--- title: It was rather uncomfortable at first, and he felt a gradual change c… — The Jade Story Book; Stories from the Orient · tree and pragmatics description: It was rather uncomfortable at first, and he felt a gradual change coming over him; his arms grew smaller and smaller, and his hands became like fins; his legs and feet went together and took the form of a tail. Who acts: skin, messenger, gradual change, arms. A sentence of «The Jade Story Book; Sto --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg65965/16/23/) [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 Jade Story Book; Stories from the…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg65965/) / [Opening, part 16](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg65965/16/) / 23 # The Jade Story Book; Stories from the Orient, Opening, part 16, sentence 23 It was rather uncomfortable at first, and he felt a gradual change coming over him; his arms grew smaller and smaller, and his hands became like fins; his legs and feet went together and took the form of a tail. **Who acts:** skin, messenger, gradual change, arms, hands, legs · **What happens:** be, feel, come, grow, become, go together · **To what, where:** gradual change, form, tail This is a sentence of «The Jade Story Book; Stories from the Orient» by Penrhyn Wingfield Coussens, Opening, part 16. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (skin, messenger, gradual change, arms), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree. **Mova's own parse.** This tree may be wrong. ## The tree {#tree} ```conllu # sent_id = book:pg65965:16:23 # text = It was rather uncomfortable at first, and he felt a gradual change coming over him; his arms grew smaller and smaller, and his hands became like fins; his legs and feet went together and took the form of a tail. 1 It it PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 4 nsubj _ _ 2 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 4 cop _ _ 3 rather rather ADV RB _ 4 advmod _ _ 4 uncomfortable uncomfortable ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 0 root _ _ 5 at at ADP IN _ 6 case _ _ 6 first first ADV RB NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord 4 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 7 , , PUNCT , _ 10 punct _ _ 8 and and CCONJ CC _ 10 cc _ _ 9 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 10 nsubj _ _ 10 felt feel VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 4 parataxis _ _ 11 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 13 det _ _ 12 gradual gradual ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 13 amod _ _ 13 change change NOUN NN Number=Sing 10 obj _ _ 14 coming come VERB VBG VerbForm=Ger 13 acl _ _ 15 over over ADP IN _ 16 case _ _ 16 him he PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 14 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 17 ; ; PUNCT , _ 20 punct _ _ 18 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 19 nmod:poss _ _ 19 arms arm NOUN NNS Number=Plur 20 nsubj _ _ 20 grew grow VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 10 conj _ _ 21 smaller small ADJ JJR Degree=Cmp 20 xcomp _ _ 22 and and CCONJ CC _ 23 cc _ _ 23 smaller small ADJ JJR Degree=Cmp 21 conj _ SpaceAfter=No 24 , , PUNCT , _ 28 punct _ _ 25 and and CCONJ CC _ 28 cc _ _ 26 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 27 nmod:poss _ _ 27 hands hand NOUN NNS Number=Plur 28 nsubj _ _ 28 became become VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 20 conj _ _ 29 like like ADP IN _ 30 case _ _ 30 fins fin NOUN NNS Number=Plur 28 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 31 ; ; PUNCT , _ 36 punct _ _ 32 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 33 nmod:poss _ _ 33 legs leg NOUN NNS Number=Plur 36 nsubj _ _ 34 and and CCONJ CC _ 35 cc _ _ 35 feet foot NOUN NNS Number=Plur 33 conj _ _ 36 went go VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 4 parataxis _ _ 37 together together ADV RB _ 36 advmod _ _ 38 and and CCONJ CC _ 39 cc _ _ 39 took take VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 36 conj _ _ 40 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 41 det _ _ 41 form form NOUN NN Number=Sing 39 obj _ _ 42 of of ADP IN _ 44 case _ _ 43 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 44 det _ _ 44 tail tail NOUN NN Number=Sing 41 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 45 . . PUNCT . _ 4 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **is** | past | skin | | | | | uncomfortable *property* | tree rules | | 2 | **feel** | past | messenger | a gradual change | | | | | vn hunt-35.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent change=Theme | | 3 | **come** | gerund | a gradual change *not said here* | | | | | over messenger | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme over he=Initial\_Location | | 4 | **grow** | past | messenger's arms | | | | | small *property* | vn appear-48.1.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 5 | **become** | past | messenger's hands | | | | | like fins | vn become-109.1-1-1 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Patient | | 6 | **go together** | past | messenger's legs and feet | | | | | together *property* | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 7 | **take** | past | messenger's legs and feet *not said here* | the form of a tail | | | | | vn bring-11.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent form=Theme | | 8 | **form** | | | a tail | | | | | nom form «communication transitive»: of=patient | 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 Jade Story Book; Stories from the Orient» by Penrhyn Wingfield Coussens, Project Gutenberg book 65965 (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 22](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg65965/16/22/) - next →: [sentence 24](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg65965/16/24/) - ↑ back to [Opening, part 16](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg65965/16/)