--- title: No one can speak as long as he is invisible, and besides, they knew… — The Yellow Fairy Book · tree and pragmatics description: No one can speak as long as he is invisible, and besides, they knew that the spirits were all around them, and at the slightest sound they would be recognised; so all they could do was to feel about in the hope that their hands might once more meet. Who acts: one, Prince, monsters, spirits. A senten --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg640/17/51/) [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 Yellow Fairy Book](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg640/) / [The Grateful Beasts(11), part 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg640/17/) / 51 # The Yellow Fairy Book, The Grateful Beasts(11), part 4, sentence 51 No one can speak as long as he is invisible, and besides, they knew that the spirits were all around them, and at the slightest sound they would be recognised; so all they could do was to feel about in the hope that their hands might once more meet. **Who acts:** one, Prince, monsters, spirits, all, hands · **What happens:** speak, be, know, recognise, do, meet · **To what, where:** monsters, slightest sound · **Speech:** someone speaks here This is a sentence of «The Yellow Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, The Grateful Beasts(11), part 4. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (one, Prince, monsters, spirits), 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:pg640:17:51 # text = No one can speak as long as he is invisible, and besides, they knew that the spirits were all around them, and at the slightest sound they would be recognised; so all they could do was to feel about in the hope that their hands might once more meet. 1 No no DET DT PronType=Neg 2 det _ _ 2 one one NOUN NN Number=Sing 4 nsubj _ _ 3 can can AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 4 aux _ _ 4 speak speak VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 0 root _ _ 5 as as ADV RB _ 6 advmod _ _ 6 long long ADV RB Degree=Pos 4 advmod _ _ 7 as as SCONJ IN _ 10 mark _ _ 8 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 10 nsubj _ _ 9 is be AUX VBZ Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 10 cop _ _ 10 invisible invisible ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 6 advcl _ SpaceAfter=No 11 , , PUNCT , _ 16 punct _ _ 12 and and CCONJ CC _ 16 cc _ _ 13 besides besides INTJ UH _ 16 discourse _ SpaceAfter=No 14 , , PUNCT , _ 13 punct _ _ 15 they they PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 16 nsubj _ _ 16 knew know VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 4 conj _ _ 17 that that SCONJ IN _ 23 mark _ _ 18 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 19 det _ _ 19 spirits spirit NOUN NNS Number=Plur 23 nsubj _ _ 20 were be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 23 cop _ _ 21 all all ADV RB _ 23 advmod _ _ 22 around around ADP IN _ 23 case _ _ 23 them they PRON PRP Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 16 ccomp _ SpaceAfter=No 24 , , PUNCT , _ 33 punct _ _ 25 and and CCONJ CC _ 33 cc _ _ 26 at at ADP IN _ 29 case _ _ 27 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 29 det _ _ 28 slightest slight ADJ JJS Degree=Sup 29 amod _ _ 29 sound sound NOUN NN Number=Sing 33 obl _ _ 30 they they PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 33 nsubj _ _ 31 would would AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 33 aux _ _ 32 be be AUX VB VerbForm=Inf 33 aux:pass _ _ 33 recognised recognise VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 16 conj _ SpaceAfter=No 34 ; ; PUNCT , _ 42 punct _ _ 35 so so ADV RB _ 42 advmod _ _ 36 all all DET DT PronType=Tot 42 nsubj:outer _ _ 37 they they PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 39 nsubj _ _ 38 could could AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 39 aux _ _ 39 do do VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 36 acl:relcl _ _ 40 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 42 cop _ _ 41 to to PART TO _ 42 mark _ _ 42 feel feel VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 4 conj _ _ 43 about about ADP IN _ 46 case _ _ 44 in in ADP IN _ 46 case _ _ 45 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 46 det _ _ 46 hope hope NOUN NN Number=Sing 42 obl _ _ 47 that that SCONJ IN _ 53 mark _ _ 48 their their PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 49 nmod:poss _ _ 49 hands hand NOUN NNS Number=Plur 53 nsubj _ _ 50 might might AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 53 aux _ _ 51 once once ADV RB NumForm=Word|NumType=Mult 52 advmod _ _ 52 more more ADV RBR Degree=Cmp 53 advmod _ _ 53 meet meet VERB VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 46 advcl _ SpaceAfter=No 54 . . PUNCT . _ 4 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **speak** *speech: other* | can | no one | | | | | long *property* | vn talk-37.5 «NP V»: agent=Agent | | 2 | **is** | present | Prince | | | | | invisible *property* | tree rules | | 3 | **know** | past | monsters *= monster* | | | | | | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer | | 4 | **is** | past | the spirits | | | | | around spirits *= spirit*; all *property* | tree rules | | 5 | **recognise** | would · passive | | monsters *= monster* | | the slightest sound | | | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Stimulus | | 6 | **do** | could | monsters *= monster* | | | | | | vn act-114-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent | | 7 | **is** | past | all | | | | | about the hope; feel *property* | tree rules | | 8 | **meet** | might | monsters's hands | | | | | | vn meet-36.3-1 «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 Yellow Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, Project Gutenberg book 640 (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 50](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg640/17/50/) - next →: [sentence 52](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg640/17/52/) - ↑ back to [The Grateful Beasts(11), part 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg640/17/)