--- title: It can't be," says he to himself, "that they would tell it to me, if… — Celtic Fairy Tales · tree and pragmatics description: It can't be," says he to himself, "that they would tell it to me, if there was any virtue in it; but perhaps the sheehogue didn't observe himself when he let the word slip out of his mouth. Who acts: talk, eyes, virtue, sheehogue. A sentence of «Celtic Fairy Tales» by Joseph Jacobs, Connla and the F --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg7885/6/24/) [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/) / [Celtic Fairy Tales](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg7885/) / [Connla and the Fairy Maiden, part 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg7885/6/) / 24 # Celtic Fairy Tales, Connla and the Fairy Maiden, part 3, sentence 24 It can't be," says he to himself, "that they would tell it to me, if there was any virtue in it; but perhaps the sheehogue didn't observe himself when he let the word slip out of his mouth. **Who acts:** talk, eyes, virtue, sheehogue, herb · **What happens:** not be, say, tell, be, not observe, let · **To what, where:** herb, talk, me, word slip, mouth · **Speech:** someone speaks here This is a sentence of «Celtic Fairy Tales» by Joseph Jacobs, Connla and the Fairy Maiden, part 3. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (talk, eyes, virtue, sheehogue), 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:pg7885:6:24 # text = It can't be," says he to himself, "that they would tell it to me, if there was any virtue in it; but perhaps the sheehogue didn't observe himself when he let the word slip out of his mouth. 1 It it PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 4 nsubj _ _ 2 ca can AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 4 aux _ SpaceAfter=No 3 n't not PART RB Polarity=Neg 4 advmod _ _ 4 be be VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 0 root _ SpaceAfter=No 5 , , PUNCT , _ 7 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 6 " " PUNCT '' _ 7 punct _ _ 7 says say VERB VBZ Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 4 parataxis _ _ 8 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 7 obj _ _ 9 to to ADP IN _ 10 case _ _ 10 himself himself PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes 8 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 11 , , PUNCT , _ 8 punct _ _ 12 " " PUNCT `` _ 16 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 13 that that SCONJ IN _ 16 mark _ _ 14 they they PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 16 nsubj _ _ 15 would would AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 16 aux _ _ 16 tell tell VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 7 conj _ _ 17 it it PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 16 obj _ _ 18 to to ADP IN _ 19 case _ _ 19 me I PRON PRP Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs 16 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 20 , , PUNCT , _ 23 punct _ _ 21 if if SCONJ IN _ 23 mark _ _ 22 there there PRON EX PronType=Dem 23 expl _ _ 23 was be VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 16 advcl _ _ 24 any any DET DT PronType=Ind 25 det _ _ 25 virtue virtue NOUN NN Number=Sing 23 nsubj _ _ 26 in in ADP IN _ 27 case _ _ 27 it it PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 25 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 28 ; ; PUNCT , _ 35 punct _ _ 29 but but CCONJ CC _ 35 cc _ _ 30 perhaps perhaps ADV RB _ 32 advmod _ _ 31 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 32 det _ _ 32 sheehogue sheehogue NOUN NN Number=Sing 35 nsubj _ _ 33 did do AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 35 aux _ SpaceAfter=No 34 n't not PART RB Polarity=Neg 35 advmod _ _ 35 observe observe VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 4 parataxis _ _ 36 himself himself PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes 35 obj _ _ 37 when when ADV WRB PronType=Int 39 advmod _ _ 38 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 39 nsubj _ _ 39 let let VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 35 advcl _ _ 40 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 41 det _ _ 41 word word NOUN NN Number=Sing 42 compound _ _ 42 slip slip NOUN NN Number=Sing 39 obj _ _ 43 out out ADP IN _ 46 case _ _ 44 of of ADP IN _ 46 case _ _ 45 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 46 nmod:poss _ _ 46 mouth mouth NOUN NN Number=Sing 39 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 47 . . PUNCT . _ 4 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **not** **can** | can | talk | | | | | | tree rules | | 2 | **say** *speech: assert* *in a quote* | present | | herb | herb | | | | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP PP.recipient»: agent=Agent he=Topic to himself=Recipient | | 3 | **tell** *speech: assert* | would | eyes *= eye* | talk | me | | | | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP PP.recipient»: agent=Agent it=Topic to i=Recipient | | 4 | **be** *a condition, not said to happen* | past | any virtue in talk | | | there | | | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 5 | **not** **observe** | past · do-support | the sheehogue | herb | | | | | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: agent=Agent himself=Topic | | 6 | **let** | past | herb | word slip | | herb's mouth | | | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent slip=Theme | 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:** «Celtic Fairy Tales» by Joseph Jacobs, Project Gutenberg book 7885 (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 23](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg7885/6/23/) - next →: [sentence 25](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg7885/6/25/) - ↑ back to [Connla and the Fairy Maiden, part 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg7885/6/)