In Ghostly Japan, Names of Incense Used., part 7, sentence 28
Could we know the sensations of a dog,—the emotions and the ideas of a dog, we might discover some strange correspondence between their character and the character of that peculiar disquiet which the howl of the creature evokes.
Who acts: we, howl, creature · What happens: know, discover, evoke, sense, howl · To what, where: sensations, strange correspondence, character, dog
This is a sentence of «In Ghostly Japan» by Lafcadio Hearn, Names of Incense Used., part 7. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (we, howl, creature), 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 | Could | could | AUX | VerbForm=Fin | 3 know | aux |
| 2 | we | we | PRON | Case=Nom Number=Plur Person=1 PronType=Prs | 3 know | nsubj |
| 3 | know | know | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | root | root |
| 4 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 5 sensations | det |
| 5 | sensations | sensation | NOUN | Number=Plur | 3 know | obj |
| 6 | of | of | ADP | _ | 8 dog | case |
| 7 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 8 dog | det |
| 8 | dog | dog | NOUN | Number=Sing | 5 sensations | nmod |
| 9 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 3 know | punct |
| 10 | — | - | PUNCT | _ | 12 emotions | punct |
| 11 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 12 emotions | det |
| 12 | emotions | emotion | NOUN | Number=Plur | 3 know | parataxis |
| 13 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 15 ideas | cc |
| 14 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 15 ideas | det |
| 15 | ideas | idea | NOUN | Number=Plur | 12 emotions | conj |
| 16 | of | of | ADP | _ | 18 dog | case |
| 17 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 18 dog | det |
| 18 | dog | dog | NOUN | Number=Sing | 15 ideas | nmod |
| 19 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 22 discover | punct |
| 20 | we | we | PRON | Case=Nom Number=Plur Person=1 PronType=Prs | 22 discover | nsubj |
| 21 | might | might | AUX | VerbForm=Fin | 22 discover | aux |
| 22 | discover | discover | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 12 emotions | conj |
| 23 | some | some | DET | PronType=Ind | 25 correspondence | det |
| 24 | strange | strange | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 25 correspondence | amod |
| 25 | correspondence | correspondence | NOUN | Number=Sing | 22 discover | obj |
| 26 | between | between | ADP | _ | 28 character | case |
| 27 | their | their | PRON | Case=Gen Number=Plur Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 28 character | nmod:poss |
| 28 | character | character | NOUN | Number=Sing | 25 correspondence | nmod |
| 29 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 31 character | cc |
| 30 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 31 character | det |
| 31 | character | character | NOUN | Number=Sing | 12 emotions | conj |
| 32 | of | of | ADP | _ | 34 peculiar | case |
| 33 | that | that | DET | Number=Sing PronType=Dem | 34 peculiar | det |
| 34 | peculiar | peculiar | NOUN | Number=Sing | 31 character | nmod |
| 35 | disquiet | disquiet | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 34 peculiar | amod |
| 36 | which | which | PRON | PronType=Rel | 42 evokes | obj |
| 37 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 38 howl | det |
| 38 | howl | howl | NOUN | Number=Sing | 42 evokes | nsubj |
| 39 | of | of | ADP | _ | 41 creature | case |
| 40 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 41 creature | det |
| 41 | creature | creature | NOUN | Number=Sing | 38 howl | nmod |
| 42 | evokes | evoke | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 31 character | acl:relcl |
| 43 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 3 know | punct |
Pragmatics
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | know | could | we | the sensations of a dog | the emotions and the ideas of a dog and the character of that peculiar parataxis | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Experiencer sensation=Stimulus | |||
| 2 | discover | might | we | some strange correspondence | between dogs's character | vn discover-84-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent correspondence=Topic | |||
| 3 | evoke | present | the howl of the creature | the character of that peculiar | tree rules | ||||
| 4 | sense | a dog | nom sensation «cognition transitive»: of=patient | ||||||
| 5 | howl | the creature | nom howl «communication intransitive»: of=agent |
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/pg8128/9/28/