---
title: I was puzzled by the phrase, “silkworm-moth eyebrow,” in an old Japa… — In Ghostly Japan · tree and pragmatics
description: I was puzzled by the phrase, “silkworm-moth eyebrow,” in an old Japanese, or rather Chinese proverb:—_The silkworm-moth eyebrow of a woman is the axe that cuts down the wisdom of man. Who acts: phrase, moth eyebrow, axe. A sentence of «In Ghostly Japan» by Lafcadio Hearn, Names of Incense Used., par
---

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# In Ghostly Japan, Names of Incense Used., part 2, sentence 20

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I was puzzled by the phrase, “silkworm-moth eyebrow,” in an old Japanese, or rather Chinese proverb:—\_The silkworm-moth eyebrow of a woman is the axe that cuts down the wisdom of man.

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**Who acts:** phrase, moth eyebrow, axe · **What happens:** puzzle, be, cut down · **To what, where:** I, old Japanese Chinese proverb, axe, wisdom

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This is a sentence of «In Ghostly Japan» by Lafcadio Hearn, Names of Incense Used., part 2. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (phrase, moth eyebrow, axe), 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:pg8128:4:20
# text = I was puzzled by the phrase, “silkworm-moth eyebrow,” in an old Japanese, or rather Chinese proverb:—_The silkworm-moth eyebrow of a woman is the axe that cuts down the wisdom of man.
1	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	puzzled	puzzle	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	by	by	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	phrase	phrase	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
8	“	"	PUNCT	``	_	12	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	silkworm	silkworm	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	9	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	moth	moth	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	compound	_	_
12	eyebrow	eyebrow	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	3	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	”	"	PUNCT	''	_	3	punct	_	_
15	in	in	ADP	IN	_	23	case	_	_
16	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	23	det	_	_
17	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	23	amod	_	_
18	Japanese	Japanese	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	23	amod	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	23	punct	_	_
20	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	23	cc	_	_
21	rather	rather	ADV	RB	_	22	advmod	_	_
22	Chinese	Chinese	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	23	amod	_	_
23	proverb	proverb	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
24	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	3	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
25	—	-	PUNCT	:	_	37	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
26	_	_	PUNCT	NFP	_	37	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
27	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	31	det	_	_
28	silkworm	silkworm	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	30	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
29	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	28	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
30	moth	moth	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	31	compound	_	_
31	eyebrow	eyebrow	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	37	nsubj	_	_
32	of	of	ADP	IN	_	34	case	_	_
33	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	34	det	_	_
34	woman	woman	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	31	nmod	_	_
35	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	37	cop	_	_
36	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	37	det	_	_
37	axe	axe	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
38	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	39	nsubj	_	_
39	cuts	cut	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	37	acl:relcl	_	_
40	down	down	ADP	IN	_	42	case	_	_
41	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	42	det	_	_
42	wisdom	wisdom	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	39	obl	_	_
43	of	of	ADP	IN	_	44	case	_	_
44	man	man	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	42	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
45	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **puzzle** | past · passive | the phrase and moth eyebrow | I |  | a old Japanese Chinese proverb |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus subject=Experiencer |
| 2 | **is a** | present | the moth eyebrow of a woman | the axe |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **cut down** | present | the axe | the wisdom of man |  |  |  |  | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset wisdom=Product |

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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:** «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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