly Japan, Story of a Tengu[1], sentence 70
This amazing variety may be in some degree due to respect for local tradition,—to the pious conservatism that preserves ancestral teaching and custom unchanged through hundreds of years: but it is better explained by the fact that different communities practise different kinds of fishing; and the shapes of the nets or the boats made, at any one place, are likely to prove, on investigation, the inventions of a special experience.
Who acts: amazing variety, pious conservatism, different communities, shapes · What happens: be, respect, preserve, unchang, explain, practise · To what, where: degree, ancestral teaching, custom, hundreds, different kinds, one place
This is a sentence of «In Ghostly Japan» by Lafcadio Hearn, Story of a Tengu[1]. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (amazing variety, pious conservatism, different communities, shapes), 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 | This | this | DET | Number=Sing PronType=Dem | 3 variety | det |
| 2 | amazing | amazing | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 3 variety | amod |
| 3 | variety | variety | NOUN | Number=Sing | 8 degree | nsubj |
| 4 | may | may | AUX | VerbForm=Fin | 8 degree | aux |
| 5 | be | be | AUX | VerbForm=Inf | 8 degree | cop |
| 6 | in | in | ADP | _ | 8 degree | case |
| 7 | some | some | DET | PronType=Ind | 8 degree | det |
| 8 | degree | degree | NOUN | Number=Sing | root | root |
| 9 | due | due | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 8 degree | amod |
| 10 | to | to | PART | _ | 11 respect | mark |
| 11 | respect | respect | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 9 due | xcomp |
| 12 | for | for | ADP | _ | 14 tradition | case |
| 13 | local | local | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 14 tradition | amod |
| 14 | tradition | tradition | NOUN | Number=Sing | 11 respect | obl |
| 15 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 20 conservatism | punct |
| 16 | — | - | PUNCT | _ | 20 conservatism | punct |
| 17 | to | to | ADP | _ | 20 conservatism | case |
| 18 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 20 conservatism | det |
| 19 | pious | pious | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 20 conservatism | amod |
| 20 | conservatism | conservatism | NOUN | Number=Sing | 14 tradition | appos |
| 21 | that | that | PRON | PronType=Rel | 22 preserves | nsubj |
| 22 | preserves | preserve | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 20 conservatism | acl:relcl |
| 23 | ancestral | ancestral | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 24 teaching | amod |
| 24 | teaching | teaching | NOUN | Number=Sing | 22 preserves | obj |
| 25 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 26 custom | cc |
| 26 | custom | custom | NOUN | Number=Sing | 24 teaching | conj |
| 27 | unchanged | unchang | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 26 custom | acl |
| 28 | through | through | ADP | _ | 29 hundreds | case |
| 29 | hundreds | hundred | NOUN | Number=Plur | 27 unchanged | obl |
| 30 | of | of | ADP | _ | 31 years | case |
| 31 | years | year | NOUN | Number=Plur | 29 hundreds | nmod |
| 32 | : | : | PUNCT | _ | 36 better | punct |
| 33 | but | but | CCONJ | _ | 36 better | cc |
| 34 | it | it | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 36 better | expl |
| 35 | is | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 36 better | cop |
| 36 | better | good | ADJ | Degree=Cmp | 8 degree | parataxis |
| 37 | explained | explain | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 36 better | advcl |
| 38 | by | by | ADP | _ | 40 fact | case |
| 39 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 40 fact | det |
| 40 | fact | fact | NOUN | Number=Sing | 37 explained | obl |
| 41 | that | that | SCONJ | _ | 44 practise | mark |
| 42 | different | different | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 43 communities | amod |
| 43 | communities | community | NOUN | Number=Plur | 44 practise | nsubj |
| 44 | practise | practise | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 40 fact | acl |
| 45 | different | different | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 46 kinds | amod |
| 46 | kinds | kind | NOUN | Number=Plur | 44 practise | obj |
| 47 | of | of | ADP | _ | 48 fishing | case |
| 48 | fishing | fishing | NOUN | Number=Sing | 46 kinds | nmod |
| 49 | ; | ; | PUNCT | _ | 59 made | punct |
| 50 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 59 made | cc |
| 51 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 52 shapes | det |
| 52 | shapes | shape | NOUN | Number=Plur | 59 made | nsubj |
| 53 | of | of | ADP | _ | 55 nets | case |
| 54 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 55 nets | det |
| 55 | nets | net | NOUN | Number=Plur | 52 shapes | nmod |
| 56 | or | or | CCONJ | _ | 58 boats | cc |
| 57 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 58 boats | det |
| 58 | boats | boat | NOUN | Number=Plur | 55 nets | conj |
| 59 | made | make | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 44 practise | parataxis |
| 60 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 64 place | punct |
| 61 | at | at | ADP | _ | 64 place | case |
| 62 | any | any | DET | PronType=Ind | 64 place | det |
| 63 | one | one | NOUN | Number=Sing | 64 place | compound |
| 64 | place | place | NOUN | Number=Sing | 59 made | obl |
| 65 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 67 likely | punct |
| 66 | are | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 67 likely | cop |
| 67 | likely | likely | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 59 made | conj |
| 68 | to | to | PART | _ | 69 prove | mark |
| 69 | prove | prove | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 67 likely | xcomp |
| 70 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 72 investigation | punct |
| 71 | on | on | ADP | _ | 72 investigation | case |
| 72 | investigation | investigation | NOUN | Number=Sing | 69 prove | obj |
| 73 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 75 inventions | punct |
| 74 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 75 inventions | det |
| 75 | inventions | invention | NOUN | Number=Plur | 72 investigation | appos |
| 76 | of | of | ADP | _ | 79 experience | case |
| 77 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 79 experience | det |
| 78 | special | special | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 79 experience | amod |
| 79 | experience | experience | NOUN | Number=Sing | 75 inventions | nmod |
| 80 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 8 degree | punct |
Pragmatics
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | is | may | this amazing variety | some degree | tree rules | ||||
| 2 | respect | to-infinitive | this amazing variety not said here | for local tradition | vn admire-31.2 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Experiencer for tradition=Attribute | ||||
| 3 | preserve | present | the pious conservatism | ancestral teaching and custom | vn defend-72.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent teaching=Beneficiary | ||||
| 4 | unchang | participle | custom not said here | hundreds of years | tree rules | ||||
| 5 | is | present | good property | tree rules | |||||
| 6 | explain speech: assert | participle | by the fact | vn transfer_mesg-37.1.1 «NP V»: agent=Agent | |||||
| 7 | practise | present | different communities | different kinds of fishing | tree rules | ||||
| 8 | make | past | the shapes of the nets or the boats | any one place | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset | ||||
| 9 | is | present | the shapes of the nets or the boats not said here | likely property | tree rules | ||||
| 10 | prove | to-infinitive | the shapes of the nets or the boats not said here | investigation | vn deduce-97.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent investigation=Theme | ||||
| 11 | invent | a special experience | nom invention «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/pg8128/27/70/