--- title: “What _is_ a Caucus-race?” said Alice; not that she wanted much to k… — Alice's Adventures in Wonderland · tree and pragmatics description: “What _is_ a Caucus-race?” said Alice; not that she wanted much to know, but the Dodo had paused as if it thought that _somebody_ ought to speak, and no one else seemed inclined to say anything. Who acts: _, Alice, Dodo, somebody. A sentence of «Alice's Adventures in Wonderland» by Lewis Carroll, Ch --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg11/4/32/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [tales](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/) / [Alice's Adventures in Wonderland](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg11/) / [Chapter III. A Caucus-Race and a Long…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg11/4/) / 32 # Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Chapter III. A Caucus-Race and a Long Tale, sentence 32 “What \_is\_ a Caucus-race?” said Alice; not that she wanted much to know, but the Dodo had paused as if it thought that \_somebody\_ ought to speak, and no one else seemed inclined to say anything. **Who acts:** \_, Alice, Dodo, somebody, one · **What happens:** be, say, not want, know, pause, think · **To what, where:** much, anything · **Speech:** someone speaks here This is a sentence of «Alice's Adventures in Wonderland» by Lewis Carroll, Chapter III. A Caucus-Race and a Long Tale. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (\_, Alice, Dodo, somebody), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree. **Parsed by Mova, not checked by a teacher.** This tree is Mova's own parse (the `en` model, on the CPU, when the site is built); it may be wrong. ## The tree {#tree} ```conllu # sent_id = book:pg11:4:32 # text = “What _is_ a Caucus-race?” said Alice; not that she wanted much to know, but the Dodo had paused as if it thought that _somebody_ ought to speak, and no one else seemed inclined to say anything. 1 “ " PUNCT `` _ 12 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 2 What what PRON WP PronType=Int 12 nsubj:outer _ _ 3 _ _ NOUN NN Number=Sing 2 nsubj _ SpaceAfter=No 4 is be AUX VBZ Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 2 cop _ SpaceAfter=No 5 _ _ PUNCT NFP _ 9 punct _ _ 6 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 9 det _ _ 7 Caucus Caucus PROPN NNP Number=Sing 9 compound _ SpaceAfter=No 8 - - PUNCT HYPH _ 7 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 9 race race NOUN NN Number=Sing 2 appos _ SpaceAfter=No 10 ? ? PUNCT . _ 9 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 11 ” " PUNCT '' _ 2 punct _ _ 12 said say VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 13 Alice Alice PROPN NNP Number=Sing 12 nsubj _ SpaceAfter=No 14 ; ; PUNCT , _ 18 punct _ _ 15 not not PART RB Polarity=Neg 18 advmod _ _ 16 that that SCONJ IN _ 18 mark _ _ 17 she she PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 18 nsubj _ _ 18 wanted want VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 12 parataxis _ _ 19 much much ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 18 obj _ _ 20 to to PART TO _ 21 mark _ _ 21 know know VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 19 acl _ SpaceAfter=No 22 , , PUNCT , _ 27 punct _ _ 23 but but CCONJ CC _ 27 cc _ _ 24 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 25 det _ _ 25 Dodo Dodo PROPN NNP Number=Sing 27 nsubj _ _ 26 had have AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 27 aux _ _ 27 paused pause VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part 18 conj _ _ 28 as as SCONJ IN _ 31 mark _ _ 29 if if SCONJ IN _ 31 mark _ _ 30 it it PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 31 nsubj _ _ 31 thought think VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 27 advcl _ _ 32 that that SCONJ IN _ 38 mark _ _ 33 _ _ PUNCT NFP _ 34 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 34 somebody somebody PRON NN Number=Sing|PronType=Ind 38 nsubj _ SpaceAfter=No 35 _ _ PUNCT NFP _ 34 punct _ _ 36 ought ought AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 38 aux _ _ 37 to to PART TO _ 38 mark _ _ 38 speak speak VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 31 ccomp _ SpaceAfter=No 39 , , PUNCT , _ 44 punct _ _ 40 and and CCONJ CC _ 44 cc _ _ 41 no no DET DT PronType=Neg 42 det _ _ 42 one one NOUN NN Number=Sing 44 nsubj _ _ 43 else else ADV RB _ 42 advmod _ _ 44 seemed seem VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 12 conj _ _ 45 inclined inclined ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 44 xcomp _ _ 46 to to PART TO _ 47 mark _ _ 47 say say VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 45 xcomp _ _ 48 anything anything PRON NN Number=Sing|PronType=Ind 47 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 49 . . PUNCT . _ 12 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **is a** *in a quote* | present | \_ | | | | | | tree rules | | 2 | **say** *speech: ask* | past | | | | | | | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent | | 3 | **not** **want** | past | Alice | much | | | | | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: agent=Pivot much=Theme | | 4 | **know** | to-infinitive | | | | | | | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer | | 5 | **pause** | past · perfect | the Dodo | | | | | | vn linger-53.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent | | 6 | **think** *speech: other* | past | \_ | | | | | | vn consider-29.9-2 «NP V how S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Theme | | 7 | **speak** *speech: other* | ought | somebody | | | | | | vn talk-37.5 «NP V»: agent=Agent | | 8 | **seem** | past | no one | | | | | inclined *property* | vn seem-109-1-1-1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Theme | | 9 | **say** *speech: assert* | to-infinitive | no one *not said here* | anything | | | | | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: agent=Agent anything=Topic | 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. **Text:** «Alice's Adventures in Wonderland» by Lewis Carroll, Project Gutenberg book 11 (public domain in the USA). **Tree:** Mova's own parse, Elamur Cosmic License. **Frames:** Mova's frames reader (`prag`), the chapter read in order. - ← previous: [sentence 31](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg11/4/31/) - next →: [sentence 33](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg11/4/33/) - ↑ back to [Chapter III. A Caucus-Race and a Long Tale](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg11/4/)