---
title: The ghastliness of the performance is chiefly—though not entirely—in… — In Ghostly Japan · tree and pragmatics
description: The ghastliness of the performance is chiefly—though not entirely—in the goblin mockery of the laughing tones as contrasted with the piteous agony of the wailing ones: an incongruity that makes you think of madness. Who acts: ghastliness, incongruity, you. A sentence of «In Ghostly Japan» by Lafcadi
---

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# In Ghostly Japan, Names of Incense Used., part 7, sentence 15

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The ghastliness of the performance is chiefly—though not entirely—in the goblin mockery of the laughing tones as contrasted with the piteous agony of the wailing ones: an incongruity that makes you think of madness.

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**Who acts:** ghastliness, incongruity, you · **What happens:** be, laugh, contrast, make, think, mock · **To what, where:** laughing tones, you

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This is a sentence of «In Ghostly Japan» by Lafcadio Hearn, Names of Incense Used., part 7. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (ghastliness, incongruity, 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:pg8128:9:15
# text = The ghastliness of the performance is chiefly—though not entirely—in the goblin mockery of the laughing tones as contrasted with the piteous agony of the wailing ones: an incongruity that makes you think of madness.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	ghastliness	ghastliness	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	performance	performance	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
6	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
7	chiefly	chiefly	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	—	-	PUNCT	:	_	7	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	though	though	SCONJ	IN	_	11	mark	_	_
10	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	11	advmod	_	_
11	entirely	entirely	ADV	RB	_	7	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	—	-	PUNCT	:	_	16	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	in	in	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
15	goblin	goblin	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	compound	_	_
16	mockery	mockery	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	parataxis	_	_
17	of	of	ADP	IN	_	20	case	_	_
18	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	20	det	_	_
19	laughing	laugh	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	20	amod	_	_
20	tones	tone	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	16	nmod	_	_
21	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	22	mark	_	_
22	contrasted	contrast	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	20	acl	_	_
23	with	with	ADP	IN	_	26	case	_	_
24	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	26	det	_	_
25	piteous	piteous	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	26	amod	_	_
26	agony	agony	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	22	obl	_	_
27	of	of	ADP	IN	_	30	case	_	_
28	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	30	det	_	_
29	wailing	wailing	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	30	compound	_	_
30	ones	one	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	26	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
31	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	33	punct	_	_
32	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	33	det	_	_
33	incongruity	incongruity	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	conj	_	_
34	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	35	nsubj	_	_
35	makes	make	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	33	acl:relcl	_	_
36	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Person=2|PronType=Prs	35	obj	_	_
37	think	think	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	35	xcomp	_	_
38	of	of	ADP	IN	_	39	case	_	_
39	madness	madness	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	37	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
40	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | the ghastliness of the performance |  |  |  |  | the goblin mockery of the laughing tones and a incongruity *parataxis*; chiefly, entirely *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **laugh** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn nonverbal\_expression-40.2 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **contrast** | participle |  | the laughing tones *not said here* |  |  |  | with the piteous agony of the wailing ones | vn amalgamate-22.2-2-1 «NP V PP»: agent=Patient with agony=Co-Patient |
| 4 | **make** | present | a incongruity | you |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 5 | **think** *speech: other* | infinitive | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  | of madness | vn focus-87.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 6 | **mock** |  |  | the laughing tones |  |  |  |  | nom mockery «communication transitive»: of=patient |

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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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