---
title: epitaph — school dictionary · trees and pragmatics
description: «epitaph» in the school dictionary: A short saying or words cut on a gravestone to say who lies there, and sometimes what they were like. Every meaning for a pupil with its dependency tree and pragmatics.
---

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# epitaph

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** words, Begone, you, epitaph · **What happens:** cut, say, lie, be, speak, write · **To what, where:** words, gravestone, epitaph, short epitaph, promises · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
«epitaph» 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: [epitaph in the school dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/epitaph.md).

## Meaning 1 {#m1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A short saying or words cut on a gravestone to say who lies there, and sometimes what they were like.

<!-- fold The tree, 20 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:epitaph:m1:1
# text = A short saying or words cut on a gravestone to say who lies there, and sometimes what they were like.
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	short	short	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	saying	saying	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
4	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	5	cc	_	_
5	words	word	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	conj	_	_
6	cut	cut	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	5	acl	_	_
7	on	on	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	gravestone	gravestone	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	_
10	to	to	PART	TO	_	11	mark	_	_
11	say	say	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	advcl	_	_
12	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	13	nsubj	_	_
13	lies	lie	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	11	ccomp	_	_
14	there	there	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	13	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	21	punct	_	_
16	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	21	cc	_	_
17	sometimes	sometimes	ADV	RB	PronType=Ind	21	advmod	_	_
18	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	21	obj	_	_
19	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	21	nsubj	_	_
20	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	21	cop	_	_
21	like	like	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **cut** | participle |  | words *not said here* |  | a gravestone |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Experiencer |
| 2 | **say** *speech: assert* | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 3 | **lie** | present |  |  |  | there |  |  | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 4 | **is** | past | words *= word* |  |  |  |  | like, sometimes *property* | tree rules |

<!-- .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 -->
"Away! Begone!" was all the epitaph he spoke.

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 1:* "Away!

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:epitaph:x1:1
# text = "Away!
1	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	2	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	Away	away	ADV	RB	_	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	!	!	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

<!-- .note -->
*Sentence 2:* Begone!" was all the epitaph he spoke.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:epitaph:x1:2
# text = Begone!" was all the epitaph he spoke.
1	Begone	Begone	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	!	!	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	1	punct	_	_
4	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
5	all	all	DET	PDT	PronType=Tot	7	det:predet	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	epitaph	epitaph	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
8	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	nsubj	_	_
9	spoke	speak	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	acl:relcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** *in a quote* | past | Begone | all epitaph |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **speak** *speech: other* *in a quote* | past | Begone | all epitaph *not said here* |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

## Example 2 {#x2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Write a short epitaph for the old king's stone.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:epitaph:x2:1
# text = Write a short epitaph for the old king's stone.
1	Write	write	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	short	short	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	epitaph	epitaph	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
5	for	for	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	king	king	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	's	's	PART	POS	_	8	case	_	_
10	stone	stone	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **write** | imperative | you *not said here* | a short epitaph |  |  |  | for the old king's stone | vn create-26.4-1 «NP V NP PP.beneficiary»: agent=Agent epitaph=Result for stone=Beneficiary |

## Example 3 {#x3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Her epitaph said that she always kept her promises.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:epitaph:x3:1
# text = Her epitaph said that she always kept her promises.
1	Her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	epitaph	epitaph	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
5	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj	_	_
6	always	always	ADV	RB	PronType=Tot	7	advmod	_	_
7	kept	keep	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	ccomp	_	_
8	her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	9	nmod:poss	_	_
9	promises	promise	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | Her epitaph |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **keep** | past | epitaph | epitaph's promises |  |  |  | always *property* | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent promise=Theme |
| 3 | **promise** |  | epitaph |  |  |  |  |  | nom promise «communication transitive»: poss=agent |

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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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