---
title: cairn — school dictionary · trees and pragmatics
description: «cairn» in the school dictionary: A heap of stones piled up, often to mark a grave or a path on a hill. Every meaning for a pupil with its dependency tree and pragmatics.
---

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# cairn

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**Who acts:** heap, They, We · **What happens:** pile up, mark, build, follow, pile · **To what, where:** stones, grave, cairn, cairns, moor, old stones

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«cairn» in the school dictionary: its meaning for a pupil and its 3 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: [cairn in the school dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/cairn.md).

## Meaning 1 {#m1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A heap of stones piled up, often to mark a grave or a path on a hill.

<!-- fold The tree, 17 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:cairn:m1:1
# text = A heap of stones piled up, often to mark a grave or a path on a hill.
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	heap	heap	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nsubj	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	stones	stone	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nmod	_	_
5	piled	pile	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	acl	_	_
6	up	up	ADP	RP	_	5	compound:prt	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
8	often	often	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	_
9	to	to	PART	TO	_	10	mark	_	_
10	mark	mark	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
11	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	grave	grave	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obj	_	_
13	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	15	cc	_	_
14	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	path	path	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	conj	_	_
16	on	on	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
17	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
18	hill	hill	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	10	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **pile up** | participle |  | stones *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn spray-9.7-1-1 «NP V PP.destination»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **mark** | to-infinitive | a heap of stones | a grave or a path on a hill |  |  |  | often *property* | vn image\_impression-25.1 «NP V NP.destination»: agent=Agent grave=Destination |

<!-- .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.

## Example 1 {#x1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They built a cairn over the grave.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:cairn:x1:1
# text = They built a cairn over the grave.
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	built	build	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	cairn	cairn	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	over	over	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	grave	grave	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **build** | past | They | a cairn |  | the grave |  |  | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset cairn=Product |

## Example 2 {#x2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
We followed the cairns across the moor.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:cairn:x2:1
# text = We followed the cairns across the moor.
1	We	we	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	followed	follow	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	cairns	cairn	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
5	across	across	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	moor	moor	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **follow** | past | We | the cairns |  | the moor |  |  | vn chase-51.6 «NP V NP PP.location»: agent=Agent cairn=Theme across moor=Trajectory |

## Example 3 {#x3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The old stones were piled into a cairn.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:cairn:x3:1
# text = The old stones were piled into a cairn.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	stones	stone	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj:pass	_	_
4	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux:pass	_	_
5	piled	pile	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
6	into	into	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	cairn	cairn	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **pile** | past · passive |  | the old stones |  | a cairn |  |  | vn spray-9.7-1-1 «NP V NP PP.destination»: subject=Theme into cairn=Destination |

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**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.

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