--- title: Some people really light a fire and strew spikenard blossoms in it;… — The Crimson Fairy Book · tree and pragmatics description: Some people really light a fire and strew spikenard blossoms in it; but that is a clumsy method, for if the flames do not shoot up at the right moment away will fly the woodpecker, carrying the root with her.” Who acts: people, that, flames, clumsy method. A sentence of «The Crimson Fairy Book» by A --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2435/16/14/) [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/) / [The Crimson Fairy Book](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2435/) / [The Crimson Fairy Book, part 16](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2435/16/) / 14 # The Crimson Fairy Book, The Crimson Fairy Book, part 16, sentence 14 Some people really light a fire and strew spikenard blossoms in it; but that is a clumsy method, for if the flames do not shoot up at the right moment away will fly the woodpecker, carrying the root with her.” **Who acts:** people, that, flames, clumsy method · **What happens:** light, strew, be, not shoot up, fly, carry · **To what, where:** fire, spikenard blossoms, clumsy method, woodpecker, root This is a sentence of «The Crimson Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, The Crimson Fairy Book, part 16. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (people, that, flames, clumsy method), 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:pg2435:16:14 # text = Some people really light a fire and strew spikenard blossoms in it; but that is a clumsy method, for if the flames do not shoot up at the right moment away will fly the woodpecker, carrying the root with her.” 1 Some some DET DT PronType=Ind 2 det _ _ 2 people people NOUN NNS Number=Plur 4 nsubj _ _ 3 really really ADV RB _ 4 advmod _ _ 4 light light VERB VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 5 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 6 det _ _ 6 fire fire NOUN NN Number=Sing 4 obj _ _ 7 and and CCONJ CC _ 8 cc _ _ 8 strew strew VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 4 conj _ _ 9 spikenard spikenard NOUN NN Number=Sing 10 compound _ _ 10 blossoms blossom NOUN NNS Number=Plur 8 obj _ _ 11 in in ADP IN _ 12 case _ _ 12 it it PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 8 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 13 ; ; PUNCT , _ 19 punct _ _ 14 but but CCONJ CC _ 19 cc _ _ 15 that that PRON DT Number=Sing|PronType=Dem 19 nsubj _ _ 16 is be AUX VBZ Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 19 cop _ _ 17 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 19 det _ _ 18 clumsy clumsy ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 19 amod _ _ 19 method method NOUN NN Number=Sing 35 nsubj _ SpaceAfter=No 20 , , PUNCT , _ 27 punct _ _ 21 for for SCONJ IN _ 27 mark _ _ 22 if if SCONJ IN _ 27 mark _ _ 23 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 24 det _ _ 24 flames flame NOUN NNS Number=Plur 27 nsubj _ _ 25 do do AUX VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 27 aux _ _ 26 not not PART RB Polarity=Neg 27 advmod _ _ 27 shoot shoot VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 19 conj _ _ 28 up up ADP RP _ 27 compound:prt _ _ 29 at at ADP IN _ 32 case _ _ 30 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 32 det _ _ 31 right right ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 32 amod _ _ 32 moment moment NOUN NN Number=Sing 27 obl _ _ 33 away away ADV RB _ 27 advmod _ _ 34 will will AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 35 aux _ _ 35 fly fly VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 4 parataxis _ _ 36 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 37 det _ _ 37 woodpecker woodpecker NOUN NN Number=Sing 35 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 38 , , PUNCT , _ 39 punct _ _ 39 carrying carry VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 35 advcl _ _ 40 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 41 det _ _ 41 root root NOUN NN Number=Sing 39 obj _ _ 42 with with ADP IN _ 43 case _ _ 43 her she PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 39 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 44 . . PUNCT . _ 4 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 45 ” " PUNCT '' _ 4 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **light** | present | some people | a fire | | | | | vn preparing-26.3-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent fire=Product | | 2 | **strew** | infinitive | some people *not said here* | spikenard blossoms | | fire | | | vn spray-9.7-1 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent blossom=Theme in it=Destination | | 3 | **is a** | present | that | a clumsy method | | | | | tree rules | | 4 | **not** **shoot up** *a condition, not said to happen* | present · do-support | the flames | | | | moment | away *property* | vn eat-39.1 «NP V»: agent=Agent | | 5 | **fly** | future | a clumsy method | the woodpecker | | | | | vn spatial\_configuration-47.6-1 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location woodpecker=Theme | | 6 | **carry** | gerund | a clumsy method *not said here* | the root | | | | with woodpecker | vn carry-11.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent root=Theme | 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:** «The Crimson Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, Project Gutenberg book 2435 (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 13](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2435/16/13/) - next →: [sentence 15](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2435/16/15/) - ↑ back to [The Crimson Fairy Book, part 16](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2435/16/)