---
title: slander — school dictionary · trees and pragmatics
description: «slander» in the school dictionary: Untrue spoken words that harm someone's good name. Every meaning for a pupil with its dependency tree and pragmatics.
---

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# slander

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**Who acts:** Untrue spoken words, someone, lies, spiteful girl, you, old woman · **What happens:** speak, harm, name, tell, spread, not slander · **To what, where:** good name, lies, name, slander, people, young queen · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
«slander» in the school dictionary: its 2 meanings for a pupil and its 4 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: [slander in the school dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/slander.md).

## Meaning 1 {#m1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Untrue spoken words that harm someone's good name.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:slander:m1:1
# text = Untrue spoken words that harm someone's good name.
1	Untrue	untrue	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
2	spoken	speak	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	amod	_	_
3	words	word	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
4	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	5	nsubj	_	_
5	harm	harm	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	acl:relcl	_	_
6	someone	someone	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	9	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	's	's	PART	POS	_	6	case	_	_
8	good	good	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	name	name	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **speak** *speech: other* | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn talk-37.5 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **harm** | present | Untrue spoken words | someone's good name |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus name=Experiencer |
| 3 | **name** |  | someone |  |  |  |  |  | nom name «communication transitive»: poss=agent |

<!-- .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}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
To tell lies about someone in order to harm their name.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:slander:m2:1
# text = To tell lies about someone in order to harm their name.
1	To	to	PART	TO	_	2	mark	_	_
2	tell	tell	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	lies	lie	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
4	about	about	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	someone	someone	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	2	obl	_	_
6	in	in	SCONJ	IN	ExtPos=SCONJ	9	mark	_	_
7	order	order	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	fixed	_	_
8	to	to	PART	TO	_	9	mark	_	_
9	harm	harm	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	advcl	_	_
10	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	11	nmod:poss	_	_
11	name	name	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **tell** *speech: assert* | to-infinitive |  | lies |  |  |  | about someone | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent lie=Recipient about someone=Topic |
| 2 | **harm** | to-infinitive |  | lies's name |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus name=Experiencer |
| 3 | **name** |  | lies *= lie* |  |  |  |  |  | nom name «communication transitive»: poss=agent |

## Example 1 {#x1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The spiteful girl spread slander about her friend.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:slander:x1:1
# text = The spiteful girl spread slander about her friend.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	spiteful	spiteful	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	girl	girl	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	spread	spread	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	slander	slander	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
6	about	about	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	8	nmod:poss	_	_
8	friend	friend	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **spread** | past | the spiteful girl | slander |  |  |  | about girl's friend | vn spray-9.7-1 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent slander=Theme about friend=Destination |

## Example 2 {#x2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Don't slander people by telling lies.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:slander:x2:1
# text = Don't slander people by telling lies.
1	Do	do	AUX	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	n't	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	3	advmod	_	_
3	slander	slander	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	people	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obj	_	_
5	by	by	SCONJ	IN	_	6	mark	_	_
6	telling	tell	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	3	advcl	_	_
7	lies	lie	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **slander** | imperative · do-support | you *not said here* | people |  |  |  |  | vn judgment-33.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent people=Theme |
| 2 | **tell** *speech: assert* | gerund | you *not said here* | lies |  |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent lie=Recipient |

## Example 3 {#x3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The old woman began to slander the young queen.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:slander:x3:1
# text = The old woman began to slander the young queen.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	woman	woman	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	began	begin	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	to	to	PART	TO	_	6	mark	_	_
6	slander	slander	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	xcomp	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	young	young	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	queen	queen	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **begin** | past | the old woman |  |  |  |  |  | vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality |
| 2 | **slander** | to-infinitive | the old woman *not said here* | the young queen |  |  |  |  | vn judgment-33.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent queen=Theme |

## Example 4 {#x4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Slander can hurt a person deeply.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:slander:x4:1
# text = Slander can hurt a person deeply.
1	Slander	slander	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
2	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	hurt	hurt	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	person	person	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	deeply	deeply	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **hurt** | can | Slander | a person |  |  |  | deeply *property* | vn hurt-40.8.3-2 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer person=Patient |

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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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