Not really I’m afraid. Effects can be anywhere and they are not wrapped at all.

In technical terms it’s stack-oriented meaning the only way for functions (called “words”) to interact with each other is via a parameter stack.

Here’s an example:

: TIMES-10  ( x -- y )
  10 
  * 
;

12
TIMES-10
.S
120

TIMES-10 is a word which pops one parameter from stack and pushes the result of its calculation onto stack. The ( x -- y) is a comment which conventionally documents the “stack effect” of the word.

Now when you type 12 and press RETURN, the integer 12 is pushed onto stack. Then TIMES-10 is called which in turn pushes 10 onto stack and invokes * which pops two values from stack and multiplies them and pushes the result onto stack.

That’s why when type .S to see the contents of the stack, you get 120 in response.

Another example is

5 10 20 - *
.S
50

This simple example demonstrates the reverse Polish notation (RPN) Forth uses. The arithmetic expression is equal to 5 * (20 - 10) the result of which is pushed onto stack.

PS: One of the strengths of Forth is the ability to build a vocabulary (of words) around a particular problem in bottom-to-top fashion, much like Lisp. PPS: If you’re ever interested to learn Forth, Starting Forth is a fantastic resource.