---
title: Were the howl of a dog really—as once supposed—an outcry of ghostly… — In Ghostly Japan · tree and pragmatics
description: Were the howl of a dog really—as once supposed—an outcry of ghostly terror, the meaning might possibly be, “_I smell Them! Who acts: outcry, unanimity. 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 40

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Were the howl of a dog really—as once supposed—an outcry of ghostly terror, the meaning might possibly be, “\_I smell Them!

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**Who acts:** outcry, unanimity · **What happens:** be, suppose, smell, outcry · **To what, where:** howl, outcry, ghostly terror · **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 (outcry, unanimity), 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:pg8128:9:40
# text = Were the howl of a dog really—as once supposed—an outcry of ghostly terror, the meaning might possibly be, “_I smell Them!
1	Were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	howl	howl	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nsubj:pass	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	dog	dog	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
7	really	really	ADV	RB	_	11	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	—	-	PUNCT	:	_	7	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	as	as	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	_
10	once	once	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Mult	11	advmod	_	_
11	supposed	suppose	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	—	-	PUNCT	:	_	14	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	outcry	outcry	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	23	nsubj	_	_
15	of	of	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
16	ghostly	ghostly	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	17	amod	_	_
17	terror	terror	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	20	punct	_	_
19	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	20	det	_	_
20	meaning	meaning	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	conj	_	_
21	might	might	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	23	aux	_	_
22	possibly	possibly	ADV	RB	_	23	advmod	_	_
23	be	be	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	11	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
24	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	28	punct	_	_
25	“	"	PUNCT	``	_	28	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
26	_	_	PUNCT	NFP	_	28	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
27	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	28	nsubj	_	_
28	smell	smell	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	11	conj	_	_
29	Them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	28	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
30	!	!	PUNCT	.	_	11	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | past |  | the howl |  |  |  | of a dog | tree rules |
| 2 | **suppose** | participle · passive |  | the howl |  |  |  | once *property* | vn consider-29.9-2 «NP V NP ADJ»: subject=Attribute clause=Theme |
| 3 | **be** | might | a outcry of ghostly terror and the meaning |  |  |  |  | possibly *property* | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 4 | **smell** *in a quote* | present | this unanimity of superstitious belief *= unanimity* | outcry |  |  |  |  | vn see-30.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer they=Stimulus |
| 5 | **outcry** |  |  | ghostly terror |  |  |  |  | nom outcry «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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