--- title: We get wise by asking questions, and even if these are not answered… — Irish Fairy Tales · tree and pragmatics description: We get wise by asking questions, and even if these are not answered we get wise, for a well-packed question carries its answer on its back as a snail carries its shell. Who acts: We, snail, journey. A sentence of «Irish Fairy Tales» by James Stephens, Chapter IX, with its dependency tree and the pra --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2892/22/5/) [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 IX](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2892/22/) / 5 # Irish Fairy Tales, Chapter IX, sentence 5 We get wise by asking questions, and even if these are not answered we get wise, for a well-packed question carries its answer on its back as a snail carries its shell. **Who acts:** We, snail, journey · **What happens:** get, ask, not answer, pack, carry, answer · **To what, where:** questions, these, answer, back, shell This is a sentence of «Irish Fairy Tales» by James Stephens, Chapter IX. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (We, snail, journey), 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:pg2892:22:5 # text = We get wise by asking questions, and even if these are not answered we get wise, for a well-packed question carries its answer on its back as a snail carries its shell. 1 We we PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs 2 nsubj _ _ 2 get get VERB VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 3 wise wise ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 2 xcomp _ _ 4 by by SCONJ IN _ 5 mark _ _ 5 asking ask VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 2 advcl _ _ 6 questions question NOUN NNS Number=Plur 5 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 7 , , PUNCT , _ 16 punct _ _ 8 and and CCONJ CC _ 16 cc _ _ 9 even even ADV RB _ 14 advmod _ _ 10 if if SCONJ IN _ 14 mark _ _ 11 these this PRON DT Number=Plur|PronType=Dem 14 nsubj:pass _ _ 12 are be AUX VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 14 aux:pass _ _ 13 not not PART RB Polarity=Neg 14 advmod _ _ 14 answered answer VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 16 advcl _ _ 15 we we PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs 16 nsubj _ _ 16 get get VERB VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 2 conj _ _ 17 wise wise ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 16 xcomp _ SpaceAfter=No 18 , , PUNCT , _ 25 punct _ _ 19 for for ADP IN _ 24 case _ _ 20 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 24 det _ _ 21 well well ADV RB Degree=Pos 23 advmod _ SpaceAfter=No 22 - - PUNCT HYPH _ 21 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 23 packed pack VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 24 amod _ _ 24 question question NOUN NN Number=Sing 25 obl _ _ 25 carries carry VERB VBZ Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 2 parataxis _ _ 26 its its PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 27 nmod:poss _ _ 27 answer answer NOUN NN Number=Sing 25 obj _ _ 28 on on ADP IN _ 30 case _ _ 29 its its PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 30 nmod:poss _ _ 30 back back NOUN NN Number=Sing 25 obl _ _ 31 as as SCONJ IN _ 34 mark _ _ 32 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 33 det _ _ 33 snail snail NOUN NN Number=Sing 34 nsubj _ _ 34 carries carry VERB VBZ Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 25 advcl _ _ 35 its its PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 36 nmod:poss _ _ 36 shell shell NOUN NN Number=Sing 34 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 37 . . PUNCT . _ 2 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **get** | present | We | | | | | wise *property* | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Experiencer | | 2 | **ask** *speech: ask* | gerund | We *not said here* | questions | | | | | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent question=Recipient | | 3 | **not** **answer** *speech: assert* *a condition, not said to happen* | present · passive | | these | | | | | vn reciprocate-112-1 «NP V PP»: subject=Eventuality | | 4 | **get** | present | we | | | | | wise *property* | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Experiencer | | 5 | **pack** | participle | | | | | | well *property* | vn spray-9.7-1-1 «NP V PP.destination»: agent=Theme | | 6 | **carry** | present | | journey's answer | | journey's back | | for a packed question | vn carry-11.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent answer=Theme | | 7 | **carry** | present | a snail | journey's shell | | | | | vn carry-11.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent shell=Theme | | 8 | **answer** | | journey | | | | | | nom answer «communication transitive»: poss=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:** «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 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2892/22/4/) - next →: [sentence 6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2892/22/6/) - ↑ back to [Chapter IX](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2892/22/)