---
title: Deeply perplexed, she asked herself what could be the meaning of the… — Winning Buddha's smile · tree and pragmatics
description: Deeply perplexed, she asked herself what could be the meaning of the charming words which had come to her ears. Who acts: girl, charming words. A sentence of «Winning Buddha's smile», Winning Buddha’s Smile, part 4, with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of every clause.
---

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# Winning Buddha's smile, Winning Buddha’s Smile, part 4, sentence 146

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Deeply perplexed, she asked herself what could be the meaning of the charming words which had come to her ears.

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**Who acts:** girl, charming words · **What happens:** perplex, ask, be, come · **To what, where:** girl, meaning, ears · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is a sentence of «Winning Buddha's smile», Winning Buddha’s Smile, 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 (girl, charming words), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree.

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**Mova's own parse.** This tree may be wrong.

## The tree {#tree}

```conllu
# sent_id = book:pg78208:6:148
# text = Deeply perplexed, she asked herself what could be the meaning of the charming words which had come to her ears.
1	Deeply	deeply	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
2	perplexed	perplex	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	5	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	2	punct	_	_
4	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
5	asked	ask	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	herself	herself	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes	5	obj	_	_
7	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	11	nsubj	_	_
8	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	11	aux	_	_
9	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	11	cop	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	meaning	meaning	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	ccomp	_	_
12	of	of	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
14	charming	charming	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	compound	_	_
15	words	word	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	11	nmod	_	_
16	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	18	nsubj	_	_
17	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	18	aux	_	_
18	come	come	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	15	acl:relcl	_	_
19	to	to	ADP	IN	_	21	case	_	_
20	her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	21	nmod:poss	_	_
21	ears	ear	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	18	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **perplex** | participle | girl *not said here* |  |  |  |  | deeply *property* | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Experiencer |
| 2 | **ask** *speech: ask* | past | girl | girl |  |  |  |  | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent herself=Recipient |
| 3 | **is a** | could |  | the meaning |  |  |  | of the charming words; what *nsubj* | tree rules |
| 4 | **come** | past · perfect | the charming words |  |  | girl's ears |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme to ear=Initial\_Location |

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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:** «Winning Buddha's smile», Project Gutenberg book 78208 (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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