---
title: He only turned his ear to the sound of his mother’s voice, fearing i… — The Lilac Fairy Book · tree and pragmatics
description: He only turned his ear to the sound of his mother’s voice, fearing it might put him out in his steps, and all the answer he made back was, ‘Whisht with you mother--sure I’m going to be king over the fishes down in the sea, and for a token of luck, and a sign that I’m alive and well, I’ll send you in
---

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# The Lilac Fairy Book, The Lilac Fairy Book, part 18, sentence 69

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He only turned his ear to the sound of his mother’s voice, fearing it might put him out in his steps, and all the answer he made back was, ‘Whisht with you mother--sure I’m going to be king over the fishes down in the sea, and for a token of luck, and a sign that I’m alive and well, I’ll send you in, every twelvemonth on this day, a piece of burned wood to Trafraska.’

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** Maurice, ear, answer, I · **What happens:** turn, fear, put out, make, be, whisht · **To what, where:** ear, sound, Maurice, sea, king, sign · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is a sentence of «The Lilac Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, The Lilac Fairy Book, part 18. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (Maurice, ear, answer, I), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree.

<!-- .note-en -->
**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:pg3454:18:69
# text = He only turned his ear to the sound of his mother’s voice, fearing it might put him out in his steps, and all the answer he made back was, ‘Whisht with you mother--sure I’m going to be king over the fishes down in the sea, and for a token of luck, and a sign that I’m alive and well, I’ll send you in, every twelvemonth on this day, a piece of burned wood to Trafraska.’
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	only	only	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
3	turned	turn	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	5	nmod:poss	_	_
5	ear	ear	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	to	to	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	sound	sound	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
9	of	of	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
10	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	11	nmod:poss	_	_
11	mother	mother	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	’s	's	PART	POS	_	11	case	_	_
13	voice	voice	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	15	punct	_	_
15	fearing	fear	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	3	advcl	_	_
16	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	18	nsubj	_	_
17	might	might	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	18	aux	_	_
18	put	put	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	15	ccomp	_	_
19	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	18	obj	_	_
20	out	out	ADP	RP	_	18	compound:prt	_	_
21	in	in	ADP	IN	_	23	case	_	_
22	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	23	nmod:poss	_	_
23	steps	step	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	18	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
24	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	30	punct	_	_
25	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	30	cc	_	_
26	all	all	DET	PDT	PronType=Tot	28	det:predet	_	_
27	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	28	det	_	_
28	answer	answer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	30	nsubj	_	_
29	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	30	nsubj	_	_
30	made	make	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	parataxis	_	_
31	back	back	ADV	RB	_	30	advmod	_	_
32	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	31	cop	_	SpaceAfter=No
33	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	35	punct	_	_
34	‘	'	PUNCT	``	_	35	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
35	Whisht	whisht	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	30	conj	_	_
36	with	with	ADP	IN	_	38	case	_	_
37	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	38	nsubj	_	_
38	mother	mother	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	35	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
39	--	--	PUNCT	,	_	40	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
40	sure	sure	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	38	amod	_	_
41	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	42	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
42	’m	be	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	40	ccomp	_	_
43	going	go	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	42	xcomp	_	_
44	to	to	PART	TO	_	46	mark	_	_
45	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	46	cop	_	_
46	king	king	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	43	xcomp	_	_
47	over	over	ADP	IN	_	49	case	_	_
48	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	49	det	_	_
49	fishes	fish	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	43	obl	_	_
50	down	down	ADV	RB	_	53	advmod	_	_
51	in	in	ADP	IN	_	53	case	_	_
52	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	53	det	_	_
53	sea	sea	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	43	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
54	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	58	punct	_	_
55	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	58	cc	_	_
56	for	for	ADP	IN	_	58	case	_	_
57	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	58	det	_	_
58	token	token	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	parataxis	_	_
59	of	of	ADP	IN	_	60	case	_	_
60	luck	luck	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	58	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
61	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	64	punct	_	_
62	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	64	cc	_	_
63	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	64	det	_	_
64	sign	sign	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	58	conj	_	_
65	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	67	mark	_	_
66	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	67	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
67	’m	be	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	64	acl	_	_
68	alive	alive	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	67	xcomp	_	_
69	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	74	cc	_	_
70	well	well	INTJ	UH	_	74	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
71	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	70	punct	_	_
72	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	74	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
73	’ll	will	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	74	aux	_	_
74	send	send	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	67	conj	_	_
75	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Person=2|PronType=Prs	74	iobj	_	_
76	in	in	ADV	RB	_	74	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
77	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	79	punct	_	_
78	every	every	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	79	det	_	_
79	twelvemonth	twelvemonth	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	58	conj	_	_
80	on	on	ADP	IN	_	82	case	_	_
81	this	this	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	82	det	_	_
82	day	day	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	79	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
83	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	85	punct	_	_
84	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	85	det	_	_
85	piece	piece	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	58	appos	_	_
86	of	of	ADP	IN	_	88	case	_	_
87	burned	burn	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	88	amod	_	_
88	wood	wood	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	85	nmod	_	_
89	to	to	ADP	IN	_	90	case	_	_
90	Trafraska	Trafraska	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	88	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
91	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	85	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
92	’	'	PUNCT	''	_	85	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **turn** | past | Maurice | Maurice's ear |  | the sound of Maurice's mother's voice |  |  | vn roll-51.3.1 «NP V NP PP.trajectory»: agent=Agent ear=Theme to sound=Trajectory |
| 2 | **fear** | gerund | Maurice *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn admire-31.2-1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Experiencer clause=Stimulus |
| 3 | **put out** | might | ear | Maurice |  |  |  | in Maurice's steps | vn put-9.1-2 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent he=Theme in step=Destination |
| 4 | **make** | past | all answer |  |  |  |  |  | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset |
| 5 | **is** | past |  |  |  |  |  | back *property* | tree rules |
| 6 | **whisht** | infinitive | all answer *not said here* |  |  |  |  | with mother | tree rules |
| 7 | **be** | present | I |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 8 | **go** | gerund | I *not said here* |  |  | the sea |  | over the fishes | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme over fish=Initial\_Location |
| 9 | **is a** | to-infinitive | I *not said here* | king |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 10 | **be** | present | I | a sign *not said here* |  |  |  | alive *property* | vn representation-110.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot sign=Theme |
| 11 | **send** | future | I |  | you |  |  |  | vn confine-92-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent you=Theme |
| 12 | **burn** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn light\_emission-43.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 13 | **step** |  | Maurice |  |  |  |  |  | nom step «act transitive»: poss=agent |

<!-- .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:** «The Lilac Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, Project Gutenberg book 3454 (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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