---
title: Even if our secret were to become known, and my father were to kill… — In Ghostly Japan · tree and pragmatics
description: Even if our secret were to become known, and my father were to kill me for what I have done, still—after death itself—I could never cease to think of you. Who acts: secret, father, I. A sentence of «In Ghostly Japan» by Lafcadio Hearn, Names of Incense Used., part 4, with its dependency tree and the
---

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# In Ghostly Japan, Names of Incense Used., part 4, sentence 7

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Even if our secret were to become known, and my father were to kill me for what I have done, still—after death itself—I could never cease to think of you.

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**Who acts:** secret, father, I · **What happens:** become, know, kill, do, not cease, think · **To what, where:** me

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This is a sentence of «In Ghostly Japan» by Lafcadio Hearn, Names of Incense Used., part 4. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (secret, father, I), 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:pg8128:6:7
# text = Even if our secret were to become known, and my father were to kill me for what I have done, still—after death itself—I could never cease to think of you.
1	Even	even	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	_
2	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
3	our	our	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	4	nmod:poss	_	_
4	secret	secret	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
5	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	aux	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
7	become	become	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
8	known	know	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	7	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	15	punct	_	_
10	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	15	cc	_	_
11	my	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	12	nmod:poss	_	_
12	father	father	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	nsubj	_	_
13	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	15	aux	_	_
14	to	to	PART	TO	_	15	mark	_	_
15	kill	kill	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	conj	_	_
16	me	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	15	obj	_	_
17	for	for	SCONJ	IN	_	21	mark	_	_
18	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	21	obj	_	_
19	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	21	nsubj	_	_
20	have	have	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	21	aux	_	_
21	done	do	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	15	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	21	punct	_	_
23	still	still	ADV	RB	_	21	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
24	—	-	PUNCT	:	_	32	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
25	after	after	ADP	IN	_	26	case	_	_
26	death	death	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	32	obl	_	_
27	itself	itself	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Emp|Reflex=Yes	26	nmod:unmarked	_	SpaceAfter=No
28	—	-	PUNCT	:	_	27	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
29	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	32	nsubj	_	_
30	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	32	aux	_	_
31	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	32	advmod	_	_
32	cease	cease	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	parataxis	_	_
33	to	to	PART	TO	_	34	mark	_	_
34	think	think	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	32	xcomp	_	_
35	of	of	ADP	IN	_	36	case	_	_
36	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Person=2|PronType=Prs	34	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
37	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **become** | past | our secret |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **know** | participle | our secret *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer |
| 3 | **kill** | past | my father | me |  |  |  |  | vn remove-10.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent i=Theme |
| 4 | **do** | present · perfect | I |  |  |  | still | what *obj* | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent what=Eventuality |
| 5 | **not** **cease** | could | I |  |  |  | after death  secret |  | vn stop-55.4-1-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Affector clause=Eventuality |
| 6 | **think** *speech: other* | to-infinitive | I *not said here* |  |  |  |  | of you | vn focus-87.1-1 «NP V»: agent=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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