---
title: Cael then began to move his limbs as if they were the wings of a fly… — Irish Fairy Tales · tree and pragmatics
description: Cael then began to move his limbs as if they were the wings of a fly, or the fins of a little fish, or as if they were the six legs of a terrified spider. Who acts: Cael, limbs. A sentence of «Irish Fairy Tales» by James Stephens, Chapter V, with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of every claus
---

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# Irish Fairy Tales, Chapter V, sentence 12

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Cael then began to move his limbs as if they were the wings of a fly, or the fins of a little fish, or as if they were the six legs of a terrified spider.

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**Who acts:** Cael, limbs · **What happens:** begin, move, be · **To what, where:** fins, limbs

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This is a sentence of «Irish Fairy Tales» by James Stephens, Chapter V. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (Cael, limbs), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree.

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**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:pg2892:52:12
# text = Cael then began to move his limbs as if they were the wings of a fly, or the fins of a little fish, or as if they were the six legs of a terrified spider.
1	Cael	Cael	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
2	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	3	advmod	_	_
3	began	begin	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	to	to	PART	TO	_	5	mark	_	_
5	move	move	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	xcomp	_	_
6	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	7	nmod:poss	_	_
7	limbs	limb	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obj	_	_
8	as	as	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
9	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	13	mark	_	_
10	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	13	nsubj	_	_
11	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	13	cop	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	wings	wing	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obl	_	_
14	of	of	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
15	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
16	fly	fly	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	20	punct	_	_
18	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	20	cc	_	_
19	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	20	det	_	_
20	fins	fin	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
21	of	of	ADP	IN	_	24	case	_	_
22	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	24	det	_	_
23	little	little	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	24	amod	_	_
24	fish	fish	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	20	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
25	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	33	punct	_	_
26	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	33	cc	_	_
27	as	as	ADP	IN	_	33	case	_	_
28	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	33	mark	_	_
29	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	33	nsubj	_	_
30	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	33	cop	_	_
31	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	33	det	_	_
32	six	six	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	33	nummod	_	_
33	legs	leg	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
34	of	of	ADP	IN	_	37	case	_	_
35	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	37	det	_	_
36	terrified	terrified	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	37	amod	_	_
37	spider	spider	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	33	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
38	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **begin** | past | Cael | the fins of a little fish |  |  | then |  | vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality |
| 2 | **move** | to-infinitive | Cael *not said here* | Cael's limbs |  |  |  |  | vn roll-51.3.1 «NP V NP.theme»: agent=Agent limb=Theme |
| 3 | **is** *a condition, not said to happen* | past | limbs *= limb* |  |  |  |  | as the wings; of a fly | tree rules |
| 4 | **is** *a condition, not said to happen* | past | limbs *= limb* |  |  |  |  | as the six legs; of a terrified spider | tree rules |

<!-- .note -->
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.

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**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.

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