---
title: elfin — school dictionary · trees and pragmatics
description: «elfin» in the school dictionary: Small, delicate and magical, like an elf or a fairy. Every meaning for a pupil with its dependency tree and pragmatics.
---

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# elfin

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**Who acts:** face, We · **What happens:** slip, be, hear · **To what, where:** elfin child, gap, elfin laughter, wood

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«elfin» 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: [elfin in the school dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/elfin.md).

## Meaning 1 {#m1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Small, delicate and magical, like an elf or a fairy.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:elfin:m1:1
# text = Small, delicate and magical, like an elf or a fairy.
1	Small	small	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	3	punct	_	_
3	delicate	delicate	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	1	conj	_	_
4	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	5	cc	_	_
5	magical	magical	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	1	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
7	like	like	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	elf	elf	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
10	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
11	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	fairy	fairy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	9	punct	_	_
```

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The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

## Example 1 {#x1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The elfin child slipped through the gap in the hedge.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:elfin:x1:1
# text = The elfin child slipped through the gap in the hedge.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	elfin	elfin	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	child	child	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
4	slipped	slip	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	acl	_	_
5	through	through	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	gap	gap	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
8	in	in	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	hedge	hedge	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **slip** | participle |  | the elfin child *not said here* |  | the gap in the hedge |  |  | vn calibratable\_cos-45.6.1-1 «NP.attribute V»: agent=Attribute |

## Example 2 {#x2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Her face was small and elfin.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:elfin:x2:1
# text = Her face was small and elfin.
1	Her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	face	face	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
4	small	small	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
5	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
6	elfin	elfin	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | Her face |  |  |  |  | small *property* | tree rules |

## Example 3 {#x3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
We heard elfin laughter in the wood.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:elfin:x3:1
# text = We heard elfin laughter in the wood.
1	We	we	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	heard	hear	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	elfin	elfin	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	compound	_	_
4	laughter	laughter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	in	in	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	wood	wood	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **hear** | past | We | elfin laughter |  | the wood |  |  | vn see-30.1-1-1 «NP V S»: agent=Experiencer laughter=Stimulus |

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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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