---
title: The karma that binds you to the dead is very strong; but if I tried… — In Ghostly Japan · tree and pragmatics
description: The karma that binds you to the dead is very strong; but if I tried to explain its character, you would not be able to understand. Who acts: karma, I, you. A sentence of «In Ghostly Japan» by Lafcadio Hearn, Names of Incense Used., part 4, with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of every clause.
---

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# In Ghostly Japan, Names of Incense Used., part 4, sentence 71

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The karma that binds you to the dead is very strong; but if I tried to explain its character, you would not be able to understand.

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**Who acts:** karma, I, you · **What happens:** bind, be, try, explain, not be, understand · **To what, where:** you, character

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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 (karma, I, you), 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:pg8128:6:72
# text = The karma that binds you to the dead is very strong; but if I tried to explain its character, you would not be able to understand.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	karma	karma	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nsubj	_	_
3	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	4	nsubj	_	_
4	binds	bind	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	acl:relcl	_	_
5	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Person=2|PronType=Prs	4	obj	_	_
6	to	to	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	dead	dead	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	obl	_	_
9	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	11	cop	_	_
10	very	very	ADV	RB	_	11	advmod	_	_
11	strong	strong	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	16	punct	_	_
13	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	16	cc	_	_
14	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	16	mark	_	_
15	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	16	nsubj	_	_
16	tried	try	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	11	advcl	_	_
17	to	to	PART	TO	_	18	mark	_	_
18	explain	explain	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	16	xcomp	_	_
19	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	20	nmod:poss	_	_
20	character	character	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	26	punct	_	_
22	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	26	nsubj	_	_
23	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	26	aux	_	_
24	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	26	advmod	_	_
25	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	26	cop	_	_
26	able	able	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	conj	_	_
27	to	to	PART	TO	_	28	mark	_	_
28	understand	understand	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	26	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
29	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	11	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **bind** | present | the karma | you |  |  |  | to the dead | vn shake-22.3-2-1 «NP V NP PP»: agent=Agent you=Patient to dead=Co-Patient |
| 2 | **is** | present | the karma |  |  |  |  | strong *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **try** *a condition, not said to happen* | past | I |  |  |  |  |  | vn try-61.1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality |
| 4 | **explain** *speech: assert* *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | I *not said here* | karma's character |  |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent character=Topic |
| 5 | **not** **is** | would | you |  |  |  |  | able *property* | tree rules |
| 6 | **understand** | to-infinitive | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer |

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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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