---
title: An early stage of that degeneration would be represented by total in… — In Ghostly Japan · tree and pragmatics
description: An early stage of that degeneration would be represented by total incapacity to help ourselves;—then we should begin to lose the use of our higher sense-organs;—later on, the brain would shrink to a vanishing pin-point of matter;—still later we should dwindle into mere amorphous sacs, mere blind sto
---

<!-- md -->
[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg8128/4/73/)

<!-- crumbs -->
[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/) / [In Ghostly Japan](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg8128/) / [Names of Incense Used., part 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg8128/4/) / 73

# In Ghostly Japan, Names of Incense Used., part 2, sentence 73

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
An early stage of that degeneration would be represented by total incapacity to help ourselves;—then we should begin to lose the use of our higher sense-organs;—later on, the brain would shrink to a vanishing pin-point of matter;—still later we should dwindle into mere amorphous sacs, mere blind stomachs.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** total incapacity, we, brain · **What happens:** represent, help, begin, lose, shrink, vanish · **To what, where:** early stage, ourselves, use, mere amorphous sacs, blind stomachs, higher sense organs

<!-- .vabout -->
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 (total incapacity, we, brain), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree.

<!-- .note-en -->
**Mova's own parse.** This tree may be wrong.

## The tree {#tree}

```conllu
# sent_id = book:pg8128:4:73
# text = An early stage of that degeneration would be represented by total incapacity to help ourselves;—then we should begin to lose the use of our higher sense-organs;—later on, the brain would shrink to a vanishing pin-point of matter;—still later we should dwindle into mere amorphous sacs, mere blind stomachs.
1	An	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	early	early	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	stage	stage	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj:pass	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	that	that	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	6	det	_	_
6	degeneration	degeneration	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
7	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	9	aux	_	_
8	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	9	aux:pass	_	_
9	represented	represent	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
10	by	by	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	total	total	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	amod	_	_
12	incapacity	incapacity	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	_
13	to	to	PART	TO	_	14	mark	_	_
14	help	help	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	9	advcl	_	_
15	ourselves	ourselves	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes	14	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	9	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	—	-	PUNCT	:	_	21	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	21	advmod	_	_
19	we	we	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs	21	nsubj	_	_
20	should	should	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	21	aux	_	_
21	begin	begin	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	9	parataxis	_	_
22	to	to	PART	TO	_	23	mark	_	_
23	lose	lose	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	21	xcomp	_	_
24	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	25	det	_	_
25	use	use	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	23	obj	_	_
26	of	of	ADP	IN	_	31	case	_	_
27	our	our	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	31	nmod:poss	_	_
28	higher	high	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	31	amod	_	_
29	sense	sense	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	31	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
30	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	29	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
31	organs	organ	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	25	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
32	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	21	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
33	—	-	PUNCT	:	_	35	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
34	later	late	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	35	advmod	_	_
35	on	on	ADV	RB	_	21	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
36	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	40	punct	_	_
37	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	38	det	_	_
38	brain	brain	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	40	nsubj	_	_
39	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	40	aux	_	_
40	shrink	shrink	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	21	conj	_	_
41	to	to	ADP	IN	_	46	case	_	_
42	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	46	det	_	_
43	vanishing	vanish	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	46	amod	_	_
44	pin	pin	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	46	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
45	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	44	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
46	point	point	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	40	obl	_	_
47	of	of	ADP	IN	_	48	case	_	_
48	matter	matter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	46	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
49	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	9	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
50	—	-	PUNCT	:	_	55	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
51	still	still	ADV	RB	_	52	advmod	_	_
52	later	late	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	55	advmod	_	_
53	we	we	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs	55	nsubj	_	_
54	should	should	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	55	aux	_	_
55	dwindle	dwindle	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	9	parataxis	_	_
56	into	into	ADP	IN	_	59	case	_	_
57	mere	mere	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	59	amod	_	_
58	amorphous	amorphous	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	59	amod	_	_
59	sacs	sac	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	55	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
60	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	61	punct	_	_
61	mere	mere	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	55	conj	_	_
62	blind	blind	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	63	amod	_	_
63	stomachs	stomach	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	61	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
64	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	9	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **represent** | would · passive | total incapacity | a early stage of that degeneration |  |  |  |  | vn representation-110.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot subject=Theme |
| 2 | **help** | to-infinitive | total incapacity *not said here* | ourselves |  |  |  |  | vn help-72.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent ourselves=Beneficiary |
| 3 | **begin** | should | we |  |  |  | then |  | vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality |
| 4 | **lose** | to-infinitive | we *not said here* | the use of our higher sense organs |  |  |  |  | vn succeed-74-3-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent use=Eventuality |
| 5 | **shrink** | would | the brain |  |  |  |  | to a vanishing pin point of matter *result* | vn bend-45.2 «NP V NP PP.result»: agent=Agent to point=Result |
| 6 | **vanish** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 7 | **dwindle** | should | we |  |  | mere amorphous sacs | still | late *property* | vn calibratable\_cos-45.6.1-1 «NP.attribute V»: agent=Attribute |
| 8 | **mere** | present | we *not said here* | blind stomachs |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 9 | **use** |  |  | our higher sense organs |  |  |  |  | nom use «act transitive»: of=patient |
| 10 | **point** |  |  | matter |  |  |  |  | nom point «cognition transitive»: of=patient |

<!-- .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.

<!-- div src -->

**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.

<!-- /div -->

<!-- pn -->
- ← previous: [sentence 72](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg8128/4/72/)
- next →: [sentence 74](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg8128/4/74/)
- ↑ back to [Names of Incense Used., part 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg8128/4/)