--- title: What a spectacle it must have been, to see this monstrous fellow spr… — Tanglewood Tales · tree and pragmatics description: What a spectacle it must have been, to see this monstrous fellow sprawling in the air, face downwards, kicking out his long legs and wriggling his whole vast body, like a baby when its father holds it at arm's length towards the ceiling. Who acts: spectacle, monstrous fellow, father. A sentence of « --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg976/8/95/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [tales](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/) / [Tanglewood Tales](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg976/) / [The Pygmies., part 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg976/8/) / 95 # Tanglewood Tales, The Pygmies., part 2, sentence 95 What a spectacle it must have been, to see this monstrous fellow sprawling in the air, face downwards, kicking out his long legs and wriggling his whole vast body, like a baby when its father holds it at arm's length towards the ceiling. **Who acts:** spectacle, monstrous fellow, father · **What happens:** be, see, sprawl, kick out, wriggle, hold · **To what, where:** spectacle, monstrous fellow, air, long legs, whole vast body, length This is a sentence of «Tanglewood Tales» by Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Pygmies., part 2. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (spectacle, monstrous fellow, father), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree. **Parsed by Mova, not checked by a teacher.** This tree is Mova's own parse (the `en` model, on the CPU, when the site is built); it may be wrong. ## The tree {#tree} ```conllu # sent_id = book:pg976:8:95 # text = What a spectacle it must have been, to see this monstrous fellow sprawling in the air, face downwards, kicking out his long legs and wriggling his whole vast body, like a baby when its father holds it at arm's length towards the ceiling. 1 What what DET WDT PronType=Int 3 det:predet _ _ 2 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 3 det _ _ 3 spectacle spectacle NOUN NN Number=Sing 7 obl _ _ 4 it it PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 7 nsubj _ _ 5 must must AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 7 aux _ _ 6 have have AUX VB VerbForm=Inf 7 aux _ _ 7 been be VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part 0 root _ SpaceAfter=No 8 , , PUNCT , _ 10 punct _ _ 9 to to PART TO _ 10 mark _ _ 10 see see VERB VB Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin 7 parataxis _ _ 11 this this DET DT Number=Sing|PronType=Dem 13 det _ _ 12 monstrous monstrous ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 13 amod _ _ 13 fellow fellow NOUN NN Number=Sing 10 obj _ _ 14 sprawling sprawl VERB VBG VerbForm=Ger 13 acl _ _ 15 in in ADP IN _ 17 case _ _ 16 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 17 det _ _ 17 air air NOUN NN Number=Sing 14 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 18 , , PUNCT , _ 19 punct _ _ 19 face face NOUN NN Number=Sing 13 conj _ _ 20 downwards downwards ADV RB _ 10 advmod _ SpaceAfter=No 21 , , PUNCT , _ 22 punct _ _ 22 kicking kick VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 10 advcl _ _ 23 out out ADP RP _ 22 compound:prt _ _ 24 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 26 nmod:poss _ _ 25 long long ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 26 amod _ _ 26 legs leg NOUN NNS Number=Plur 22 obj _ _ 27 and and CCONJ CC _ 28 cc _ _ 28 wriggling wriggle VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 22 conj _ _ 29 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 32 nmod:poss _ _ 30 whole whole ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 32 amod _ _ 31 vast vast ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 32 amod _ _ 32 body body NOUN NN Number=Sing 28 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 33 , , PUNCT , _ 36 punct _ _ 34 like like ADP IN _ 36 case _ _ 35 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 36 det _ _ 36 baby baby NOUN NN Number=Sing 28 obl _ _ 37 when when ADV WRB PronType=Int 40 advmod _ _ 38 its its PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 39 nmod:poss _ _ 39 father father NOUN NN Number=Sing 40 nsubj _ _ 40 holds hold VERB VBZ Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 36 acl:relcl _ _ 41 it it PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 40 obj _ _ 42 at at ADP IN _ 45 case _ _ 43 arm arm NOUN NN Number=Sing 45 nmod:poss _ SpaceAfter=No 44 's 's PART POS _ 43 case _ _ 45 length length NOUN NN Number=Sing 40 obl _ _ 46 towards towards ADP IN _ 48 case _ _ 47 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 48 det _ _ 48 ceiling ceiling NOUN NN Number=Sing 45 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 49 . . PUNCT . _ 7 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **be** | must · perfect | spectacle | what spectacle | | | | | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 2 | **see** | to-infinitive | | this monstrous fellow and face | | | | downwards *property* | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer fellow=Stimulus | | 3 | **sprawl** | gerund | this monstrous fellow and face *not said here* | | | the air | | | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent in air=Location | | 4 | **kick out** | gerund | | fellow's long legs | | | | | vn split-23.2 «NP V NP apart»: agent=Agent leg=Patient | | 5 | **wriggle** | gerund | | fellow's whole vast body | | | | like a baby | tree rules | | 6 | **hold** | present | spectacle's father | spectacle | | arm's length towards the ceiling | | | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP PP.location»: agent=Agent it=Theme at length=Location | 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. **Text:** «Tanglewood Tales» by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Project Gutenberg book 976 (public domain in the USA). **Tree:** Mova's own parse, Elamur Cosmic License. **Frames:** Mova's frames reader (`prag`), the chapter read in order. - ← previous: [sentence 94](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg976/8/94/) - next →: [sentence 96](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg976/8/96/) - ↑ back to [The Pygmies., part 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg976/8/)