---
title: utterance — school dictionary · trees and pragmatics
description: «utterance» in the school dictionary: An utterance is something that someone says: a word, a phrase or a sentence spoken aloud. Every meaning for a pupil with its dependency tree and pragmatics.
---

<!-- md -->
[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/U/utterance/)

<!-- crumbs -->
[home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [dictionaries](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/) / [school dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/) / [U](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/U/) / utterance

# utterance

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** utterance, someone, act, first utterance, baby, Linguists · **What happens:** be, say, speak, give, utter, write down · **To what, where:** something, sentence, act, utterance, feelings, Mama · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
«utterance» in the school dictionary: its 2 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: [utterance in the school dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/utterance.md).

## Meaning 1 {#m1}

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
An utterance is something that someone says: a word, a phrase or a sentence spoken aloud.

<!-- fold The tree, 16 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:utterance:m1:1
# text = An utterance is something that someone says: a word, a phrase or a sentence spoken aloud.
1	An	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	utterance	utterance	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
4	something	something	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	0	root	_	_
5	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	7	obj	_	_
6	someone	someone	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	7	nsubj	_	_
7	says	say	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	acl:relcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	10	punct	_	_
9	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	word	word	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	appos	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
12	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	phrase	phrase	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	appos	_	_
14	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	16	cc	_	_
15	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
16	sentence	sentence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	conj	_	_
17	spoken	speak	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	16	acl	_	_
18	aloud	aloud	ADV	RB	_	17	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | a utterance | something |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | someone |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: agent=Agent that=Topic |
| 3 | **speak** *speech: other* | participle |  | a sentence *not said here* |  |  |  | aloud *property* | vn talk-37.5 «NP V»: agent=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}

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Utterance is the act of saying something aloud: give utterance to your feelings.

<!-- fold The tree, 13 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:utterance:m2:1
# text = Utterance is the act of saying something aloud: give utterance to your feelings.
1	Utterance	utterance	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	act	act	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
5	of	of	SCONJ	IN	_	6	mark	_	_
6	saying	say	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	4	acl	_	_
7	something	something	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	6	obj	_	_
8	aloud	aloud	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	10	punct	_	_
10	give	give	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	parataxis	_	_
11	utterance	utterance	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obj	_	_
12	to	to	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	your	your	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	14	nmod:poss	_	_
14	feelings	feeling	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | Utterance | the act |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **say** *speech: assert* | gerund | the act *not said here* | something |  |  |  | aloud *property* | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: agent=Agent something=Topic |
| 3 | **give** | infinitive |  | utterance | your feelings |  |  |  | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP PP.recipient»: agent=Agent utterance=Theme to feeling=Recipient |

## Example 1 {#x1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The baby's first utterance was «Mama».

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:utterance:x1:1
# text = The baby's first utterance was «Mama».
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	baby	baby	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	's	's	PART	POS	_	2	case	_	_
4	first	first	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos|NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord	5	amod	_	_
5	utterance	utterance	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
6	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	8	cop	_	_
7	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	8	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	Mama	mama	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	8	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	8	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** *in a quote* | past | the baby's first utterance | Mama |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **utter** |  | the baby |  |  |  |  |  | nom utterance «communication transitive»: poss=agent |

## Example 2 {#x2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Every utterance in the play was written down.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:utterance:x2:1
# text = Every utterance in the play was written down.
1	Every	every	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	2	det	_	_
2	utterance	utterance	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	in	in	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	play	play	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
6	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	aux:pass	_	_
7	written	write	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
8	down	down	ADP	RP	_	7	compound:prt	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **write down** | past · passive |  | every utterance in the play |  |  |  |  | vn scribble-25.2-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |

## Example 3 {#x3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Linguists record people's utterances to study language.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:utterance:x3:1
# text = Linguists record people's utterances to study language.
1	Linguists	linguist	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	record	record	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	people	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	's	's	PART	POS	_	3	case	_	_
5	utterances	utterance	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obj	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
7	study	study	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	advcl	_	_
8	language	language	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **record** | present | Linguists | people's utterances |  |  |  |  | vn scribble-25.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent utterance=Theme |
| 2 | **study** | to-infinitive | Linguists *not said here* | language |  |  |  |  | vn learn-14-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent language=Topic |
| 3 | **utter** |  | people |  |  |  |  |  | nom utterance «communication transitive»: poss=agent |

## Example 4 {#x4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
His only utterance was a quiet «thank you».

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:utterance:x4:1
# text = His only utterance was a quiet «thank you».
1	His	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	3	nmod:poss	_	_
2	only	only	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	utterance	utterance	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
4	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	quiet	quiet	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
7	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	8	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	thank	thank	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	ccomp	_	_
9	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Person=2|PronType=Prs	8	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	8	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | His only utterance |  |  |  |  | quiet *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **thank** *speech: thank* *in a quote* | present | His only utterance *not said here* |  | you |  |  |  | vn judgment-33.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent you=Theme |
| 3 | **utter** |  | His *= he* |  |  |  |  |  | nom utterance «communication transitive»: poss=agent |

## Example 5 {#x5}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
She gave utterance to her anger.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:utterance:x5:1
# text = She gave utterance to her anger.
1	She	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	gave	give	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	utterance	utterance	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
4	to	to	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	6	nmod:poss	_	_
6	anger	anger	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 | **give** | past | She | utterance | her anger |  |  |  | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP PP.recipient»: agent=Agent utterance=Theme to anger=Recipient |
| 2 | **anger** |  | her *= she* |  |  |  |  |  | nom anger «feeling intransitive»: poss=agent |

## Example 6 {#x6}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Each line in the conversation is one utterance.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:utterance:x6:1
# text = Each line in the conversation is one utterance.
1	Each	each	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	2	det	_	_
2	line	line	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
3	in	in	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	conversation	conversation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
6	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	cop	_	_
7	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	8	nummod	_	_
8	utterance	utterance	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	8	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | each line in the conversation | one utterance |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

## Example 7 {#x7}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The Savannah negro here gave utterance to a loud, contemptuous laugh, and began to fumble somewhat ostentatiously with a big brass watch-chain.

<!-- fold The tree, 23 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:utterance:x7:1
# text = The Savannah negro here gave utterance to a loud, contemptuous laugh, and began to fumble somewhat ostentatiously with a big brass watch-chain.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	Savannah	Savannah	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	compound	_	_
3	negro	negro	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
4	here	here	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	3	advmod	_	_
5	gave	give	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	utterance	utterance	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
7	to	to	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
9	loud	loud	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	amod	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
11	contemptuous	contemptuous	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	amod	_	_
12	laugh	laugh	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	15	punct	_	_
14	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	15	cc	_	_
15	began	begin	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	conj	_	_
16	to	to	PART	TO	_	17	mark	_	_
17	fumble	fumble	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	15	xcomp	_	_
18	somewhat	somewhat	ADV	RB	_	19	advmod	_	_
19	ostentatiously	ostentatiously	ADV	RB	_	17	advmod	_	_
20	with	with	ADP	IN	_	26	case	_	_
21	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	26	det	_	_
22	big	big	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	26	amod	_	_
23	brass	brass	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	26	compound	_	_
24	watch	watch	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	26	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
25	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	24	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
26	chain	chain	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
27	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **give** | past | the Savannah negro | utterance | a loud contemptuous laugh |  |  |  | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP PP.recipient»: agent=Agent utterance=Theme to laugh=Recipient |
| 2 | **begin** | past | the Savannah negro *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality |
| 3 | **fumble** | to-infinitive | the Savannah negro *not said here* |  |  |  |  | with a big brass watch chain; ostentatiously *property* | vn rummage-35.5 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent |

<!-- 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 -->

<!-- pn -->
- ← previous: [utter](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/U/utter/)
- next →: [uttered](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/U/uttered/)
- ↑ back to [U in school dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/U/)