--- title: One of the ladies may have said, “He is shaping very well, my dear,”… — Irish Fairy Tales · tree and pragmatics description: One of the ladies may have said, “He is shaping very well, my dear,” and the other replied, as is the morose privilege of an aunt, “He will never be as good as his father,” but their hearts must have overflowed in the night, in the silence, in the darkness, when they thought of the living swiftness --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2892/17/34/) [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/) / [Irish Fairy Tales](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2892/) / [Chapter IV](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2892/17/) / 34 # Irish Fairy Tales, Chapter IV, sentence 34 One of the ladies may have said, “He is shaping very well, my dear,” and the other replied, as is the morose privilege of an aunt, “He will never be as good as his father,” but their hearts must have overflowed in the night, in the silence, in the darkness, when they thought of the living swiftness they had fashioned, and that dear fair head. **Who acts:** Fionn, ladies, that · **What happens:** say, shape, reply, be, not be, overflow · **To what, where:** One, other, hearts, living swiftness · **Speech:** someone speaks here This is a sentence of «Irish Fairy Tales» by James Stephens, Chapter IV. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (Fionn, ladies, that), 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:pg2892:17:34 # text = One of the ladies may have said, “He is shaping very well, my dear,” and the other replied, as is the morose privilege of an aunt, “He will never be as good as his father,” but their hearts must have overflowed in the night, in the silence, in the darkness, when they thought of the living swiftness they had fashioned, and that dear fair head. 1 One one NUM CD NumForm=Word|NumType=Card 7 nsubj:pass _ _ 2 of of ADP IN _ 4 case _ _ 3 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 4 det _ _ 4 ladies lady NOUN NNS Number=Plur 1 nmod _ _ 5 may may AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 7 aux _ _ 6 have have AUX VB VerbForm=Inf 7 aux _ _ 7 said say VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 0 root _ SpaceAfter=No 8 , , PUNCT , _ 12 punct _ _ 9 “ " PUNCT `` _ 12 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 10 He he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 12 nsubj _ _ 11 is be AUX VBZ Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 12 aux _ _ 12 shaping shape VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 7 advcl _ _ 13 very very ADV RB _ 14 advmod _ _ 14 well well ADV RB Degree=Pos 12 advmod _ SpaceAfter=No 15 , , PUNCT , _ 17 punct _ _ 16 my my PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 17 nmod:poss _ _ 17 dear dear ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 12 parataxis _ SpaceAfter=No 18 , , PUNCT , _ 17 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 19 ” " PUNCT '' _ 12 punct _ _ 20 and and CCONJ CC _ 23 cc _ _ 21 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 22 det _ _ 22 other other ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 23 obl:unmarked _ _ 23 replied reply VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part 12 conj _ SpaceAfter=No 24 , , PUNCT , _ 29 punct _ _ 25 as as ADP IN _ 29 case _ _ 26 is be AUX VBZ Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 29 cop _ _ 27 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 29 det _ _ 28 morose morose ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 29 amod _ _ 29 privilege privilege NOUN NN Number=Sing 7 parataxis _ _ 30 of of ADP IN _ 32 case _ _ 31 an a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 32 det _ _ 32 aunt aunt NOUN NN Number=Sing 29 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 33 , , PUNCT , _ 40 punct _ _ 34 “ " PUNCT `` _ 40 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 35 He he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 40 nsubj _ _ 36 will will AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 40 aux _ _ 37 never never ADV RB PronType=Neg 40 advmod _ _ 38 be be AUX VB VerbForm=Inf 40 cop _ _ 39 as as ADV RB _ 40 advmod _ _ 40 good good ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 29 parataxis _ _ 41 as as ADP IN _ 43 case _ _ 42 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 43 nmod:poss _ _ 43 father father NOUN NN Number=Sing 40 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 44 , , PUNCT , _ 43 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 45 ” " PUNCT '' _ 40 punct _ _ 46 but but CCONJ CC _ 51 cc _ _ 47 their their PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 48 nmod:poss _ _ 48 hearts heart NOUN NNS Number=Plur 51 nsubj:pass _ _ 49 must must AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 51 aux _ _ 50 have have AUX VB VerbForm=Inf 51 aux _ _ 51 overflowed overflow VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 40 conj _ _ 52 in in ADP IN _ 54 case _ _ 53 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 54 det _ _ 54 night night NOUN NN Number=Sing 51 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 55 , , PUNCT , _ 58 punct _ _ 56 in in ADP IN _ 58 case _ _ 57 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 58 det _ _ 58 silence silence NOUN NN Number=Sing 40 conj _ SpaceAfter=No 59 , , PUNCT , _ 62 punct _ _ 60 in in ADP IN _ 62 case _ _ 61 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 62 det _ _ 62 darkness darkness NOUN NN Number=Sing 58 appos _ SpaceAfter=No 63 , , PUNCT , _ 66 punct _ _ 64 when when ADV WRB PronType=Int 66 advmod _ _ 65 they they PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 66 nsubj _ _ 66 thought think VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 62 acl:relcl _ _ 67 of of ADP IN _ 70 case _ _ 68 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 70 det _ _ 69 living living NOUN NN Number=Sing 70 compound _ _ 70 swiftness swiftness NOUN NN Number=Sing 66 obl _ _ 71 they they PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 72 nsubj _ _ 72 had have VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 70 acl:relcl _ _ 73 fashioned fashioned ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 72 xcomp _ SpaceAfter=No 74 , , PUNCT , _ 79 punct _ _ 75 and and CCONJ CC _ 79 cc _ _ 76 that that PRON DT Number=Sing|PronType=Dem 79 nsubj _ _ 77 dear dear ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 79 amod _ _ 78 fair fair ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 79 amod _ _ 79 head head NOUN NN Number=Sing 7 parataxis _ SpaceAfter=No 80 . . PUNCT . _ 7 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | may · perfect · passive | | One of the ladies | | | | | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: subject=Topic | | 2 | **shape** *in a quote* | present · progressive | Fionn | | | | | well *property* | vn build-26.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent | | 3 | **reply** *speech: assert* | participle | Fionn *not said here* | the other | | | | | vn respond-113 «NP V»: agent=Agent | | 4 | **is** | present | | | | | | as the morose privilege; of a aunt | tree rules | | 5 | **not** **is** *in a quote* | future | Fionn | | | | | as Fionn's father; good *property* | tree rules | | 6 | **overflow** | must · perfect · passive | | ladies's hearts | | | night | | tree rules | | 7 | **think** *speech: other* | past | ladies *= lady* | | | | | of the living swiftness | vn focus-87.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent | | 8 | **have** | past | ladies *= lady* | the living swiftness *not said here* | | | | fashioned *property* | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent swiftness=Patient | | 9 | **head** | | that | | | | | | tree rules | 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:** «Irish Fairy Tales» by James Stephens, Project Gutenberg book 2892 (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 33](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2892/17/33/) - next →: [Chapter V, 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2892/18/1/) - ↑ back to [Chapter IV](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2892/17/)