--- title: Then the Head Chief cried and said and sang, ‘Taffy dear, the next t… — Just so stories · tree and pragmatics description: Then the Head Chief cried and said and sang, ‘Taffy dear, the next time you write a picture-letter, you’d better send a man who can talk our language with it, to explain what it means. Who acts: Head Chief, you, man, language. A sentence of «Just so stories» by Rudyard Kipling, How the First Letter --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2781/9/174/) [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 First Letter Was Written](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2781/9/) / 174 # Just so stories, How the First Letter Was Written, sentence 174 Then the Head Chief cried and said and sang, ‘Taffy dear, the next time you write a picture-letter, you’d better send a man who can talk our language with it, to explain what it means. **Who acts:** Head Chief, you, man, language · **What happens:** cry, say, sing, write, have, send · **To what, where:** picture letter, man, language · **Speech:** someone speaks here This is a sentence of «Just so stories» by Rudyard Kipling, How the First Letter Was Written. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (Head Chief, you, man, language), 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:pg2781:9:174 # text = Then the Head Chief cried and said and sang, ‘Taffy dear, the next time you write a picture-letter, you’d better send a man who can talk our language with it, to explain what it means. 1 Then then ADV RB PronType=Dem 5 advmod _ _ 2 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 4 det _ _ 3 Head Head PROPN NNP Number=Sing 4 compound _ _ 4 Chief Chief PROPN NNP Number=Sing 5 nsubj _ _ 5 cried cry VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 6 and and CCONJ CC _ 7 cc _ _ 7 said say VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 5 conj _ _ 8 and and CCONJ CC _ 9 cc _ _ 9 sang sing VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 5 conj _ SpaceAfter=No 10 , , PUNCT , _ 13 punct _ _ 11 ‘ ' PUNCT `` _ 13 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 12 Taffy Taffy PROPN NNP Number=Sing 13 compound _ _ 13 dear dear ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 9 parataxis _ SpaceAfter=No 14 , , PUNCT , _ 26 punct _ _ 15 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 17 det _ _ 16 next next ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 17 amod _ _ 17 time time NOUN NN Number=Sing 26 obl:unmarked _ _ 18 you you PRON PRP Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs 19 nsubj _ _ 19 write write VERB VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 17 acl:relcl _ _ 20 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 23 det _ _ 21 picture picture NOUN NN Number=Sing 23 compound _ SpaceAfter=No 22 - - PUNCT HYPH _ 21 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 23 letter letter NOUN NN Number=Sing 19 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 24 , , PUNCT , _ 19 punct _ _ 25 you you PRON PRP Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs 26 nsubj _ SpaceAfter=No 26 ’d have VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 5 conj _ _ 27 better good ADJ JJR Degree=Cmp 26 xcomp _ _ 28 send send VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 26 xcomp _ _ 29 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 30 det _ _ 30 man man NOUN NN Number=Sing 28 obj _ _ 31 who who PRON WP PronType=Rel 33 nsubj _ _ 32 can can AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 33 aux _ _ 33 talk talk VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 30 acl:relcl _ _ 34 our our PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 35 nmod:poss _ _ 35 language language NOUN NN Number=Sing 33 obj _ _ 36 with with ADP IN _ 37 case _ _ 37 it it PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 33 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 38 , , PUNCT , _ 40 punct _ _ 39 to to PART TO _ 40 mark _ _ 40 explain explain VERB VB Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin 28 parataxis _ _ 41 what what PRON WP PronType=Int 43 obj _ _ 42 it it PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 43 nsubj _ _ 43 means mean VERB VBZ Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 40 ccomp _ SpaceAfter=No 44 . . PUNCT . _ 5 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **cry** *speech: express* | past | the Head Chief | | | | then | | vn manner\_speaking-37.3 «NP V»: agent=Agent | | 2 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | the Head Chief *not said here* | | | | | | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent | | 3 | **sing** *speech: express* | past | the Head Chief *not said here* | | | | | | vn sound\_emission-43.2 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 4 | **write** | present | you | a picture letter | | | | | vn scribble-25.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent letter=Theme | | 5 | **have** | past | you | | | | time | good *property* | tree rules | | 6 | **send** | infinitive | you *not said here* | a man | | | | | vn confine-92-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent man=Theme | | 7 | **talk** | can | a man | our language | | | | with language | tree rules | | 8 | **explain** *speech: assert* | to-infinitive | | | | | | | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic | | 9 | **mean** | present | language | | | | | | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent what=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:** «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 173](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2781/9/173/) - next →: [sentence 175](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2781/9/175/) - ↑ back to [How the First Letter Was Written](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2781/9/)