--- title: ‘It’s only our secret-s’prise, Mummy dear, and we’ll tell you all ab… — Just so stories · tree and pragmatics description: ‘It’s only our secret-s’prise, Mummy dear, and we’ll tell you all about it the very minute it’s done; but please don’t ask me what it is now, or else I’ll have to tell.’ Who acts: game, secret s’prise, minute, it. A sentence of «Just so stories» by Rudyard Kipling, How the Alphabet Was Made, with it --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2781/10/283/) [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/) / [Just so stories](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2781/) / [How the Alphabet Was Made](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2781/10/) / 283 # Just so stories, How the Alphabet Was Made, sentence 283 ‘It’s only our secret-s’prise, Mummy dear, and we’ll tell you all about it the very minute it’s done; but please don’t ask me what it is now, or else I’ll have to tell.’ **Who acts:** game, secret s’prise, minute, it · **What happens:** be, tell, do, not ask · **To what, where:** secret s’prise, ’, you, s’prise, me · **Speech:** someone speaks here This is a sentence of «Just so stories» by Rudyard Kipling, How the Alphabet Was Made. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (game, secret s’prise, minute, it), 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:pg2781:10:283 # text = ‘It’s only our secret-s’prise, Mummy dear, and we’ll tell you all about it the very minute it’s done; but please don’t ask me what it is now, or else I’ll have to tell.’ 1 ‘ ' PUNCT `` _ 8 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 2 It it PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 8 nsubj _ SpaceAfter=No 3 ’s be AUX VBZ Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 8 cop _ _ 4 only only ADV RB _ 8 advmod _ _ 5 our our PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 8 nmod:poss _ _ 6 secret secret NOUN NN Number=Sing 8 compound _ SpaceAfter=No 7 - - PUNCT HYPH _ 6 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 8 s’prise s'prise NOUN NN Number=Sing 16 nsubj _ SpaceAfter=No 9 , , PUNCT , _ 10 punct _ _ 10 Mummy Mummy PROPN NNP Number=Sing 8 appos _ _ 11 dear dear ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 10 amod _ SpaceAfter=No 12 , , PUNCT , _ 16 punct _ _ 13 and and CCONJ CC _ 16 cc _ _ 14 we we PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs 16 nsubj _ SpaceAfter=No 15 ’ll will AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 16 aux _ _ 16 tell tell VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 0 root _ _ 17 you you PRON PRP Case=Acc|Person=2|PronType=Prs 16 iobj _ _ 18 all all DET DT PronType=Tot 17 nmod:unmarked _ _ 19 about about ADP IN _ 20 case _ _ 20 it it PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 16 obl _ _ 21 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 23 det _ _ 22 very very ADV RB _ 23 advmod _ _ 23 minute minute NOUN NN Number=Sing 16 obj _ _ 24 it it PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 26 nsubj:pass _ SpaceAfter=No 25 ’s be AUX VBZ Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 26 aux:pass _ _ 26 done do VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 23 acl:relcl _ SpaceAfter=No 27 ; ; PUNCT : _ 32 punct _ _ 28 but but CCONJ CC _ 32 cc _ _ 29 please please INTJ UH _ 32 discourse _ _ 30 do do AUX VB VerbForm=Inf 32 aux _ SpaceAfter=No 31 n’t not PART RB Polarity=Neg 32 advmod _ _ 32 ask ask VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 16 conj _ _ 33 me I PRON PRP Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs 32 iobj _ _ 34 what what PRON WP PronType=Int 43 obj _ _ 35 it it PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 43 nsubj _ _ 36 is be AUX VBZ Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 43 cop _ _ 37 now now ADV RB PronType=Dem 43 advmod _ SpaceAfter=No 38 , , PUNCT , _ 43 punct _ _ 39 or or CCONJ CC _ 43 cc _ _ 40 else else ADV RB _ 43 advmod _ _ 41 I I PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs 43 nsubj _ SpaceAfter=No 42 ’ll will AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 43 aux _ _ 43 have have VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 32 ccomp _ _ 44 to to PART TO _ 45 mark _ _ 45 tell tell VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 43 xcomp _ SpaceAfter=No 46 . . PUNCT . _ 16 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 47 ’ ' NOUN NN Number=Sing 16 obj _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **is a** | present | game | our secret s’prise | | | | | tree rules | | 2 | **tell** *speech: assert* | future | our secret s’prise | ’ | you | | minute | about game | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP-Dative NP»: agent=Agent you=Recipient '=Topic | | 3 | **do** | present · passive | the minute *not said here* | s’prise *= s'prise* | | | | | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Eventuality | | 4 | **not** **ask** *speech: ask* | infinitive · do-support | our secret s’prise *not said here* | | me | | | | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V NP whether S»: agent=Agent i=Recipient clause=Topic | | 5 | **is** | present | it | | | | now | else, have *property* | tree rules | | 6 | **tell** *speech: assert* | to-infinitive | | | | | | | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent | 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:** «Just so stories» by Rudyard Kipling, Project Gutenberg book 2781 (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 282](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2781/10/282/) - next →: [sentence 284](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2781/10/284/) - ↑ back to [How the Alphabet Was Made](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2781/10/)