In Ghostly Japan, Names of Incense Used., part 1, sentence 89
More than once I tried to persuade him to pass the colder months of the winter-season under my roof,—for he possessed an extraordinary knowledge of traditions, and could have been of inestimable service to me in a literary way.
Who acts: I, Tōkyō · What happens: try, persuade, pass, possess, be · To what, where: Tōkyō, roof, extraordinary knowledge, literary way, me
This is a sentence of «In Ghostly Japan» by Lafcadio Hearn, Names of Incense Used., part 1. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (I, Tōkyō), 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 | More | more | ADJ | Degree=Cmp ExtPos=ADV | 3 once | advmod |
| 2 | than | than | ADP | _ | 1 More | fixed |
| 3 | once | once | ADV | NumForm=Word NumType=Mult | 5 tried | advmod |
| 4 | I | I | PRON | Case=Nom Number=Sing Person=1 PronType=Prs | 5 tried | nsubj |
| 5 | tried | try | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=1 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 6 | to | to | PART | _ | 7 persuade | mark |
| 7 | persuade | persuade | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 5 tried | xcomp |
| 8 | him | he | PRON | Case=Acc Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 7 persuade | obj |
| 9 | to | to | PART | _ | 10 pass | mark |
| 10 | pass | pass | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 7 persuade | xcomp |
| 11 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 13 months | det |
| 12 | colder | cold | ADJ | Degree=Cmp | 13 months | amod |
| 13 | months | month | NOUN | Number=Plur | 10 pass | obj |
| 14 | of | of | ADP | _ | 18 season | case |
| 15 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 18 season | det |
| 16 | winter | winter | NOUN | Number=Sing | 18 season | compound |
| 17 | - | - | PUNCT | _ | 16 winter | punct |
| 18 | season | season | NOUN | Number=Sing | 13 months | nmod |
| 19 | under | under | ADP | _ | 21 roof | case |
| 20 | my | my | PRON | Case=Gen Number=Sing Person=1 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 21 roof | nmod:poss |
| 21 | roof | roof | NOUN | Number=Sing | 10 pass | obl |
| 22 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 5 tried | punct |
| 23 | — | - | PUNCT | _ | 26 possessed | punct |
| 24 | for | for | SCONJ | _ | 26 possessed | mark |
| 25 | he | he | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 26 possessed | nsubj |
| 26 | possessed | possess | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 5 tried | conj |
| 27 | an | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 29 knowledge | det |
| 28 | extraordinary | extraordinary | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 29 knowledge | amod |
| 29 | knowledge | knowledge | NOUN | Number=Sing | 26 possessed | obj |
| 30 | of | of | ADP | _ | 31 traditions | case |
| 31 | traditions | tradition | NOUN | Number=Plur | 29 knowledge | nmod |
| 32 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 39 service | punct |
| 33 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 39 service | cc |
| 34 | could | could | AUX | VerbForm=Fin | 39 service | aux |
| 35 | have | have | AUX | VerbForm=Inf | 39 service | aux |
| 36 | been | be | AUX | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part | 39 service | cop |
| 37 | of | of | ADP | _ | 39 service | case |
| 38 | inestimable | inestimable | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 39 service | amod |
| 39 | service | service | NOUN | Number=Sing | 26 possessed | obl |
| 40 | to | to | ADP | _ | 41 me | case |
| 41 | me | I | PRON | Case=Acc Number=Sing Person=1 PronType=Prs | 39 service | nmod |
| 42 | in | in | ADP | _ | 45 way | case |
| 43 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 45 way | det |
| 44 | literary | literary | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 45 way | amod |
| 45 | way | way | NOUN | Number=Sing | 26 possessed | obl |
| 46 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 5 tried | punct |
Pragmatics
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | try | past | I | once property | vn try-61.1 «NP V S_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality | ||||
| 2 | persuade not said to happen | to-infinitive | I not said here | Tōkyō | vn compel-59.1-1 «NP V NP S_INF»: agent=Agent he=Patient clause=Result | ||||
| 3 | pass | to-infinitive | Tōkyō not said here | my roof | month | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V PP»: agent=Theme under roof=Location | |||
| 4 | possess | past | Tōkyō | a extraordinary knowledge of traditions | a literary way | vn own-100.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot knowledge=Theme | |||
| 5 | is | could · perfect | me | of inestimable service | 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/pg8128/3/89/