---
title: The words—(if I may call them words)—are very few; yet, to judge by… — In Ghostly Japan · tree and pragmatics
description: The words—(if I may call them words)—are very few; yet, to judge by their emotional effect, they must signify a great deal. Who acts: I, words. A sentence of «In Ghostly Japan» by Lafcadio Hearn, Names of Incense Used., part 7, with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of every clause.
---

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# In Ghostly Japan, Names of Incense Used., part 7, sentence 26

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The words—(if I may call them words)—are very few; yet, to judge by their emotional effect, they must signify a great deal.

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**Who acts:** I, words · **What happens:** call, be, judge, signify, effect · **To what, where:** words, great deal · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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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 (I, words), 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:pg8128:9:26
# text = The words—(if I may call them words)—are very few; yet, to judge by their emotional effect, they must signify a great deal.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	words	word	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	15	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	—	-	PUNCT	:	_	2	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	(	(	PUNCT	-LRB-	_	8	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	8	mark	_	_
6	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	_
7	may	may	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	8	aux	_	_
8	call	call	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	parataxis	_	_
9	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	obj	_	_
10	words	word	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	)	)	PUNCT	-RRB-	_	8	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	—	-	PUNCT	:	_	2	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	15	cop	_	_
14	very	very	ADV	RB	_	15	advmod	_	_
15	few	few	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	;	;	PUNCT	,	_	15	punct	_	_
17	yet	yet	ADV	RB	_	15	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	20	punct	_	_
19	to	to	PART	TO	_	20	mark	_	_
20	judge	judge	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	15	parataxis	_	_
21	by	by	ADP	IN	_	24	case	_	_
22	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	24	nmod:poss	_	_
23	emotional	emotional	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	24	amod	_	_
24	effect	effect	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	20	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
25	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	28	punct	_	_
26	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	28	nsubj	_	_
27	must	must	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	28	aux	_	_
28	signify	signify	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	20	conj	_	_
29	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	31	det	_	_
30	great	great	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	31	amod	_	_
31	deal	deal	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	28	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
32	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	15	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **call** *a condition, not said to happen* | may | I | words *= word* |  |  |  |  | vn dub-29.3.2 «NP V NP NP»: agent=Agent they=Theme word=Result |
| 2 | **is** | present | the words |  |  |  | yet | few *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **judge** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  | by words's emotional effect | vn estimate-34.2-1-1 «NP V whether/if S»: agent=Agent |
| 4 | **signify** | must | words *= word* | a great deal |  |  |  |  | vn representation-110.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot deal=Theme |
| 5 | **effect** |  | words *= word* |  |  |  |  |  | nom effect «phenomenon transitive»: poss=agent |

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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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