---
title: babble — school dictionary · trees and pragmatics
description: «babble» in the school dictionary: To talk quickly in a way that is hard to understand or silly: «She babbled about her holiday.». Every meaning for a pupil with its dependency tree and pragmatics.
---

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# babble

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** way, She, many voices, baby, you, We · **What happens:** talk, be, understand, babble, make, bubble · **To what, where:** way, like sounds, soft bubbling sound, cot, babbling, me · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
«babble» in the school dictionary: its 4 meanings for a pupil and its 7 examples, every sentence parsed by Mova itself — its syntax tree, a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies, and its pragmatics clause by clause. The word in the dictionary, with its sense in the lessons: [babble in the school dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/babble.md).

## Meaning 1 {#m1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To talk quickly in a way that is hard to understand or silly: «She babbled about her holiday.».

<!-- fold The tree, 18 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:babble:m1:1
# text = To talk quickly in a way that is hard to understand or silly: «She babbled about her holiday.».
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	talk	talk	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	quickly	quickly	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
4	in	in	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	way	way	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
7	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	9	nsubj	_	_
8	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	cop	_	_
9	hard	hard	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	acl:relcl	_	_
10	to	to	PART	TO	_	11	mark	_	_
11	understand	understand	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	9	xcomp	_	_
12	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	13	cc	_	_
13	silly	silly	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	17	punct	_	_
15	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	17	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	She	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	17	nsubj	_	_
17	babbled	babble	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	advcl	_	_
18	about	about	ADP	IN	_	20	case	_	_
19	her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	20	nmod:poss	_	_
20	holiday	holiday	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	17	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	17	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **talk** | to-infinitive |  |  |  | a way |  | quickly *property* | vn talk-37.5 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **is** | present | a way |  |  |  |  | hard *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **understand** | to-infinitive | a way *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer |
| 4 | **be** |  | a way *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 5 | **babble** *in a quote* | past | She |  |  |  |  | about her holiday | vn manner\_speaking-37.3 «NP V PP.topic»: agent=Agent about holiday=Topic |

<!-- .note -->
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.

## Meaning 2 {#m2}

<!-- .note -->
Usage: of a baby — kept apart, not parsed.

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To make speech-like sounds before real words: «ba-ba-ba».

<!-- fold The tree, 11 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:babble:m2:1
# text = To make speech-like sounds before real words: «ba-ba-ba».
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	make	make	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	speech	speech	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	3	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	like	like	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	sounds	sound	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
7	before	before	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	real	real	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	words	word	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	16	punct	_	_
11	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	16	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	ba	ba	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	12	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	ba	ba	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	16	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	ba	ba	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	16	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **make** | to-infinitive |  | like sounds |  |  | before real words | ba ba ba *obl* | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset sound=Product |

## Meaning 3 {#m3}

<!-- .note -->
Usage: of water — kept apart, not parsed.

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To make a soft, bubbling sound: «a babbling brook».

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:babble:m3:1
# text = To make a soft, bubbling sound: «a babbling brook».
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	make	make	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
4	soft	soft	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	4	punct	_	_
6	bubbling	bubble	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	7	amod	_	_
7	sound	sound	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	12	punct	_	_
9	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	12	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
11	babbling	babbling	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	compound	_	_
12	brook	brook	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	appos	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	12	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **make** | to-infinitive |  | a soft bubbling sound |  |  |  |  | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset sound=Product |
| 2 | **bubble** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn substance\_emission-43.4-1 «NP V»: agent=Source |

## Meaning 4 {#m4}

<!-- .note -->
Usage: noun — kept apart, not parsed.

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A noise of many voices at once, or silly talk.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:babble:m4:1
# text = A noise of many voices at once, or silly talk.
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	noise	noise	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	many	many	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	voices	voice	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nmod	_	_
6	at	at	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	once	once	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Mult	5	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
9	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	11	cc	_	_
10	silly	silly	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
11	talk	talk	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **noise** |  | many voices |  |  |  |  |  | nom noise «event intransitive»: of=agent |

## Example 1 {#x1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The baby babbled happily in her cot.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:babble:x1:1
# text = The baby babbled happily in her cot.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	baby	baby	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	babbled	babble	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	happily	happily	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
5	in	in	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	7	nmod:poss	_	_
7	cot	cot	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **babble** | past | the baby |  |  | baby's cot |  | happily *property* | vn sound\_emission-43.2 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme in cot=Location |

## Example 2 {#x2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Stop babbling and tell me what happened!

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:babble:x2:1
# text = Stop babbling and tell me what happened!
1	Stop	stop	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	babbling	babbling	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
3	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	4	cc	_	_
4	tell	tell	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	1	conj	_	_
5	me	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	4	iobj	_	_
6	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	7	nsubj	_	_
7	happened	happen	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	!	!	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **stop** | imperative | you *not said here* | babbling |  |  |  |  | vn stop-55.4-1-1 «NP V NP.eventuality»: agent=Subeventuality babbling=Eventuality |
| 2 | **tell** *speech: assert* | infinitive | you *not said here* |  | me |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP what S»: agent=Agent i=Recipient clause=Topic |
| 3 | **happen** | past |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

## Example 3 {#x3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
We sat by a babbling brook.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:babble:x3:1
# text = We sat by a babbling brook.
1	We	we	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	sat	sit	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	by	by	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	babbling	babbling	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	compound	_	_
6	brook	brook	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **sit** | past | We |  |  |  |  | by a babbling brook | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent by brook=Location |

## Example 4 {#x4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A babble of voices filled the canteen.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:babble:x4:1
# text = A babble of voices filled the canteen.
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	babble	babble	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	voices	voice	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nmod	_	_
5	filled	fill	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	canteen	canteen	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **fill** | past | a babble of voices | the canteen |  |  |  |  | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP V NP.patient»: agent=Agent canteen=Patient |
| 2 | **babble** |  |  | voices |  |  |  |  | nom babble «communication transitive»: of=patient |

## Example 5 {#x5}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He babbled on about his new game for ages.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:babble:x5:1
# text = He babbled on about his new game for ages.
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	babbled	babble	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	on	on	ADP	RP	_	2	compound:prt	_	_
4	about	about	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
5	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	7	nmod:poss	_	_
6	new	new	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	game	game	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
8	for	for	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	ages	age	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **babble on** | past | He |  |  |  | for ages | about his new game | vn manner\_speaking-37.3 «NP V PP.topic»: agent=Agent about game=Topic |

## Example 6 {#x6}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Babies babble before they say their first word.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:babble:x6:1
# text = Babies babble before they say their first word.
1	Babies	baby	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	babble	babble	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	before	before	SCONJ	IN	_	5	mark	_	_
4	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
5	say	say	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	advcl	_	_
6	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	8	nmod:poss	_	_
7	first	first	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos|NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord	8	amod	_	_
8	word	word	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **babble** | present | Babies |  |  |  |  |  | vn manner\_speaking-37.3 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | Babies *= baby* | Babies's first word |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: agent=Agent word=Topic |
| 3 | **word** |  | Babies *= baby* |  |  |  |  |  | nom word «communication transitive»: poss=agent |

## Example 7 {#x7}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Then broke forth a rippling, laughing babble among the cone-shaped teepees.

<!-- fold The tree, 12 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:babble:x7:1
# text = Then broke forth a rippling, laughing babble among the cone-shaped teepees.
1	Then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	2	advmod	_	_
2	broke	break	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	forth	forth	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	rippling	rippling	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
7	laughing	laugh	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	2	advcl	_	_
8	babble	babble	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
9	among	among	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
11	cone	cone	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	13	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	shaped	shape	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	14	amod	_	_
14	teepees	teepee	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **break** | past |  | a rippling |  |  | then | forth *property* | vn hurt-40.8.3-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer rippling=Patient |
| 2 | **laugh** | gerund |  | babble |  |  |  | among the shaped teepees | vn nonverbal\_expression-40.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent babble=Theme |
| 3 | **shape** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset |

<!-- div src -->

**Text:** the school dictionary of Mova's schools (`world/data/dictionary-schools/`), written for Mova. **Trees:** Mova's own parse — the `en` model on the CPU, when the site is built — not checked by a teacher; they may be wrong. **Frames:** Mova's frames reader (`prag`), each meaning and example read on its own. Elamur Cosmic License.

<!-- /div -->

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