The grateful elephant, Opening, part 8, sentence 61
Such a crime as taking the life of living beings means rebirth in hell, in the animal kingdom, in the region of the fathers, in the world of the fallen deities; should you be reborn in the world of men, you will live but a short time and soon pass away.”
Who acts: crime, you · What happens: take, mean, fall, be, live, pass away · To what, where: life, rebirth, world
This is a sentence of «The grateful elephant» by Eugene Watson Burlingame, Opening, part 8. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (crime, you), 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 | Such | such | DET | PronType=Ind | 3 crime | det:predet |
| 2 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 3 crime | det |
| 3 | crime | crime | NOUN | Number=Sing | 11 means | nsubj |
| 4 | as | as | SCONJ | _ | 5 taking | mark |
| 5 | taking | take | VERB | VerbForm=Ger | 3 crime | acl |
| 6 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 7 life | det |
| 7 | life | life | NOUN | Number=Sing | 5 taking | obj |
| 8 | of | of | ADP | _ | 10 beings | case |
| 9 | living | living | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 10 beings | amod |
| 10 | beings | being | NOUN | Number=Plur | 7 life | nmod |
| 11 | means | mean | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 12 | rebirth | rebirth | NOUN | Number=Sing | 11 means | obj |
| 13 | in | in | ADP | _ | 14 hell | case |
| 14 | hell | hell | NOUN | Number=Sing | 12 rebirth | nmod |
| 15 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 19 kingdom | punct |
| 16 | in | in | ADP | _ | 19 kingdom | case |
| 17 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 19 kingdom | det |
| 18 | animal | animal | NOUN | Number=Sing | 19 kingdom | compound |
| 19 | kingdom | kingdom | NOUN | Number=Sing | 11 means | parataxis |
| 20 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 23 region | punct |
| 21 | in | in | ADP | _ | 23 region | case |
| 22 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 23 region | det |
| 23 | region | region | NOUN | Number=Sing | 19 kingdom | appos |
| 24 | of | of | ADP | _ | 26 fathers | case |
| 25 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 26 fathers | det |
| 26 | fathers | father | NOUN | Number=Plur | 23 region | nmod |
| 27 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 30 world | punct |
| 28 | in | in | ADP | _ | 30 world | case |
| 29 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 30 world | det |
| 30 | world | world | NOUN | Number=Sing | 26 fathers | nmod |
| 31 | of | of | ADP | _ | 34 deities | case |
| 32 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 34 deities | det |
| 33 | fallen | fall | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 34 deities | amod |
| 34 | deities | deity | NOUN | Number=Plur | 30 world | nmod |
| 35 | ; | ; | PUNCT | _ | 39 reborn | punct |
| 36 | should | should | AUX | VerbForm=Fin | 39 reborn | aux |
| 37 | you | you | PRON | Case=Nom Person=2 PronType=Prs | 39 reborn | nsubj |
| 38 | be | be | AUX | VerbForm=Inf | 39 reborn | cop |
| 39 | reborn | reborn | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 11 means | parataxis |
| 40 | in | in | ADP | _ | 42 world | case |
| 41 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 42 world | det |
| 42 | world | world | NOUN | Number=Sing | 39 reborn | obl |
| 43 | of | of | ADP | _ | 44 men | case |
| 44 | men | man | NOUN | Number=Plur | 42 world | nmod |
| 45 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 48 live | punct |
| 46 | you | you | PRON | Case=Nom Person=2 PronType=Prs | 48 live | nsubj |
| 47 | will | will | AUX | VerbForm=Fin | 48 live | aux |
| 48 | live | live | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 39 reborn | parataxis |
| 49 | but | but | CCONJ | _ | 52 time | cc |
| 50 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 52 time | det |
| 51 | short | short | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 52 time | amod |
| 52 | time | time | NOUN | Number=Sing | 48 live | conj |
| 53 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 55 pass | cc |
| 54 | soon | soon | ADV | Degree=Pos | 55 pass | advmod |
| 55 | pass | pass | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=2 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 48 live | conj |
| 56 | away | away | ADV | _ | 55 pass | advmod |
| 57 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 39 reborn | punct |
| 58 | ” | " | PUNCT | _ | 11 means | punct |
Pragmatics
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | take | gerund | such crime not said here | the life of living beings | vn bring-11.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent life=Theme | ||||
| 2 | mean | present | such crime | rebirth | in hell; the animal kingdom parataxis | vn representation-110.1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Pivot rebirth=Theme in hell=Attribute | |||
| 3 | fall | participle | vn occur-48.3 «NP V»: agent=Theme | ||||||
| 4 | is | should | you | the world of men | reborn property | tree rules | |||
| 5 | live | future | you | vn exist-47.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | |||||
| 6 | pass away | present | you not said here | away, soon property | vn die-42.4-1 «NP V»: agent=Patient |
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/pg74064/8/61/