---
title: His system was the old scholarly one: he used the book known to Engl… — In Ghostly Japan · tree and pragmatics
description: His system was the old scholarly one: he used the book known to English readers as the _Yî-King_,—also a set of ebony blocks which could be so arranged as to form any of the Chinese hexagrams;—and he always began his divination with an earnest prayer to the gods. Who acts: system, teller. A sentence
---

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# In Ghostly Japan, Names of Incense Used., part 1, sentence 80

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His system was the old scholarly one: he used the book known to English readers as the \_Yî-King\_,—also a set of ebony blocks which could be so arranged as to form any of the Chinese hexagrams;—and he always began his divination with an earnest prayer to the gods.

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**Who acts:** system, teller · **What happens:** be, use, know, arrange, form, begin · **To what, where:** old scholarly one, book, set, any, divination

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This is a sentence of «In Ghostly Japan» by Lafcadio Hearn, Names of Incense Used., part 1. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (system, teller), 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:pg8128:3:82
# text = His system was the old scholarly one: he used the book known to English readers as the _Yî-King_,—also a set of ebony blocks which could be so arranged as to form any of the Chinese hexagrams;—and he always began his divination with an earnest prayer to the gods.
1	His	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	system	system	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
3	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
5	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
6	scholarly	scholarly	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	one	one	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	10	punct	_	_
9	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	nsubj	_	_
10	used	use	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	acl:relcl	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	book	book	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obj	_	_
13	known	know	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	12	acl	_	_
14	to	to	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
15	English	English	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	16	amod	_	_
16	readers	reader	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	13	obl	_	_
17	as	as	ADP	IN	_	22	case	_	_
18	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	22	det	_	_
19	_	_	PUNCT	``	_	20	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	Yî	Yî	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	22	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	20	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	King	King	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	13	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	_	_	PUNCT	NFP	_	10	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
24	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
25	—	-	PUNCT	:	_	28	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
26	also	also	ADV	RB	_	28	advmod	_	_
27	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	28	det	_	_
28	set	set	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	parataxis	_	_
29	of	of	ADP	IN	_	31	case	_	_
30	ebony	ebony	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	31	amod	_	_
31	blocks	block	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	28	nmod	_	_
32	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	36	nsubj:pass	_	_
33	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	36	aux	_	_
34	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	36	aux:pass	_	_
35	so	so	ADV	RB	_	36	advmod	_	_
36	arranged	arrange	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	28	parataxis	_	_
37	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	39	mark	_	_
38	to	to	PART	TO	_	39	mark	_	_
39	form	form	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	36	advcl	_	_
40	any	any	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	39	obj	_	_
41	of	of	ADP	IN	_	44	case	_	_
42	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	44	det	_	_
43	Chinese	Chinese	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	44	amod	_	_
44	hexagrams	hexagram	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	40	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
45	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	7	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
46	—	-	PUNCT	:	_	50	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
47	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	50	cc	_	_
48	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	50	nsubj	_	_
49	always	always	ADV	RB	PronType=Tot	50	advmod	_	_
50	began	begin	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	conj	_	_
51	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	52	nmod:poss	_	_
52	divination	divination	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	50	obj	_	_
53	with	with	ADP	IN	_	56	case	_	_
54	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	56	det	_	_
55	earnest	earn	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	56	amod	_	_
56	prayer	prayer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	50	obl	_	_
57	to	to	ADP	IN	_	59	case	_	_
58	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	59	det	_	_
59	gods	god	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	50	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
60	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | past | teller's system | the old scholarly one |  |  |  | a set of ebony blocks *parataxis* | tree rules |
| 2 | **use** | past | teller | the book |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent book=Patient |
| 3 | **know** | participle |  | the book *not said here* |  |  |  | to English readers; as the Yî King | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Experiencer as king=Attribute |
| 4 | **arrange** | could · passive |  | a set of ebony blocks |  |  |  |  | vn build-26.1 «NP V NP»: subject=Product |
| 5 | **form** | to-infinitive |  | any of the Chinese hexagrams |  |  |  |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location any=Theme |
| 6 | **begin** | past | teller | teller's divination |  |  |  | with a earnest prayer; to the gods; always *property* | vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP V NP PP.subeventuality»: agent=Agent divination=Eventuality with prayer=Subeventuality |
| 7 | **divine** |  | teller |  |  |  |  |  | nom divination «communication transitive»: poss=agent |

<!-- .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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