---
title: The backs only of these tablets are decorated; and the decoration is… — In Ghostly Japan · tree and pragmatics
description: The backs only of these tablets are decorated; and the decoration is nearly always a floral design of some sort:—thus one set might be decorated with chrysanthemums in gold, another with tufts of iris-plants, another with a spray of plum-blossoms, etc. But the faces of the tablets bear numbers or ma
---

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# In Ghostly Japan, Opening, sentence 193

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The backs only of these tablets are decorated; and the decoration is nearly always a floral design of some sort:—thus one set might be decorated with chrysanthemums in gold, another with tufts of iris-plants, another with a spray of plum-blossoms, etc. But the faces of the tablets bear numbers or marks; and each set comprises three tablets numbered “1,” three numbered “2,” three numbered “3,” and one marked with the character signifying “guest.”

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**Who acts:** decoration, set, three tablets, character · **What happens:** decorate, be, bear, comprise, number, mark · **To what, where:** backs, floral design, one set, gold, numbers, three tablets

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This is a sentence of «In Ghostly Japan» by Lafcadio Hearn, Opening. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (decoration, set, three tablets, character), 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:pg8128:1:196
# text = The backs only of these tablets are decorated; and the decoration is nearly always a floral design of some sort:—thus one set might be decorated with chrysanthemums in gold, another with tufts of iris-plants, another with a spray of plum-blossoms, etc. But the faces of the tablets bear numbers or marks; and each set comprises three tablets numbered “1,” three numbered “2,” three numbered “3,” and one marked with the character signifying “guest.”
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	backs	back	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	only	only	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	these	this	DET	DT	Number=Plur|PronType=Dem	6	det	_	_
6	tablets	tablet	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nmod	_	_
7	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	aux:pass	_	_
8	decorated	decorate	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	18	punct	_	_
10	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	18	cc	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	decoration	decoration	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	nsubj	_	_
13	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	18	cop	_	_
14	nearly	nearly	ADV	RB	_	15	advmod	_	_
15	always	always	ADV	RB	PronType=Tot	18	advmod	_	_
16	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
17	floral	floral	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	18	amod	_	_
18	design	design	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	_
19	of	of	ADP	IN	_	21	case	_	_
20	some	some	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	21	det	_	_
21	sort	sort	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	8	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	—	-	PUNCT	:	_	29	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
24	thus	thus	ADV	RB	_	29	advmod	_	_
25	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	26	nummod	_	_
26	set	set	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	29	nsubj:pass	_	_
27	might	might	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	29	aux	_	_
28	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	29	aux:pass	_	_
29	decorated	decorate	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	8	conj	_	_
30	with	with	ADP	IN	_	31	case	_	_
31	chrysanthemums	chrysanthemum	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	29	obl	_	_
32	in	in	ADP	IN	_	33	case	_	_
33	gold	gold	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	29	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
34	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	35	punct	_	_
35	another	another	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	29	conj	_	_
36	with	with	ADP	IN	_	37	case	_	_
37	tufts	tuft	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	29	obl	_	_
38	of	of	ADP	IN	_	41	case	_	_
39	iris	iris	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	41	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
40	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	39	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
41	plants	plant	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	37	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
42	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	43	punct	_	_
43	another	another	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	41	nmod	_	_
44	with	with	ADP	IN	_	46	case	_	_
45	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	46	det	_	_
46	spray	spray	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	59	obl	_	_
47	of	of	ADP	IN	_	50	case	_	_
48	plum	plum	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	50	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
49	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	48	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
50	blossoms	blossom	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	46	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
51	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	52	punct	_	_
52	etc.	etc.	NOUN	FW	Abbr=Yes|Number=Plur	50	conj	_	_
53	But	but	CCONJ	CC	_	55	cc	_	_
54	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	55	det	_	_
55	faces	face	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	50	conj	_	_
56	of	of	ADP	IN	_	58	case	_	_
57	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	58	det	_	_
58	tablets	tablet	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	55	nmod	_	_
59	bear	bear	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	43	acl	_	_
60	numbers	number	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	59	obj	_	_
61	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	62	cc	_	_
62	marks	mark	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	60	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
63	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	67	punct	_	_
64	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	67	cc	_	_
65	each	each	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	66	det	_	_
66	set	set	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	67	nsubj	_	_
67	comprises	comprise	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	conj	_	_
68	three	three	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	69	nummod	_	_
69	tablets	tablet	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	67	obj	_	_
70	numbered	number	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	69	acl	_	_
71	“	"	PUNCT	``	_	72	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
72	1	1	NUM	CD	NumForm=Digit|NumType=Card	70	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
73	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	72	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
74	”	"	PUNCT	''	_	67	punct	_	_
75	three	three	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	67	obl	_	_
76	numbered	number	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	75	acl	_	_
77	“	"	PUNCT	``	_	78	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
78	2	2	NUM	CD	NumForm=Digit|NumType=Card	76	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
79	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	78	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
80	”	"	PUNCT	''	_	78	punct	_	_
81	three	three	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	78	nmod	_	_
82	numbered	number	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	81	acl	_	_
83	“	"	PUNCT	``	_	84	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
84	3	3	NUM	CD	NumForm=Digit|NumType=Card	82	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
85	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	84	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
86	”	"	PUNCT	''	_	84	punct	_	_
87	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	88	cc	_	_
88	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	84	nmod	_	_
89	marked	mark	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	88	acl	_	_
90	with	with	ADP	IN	_	92	case	_	_
91	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	92	det	_	_
92	character	character	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	89	obl	_	_
93	signifying	signify	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	92	acl	_	_
94	“	"	PUNCT	``	_	95	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
95	guest	guest	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	93	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
96	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	8	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
97	”	"	PUNCT	''	_	8	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **decorate** | present · passive |  | the backs of this tablets |  |  |  |  | vn illustrate-25.3 «NP V NP»: subject=Destination |
| 2 | **is a** | present | the decoration | a floral design |  |  |  | of some sort; always *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **decorate** | might · passive |  | one set |  | gold |  | with chrysanthemums; with tufts of iris plants  another; thus *property* | vn illustrate-25.3 «NP V NP PP.theme»: subject=Destination with chrysanthemum=Theme |
| 4 | **bear** | present |  | numbers or marks |  |  |  | with a spray of plum blossoms and etc. but the faces of the tablets | vn birth-28.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent number=Patient |
| 5 | **comprise** | present | each set | three tablets |  |  |  | three *obl* | vn comprise-107.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme tablet=Pivot |
| 6 | **number** | participle | three tablets *not said here* | 1 |  |  |  |  | vn classify-29.10 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 7 | **number** | participle |  | 2  three |  |  |  |  | vn classify-29.10 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 8 | **number** | participle |  | 3  one |  |  |  |  | vn classify-29.10 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 9 | **mark** | participle |  |  |  |  |  | with the character | vn image\_impression-25.1 «NP V NP.destination PP.theme»: agent=Agent with character=Theme |
| 10 | **signify** | gerund | the character *not said here* | guest |  |  |  |  | vn representation-110.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot guest=Theme |

<!-- .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:** «In Ghostly Japan» by Lafcadio Hearn, Project Gutenberg book 8128 (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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