The grateful elephant, Opening, part 5, sentence 11
That wicked man trod on the Great Being’s trunk,--that trunk which was like unto a rope of silver; climbed up on the Great Being’s temples,--those temples which were like unto the snow-clad peaks of Kelāsa, with his heel kicking the tips of the tusks and loosening the flesh; and having mounted the temples, with a sharp saw severed the stumps of the tusks, and went his way.
Who acts: wicked man, trunk, temples, heel, sharp saw · What happens: tread, be, climb up, kick, loosen, mount · To what, where: Great trunk, Great temples, tips, flesh, temples, stumps
This is a sentence of «The grateful elephant» by Eugene Watson Burlingame, Opening, part 5. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (wicked man, trunk, temples, heel), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree.
Mova's own parse. This tree may be wrong.
The tree
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | That | that | DET | Number=Sing PronType=Dem | 3 man | det |
| 2 | wicked | wicked | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 3 man | amod |
| 3 | man | man | NOUN | Number=Sing | 4 trod | nsubj |
| 4 | trod | tread | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 5 | on | on | ADP | _ | 10 trunk | case |
| 6 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 10 trunk | det |
| 7 | Great | great | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 10 trunk | amod |
| 8 | Being | be | AUX | Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part | 10 trunk | cop |
| 9 | ’s | 's | PART | _ | 8 Being | case |
| 10 | trunk | trunk | NOUN | Number=Sing | 4 trod | obl |
| 11 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 14 trunk | punct |
| 12 | -- | -- | PUNCT | _ | 14 trunk | punct |
| 13 | that | that | DET | Number=Sing PronType=Dem | 14 trunk | det |
| 14 | trunk | trunk | NOUN | Number=Sing | 10 trunk | appos |
| 15 | which | which | PRON | PronType=Rel | 20 rope | nsubj |
| 16 | was | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 20 rope | cop |
| 17 | like | like | ADP | _ | 20 rope | case |
| 18 | unto | unto | ADP | _ | 20 rope | case |
| 19 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 20 rope | det |
| 20 | rope | rope | NOUN | Number=Sing | 14 trunk | acl:relcl |
| 21 | of | of | ADP | _ | 22 silver | case |
| 22 | silver | silver | NOUN | Number=Sing | 20 rope | nmod |
| 23 | ; | ; | PUNCT | _ | 24 climbed | punct |
| 24 | climbed | climb | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 4 trod | parataxis |
| 25 | up | up | ADP | _ | 24 climbed | compound:prt |
| 26 | on | on | ADP | _ | 31 temples | case |
| 27 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 31 temples | det |
| 28 | Great | great | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 31 temples | amod |
| 29 | Being | be | AUX | Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part | 30 ’s | cop |
| 30 | ’s | 's | PART | _ | 28 Great | conj |
| 31 | temples | temple | NOUN | Number=Plur | 24 climbed | obl |
| 32 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 35 temples | punct |
| 33 | -- | -- | PUNCT | _ | 35 temples | punct |
| 34 | those | that | DET | Number=Plur PronType=Dem | 35 temples | det |
| 35 | temples | temple | NOUN | Number=Plur | 31 temples | conj |
| 36 | which | which | PRON | PronType=Rel | 44 peaks | nsubj |
| 37 | were | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 44 peaks | cop |
| 38 | like | like | ADP | _ | 44 peaks | case |
| 39 | unto | unto | ADP | _ | 44 peaks | case |
| 40 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 44 peaks | det |
| 41 | snow | snow | NOUN | Number=Sing | 43 clad | compound |
| 42 | - | - | PUNCT | _ | 41 snow | punct |
| 43 | clad | clad | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 44 peaks | amod |
| 44 | peaks | peak | NOUN | Number=Plur | 35 temples | parataxis |
| 45 | of | of | ADP | _ | 46 Kelāsa | case |
| 46 | Kelāsa | Kelāsa | PROPN | Number=Sing | 44 peaks | nmod |
| 47 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 50 heel | punct |
| 48 | with | with | ADP | _ | 50 heel | case |
| 49 | his | his | PRON | Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 50 heel | nmod:poss |
| 50 | heel | heel | NOUN | Number=Sing | 44 peaks | conj |
| 51 | kicking | kick | VERB | VerbForm=Ger | 50 heel | acl |
| 52 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 53 tips | det |
| 53 | tips | tip | NOUN | Number=Plur | 51 kicking | obj |
| 54 | of | of | ADP | _ | 56 tusks | case |
| 55 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 56 tusks | det |
| 56 | tusks | tusk | NOUN | Number=Plur | 53 tips | nmod |
| 57 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 58 loosening | cc |
| 58 | loosening | loosen | VERB | VerbForm=Ger | 51 kicking | conj |
| 59 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 60 flesh | det |
| 60 | flesh | flesh | NOUN | Number=Sing | 58 loosening | obj |
| 61 | ; | ; | PUNCT | _ | 64 mounted | punct |
| 62 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 64 mounted | cc |
| 63 | having | have | AUX | Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part | 64 mounted | aux |
| 64 | mounted | mount | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part | 4 trod | parataxis |
| 65 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 66 temples | det |
| 66 | temples | temple | NOUN | Number=Plur | 64 mounted | obj |
| 67 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 72 severed | punct |
| 68 | with | with | SCONJ | _ | 72 severed | mark |
| 69 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 71 saw | det |
| 70 | sharp | sharp | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 71 saw | amod |
| 71 | saw | saw | NOUN | Number=Sing | 72 severed | nsubj |
| 72 | severed | sever | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 64 mounted | conj |
| 73 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 74 stumps | det |
| 74 | stumps | stump | NOUN | Number=Plur | 72 severed | obj |
| 75 | of | of | ADP | _ | 77 tusks | case |
| 76 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 77 tusks | det |
| 77 | tusks | tusk | NOUN | Number=Plur | 74 stumps | nmod |
| 78 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 80 went | punct |
| 79 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 80 went | cc |
| 80 | went | go | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 72 severed | conj |
| 81 | his | his | PRON | Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 82 way | nmod:poss |
| 82 | way | way | NOUN | Number=Sing | 80 went | obj |
| 83 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 4 trod | punct |
Pragmatics
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | tread | past | that wicked man | vn run-51.3.2 «NP V»: agent=Theme | |||||
| 2 | is | gerund | the Great trunk | that trunk appos | tree rules | ||||
| 3 | is | past | that trunk | like a rope; of silver | tree rules | ||||
| 4 | climb up | participle | the Great temples and that temples | vn run-51.3.2 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme on temple=Trajectory | |||||
| 5 | is | past | that temples | like the clad peaks and man's heel; of Kelāsa; man's heel conj | tree rules | ||||
| 6 | kick | gerund | man's heel not said here | the tips of the tusks | vn split-23.2 «NP V NP apart»: agent=Agent tip=Patient | ||||
| 7 | loosen | gerund | man's heel not said here | the flesh | vn other_cos-45.4 «NP V NP.patient»: agent=Agent flesh=Patient | ||||
| 8 | mount | gerund · perfect | the temples | vn establish-55.5-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent temple=Patient | |||||
| 9 | sever | past | a sharp saw | the stumps of the tusks | vn remove-10.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent stump=Theme | ||||
| 10 | go | past | a sharp saw not said here | man's way | vn meander-47.7 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location way=Theme |
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: «The grateful elephant» by Eugene Watson Burlingame, Project Gutenberg book 74064 (public domain in the USA). Tree: Mova's own parse, Elamur Cosmic License. Frames: Mova's frames reader (prag), the chapter read in order.
This page in Markdown → https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg74064/5/11/