--- title: “What could it be?” they asked one of another; “there was not a clou… — The Brown Fairy Book · tree and pragmatics description: “What could it be?” they asked one of another; “there was not a cloud in the sky, yet the water had risen higher already than they had ever known it do before.” Who acts: Bunyip, tops. A sentence of «The Brown Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, The Brown Fairy Book, part 8, with its dependency tree and the --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg3282/8/94/) [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/) / [The Brown Fairy Book](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg3282/) / [The Brown Fairy Book, part 8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg3282/8/) / 94 # The Brown Fairy Book, The Brown Fairy Book, part 8, sentence 94 “What could it be?” they asked one of another; “there was not a cloud in the sky, yet the water had risen higher already than they had ever known it do before.” **Who acts:** Bunyip, tops · **What happens:** be, ask, not be, rise, know, do · **To what, where:** one, cloud, sky, water, tops · **Speech:** someone speaks here This is a sentence of «The Brown Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, The Brown Fairy Book, part 8. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (Bunyip, tops), 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:pg3282:8:94 # text = “What could it be?” they asked one of another; “there was not a cloud in the sky, yet the water had risen higher already than they had ever known it do before.” 1 “ " PUNCT `` _ 5 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 2 What what PRON WP PronType=Int 5 obj _ _ 3 could could AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 5 aux _ _ 4 it it PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 5 nsubj _ _ 5 be be VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 9 ccomp _ SpaceAfter=No 6 ? ? PUNCT . _ 5 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 7 ” " PUNCT '' _ 5 punct _ _ 8 they they PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 9 nsubj _ _ 9 asked ask VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 10 one one NUM CD NumForm=Word|NumType=Card 9 obj _ _ 11 of of ADP IN _ 12 case _ _ 12 another another DET DT PronType=Ind 10 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 13 ; ; PUNCT , _ 19 punct _ _ 14 “ " PUNCT `` _ 16 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 15 there there PRON EX PronType=Dem 16 expl _ _ 16 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 19 cop _ _ 17 not not PART RB Polarity=Neg 19 advmod _ _ 18 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 19 det _ _ 19 cloud cloud NOUN NN Number=Sing 9 obl _ _ 20 in in ADP IN _ 22 case _ _ 21 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 22 det _ _ 22 sky sky NOUN NN Number=Sing 19 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 23 , , PUNCT , _ 28 punct _ _ 24 yet yet CCONJ CC _ 28 cc _ _ 25 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 26 det _ _ 26 water water NOUN NN Number=Sing 28 nsubj:pass _ _ 27 had have AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 28 aux _ _ 28 risen rise VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 9 parataxis _ _ 29 higher high ADJ JJR Degree=Cmp 28 xcomp _ _ 30 already already ADV RB _ 35 advmod _ _ 31 than than SCONJ IN _ 35 mark _ _ 32 they they PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 35 nsubj:pass _ _ 33 had have AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 35 aux _ _ 34 ever ever ADV RB PronType=Ind 35 advmod _ _ 35 known know VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 28 advcl _ _ 36 it it PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 37 nsubj _ _ 37 do do VERB VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 35 ccomp _ _ 38 before before ADV RB _ 37 advmod _ SpaceAfter=No 39 . . PUNCT . _ 9 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 40 ” " PUNCT '' _ 9 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **can** *in a quote* | could | Bunyip | | | | | | vn representation-110.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot what=Theme | | 2 | **ask** *speech: ask* | past | tops *= top* | one of another | | | | | vn urge-58.1-1-1 «NP V NP that S»: agent=Agent one=Recipient clause=Topic | | 3 | **not** **is a** *in a quote* | past | | a cloud | | the sky | | | tree rules | | 4 | **rise** *in a quote* | past · perfect · passive | | the water | | | | high *property* | vn appear-48.1.1 «PP.location V NP»: subject=Theme | | 5 | **know** *in a quote* | past · perfect · passive | | tops *= top* | | | ever | | tree rules | | 6 | **do** *in a quote* | present | Bunyip | | | | | before *property* | vn act-114-1 «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:** «The Brown Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, Project Gutenberg book 3282 (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 93](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg3282/8/93/) - next →: [sentence 95](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg3282/8/95/) - ↑ back to [The Brown Fairy Book, part 8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg3282/8/)