--- title: But if nobody has ever seen that land, and no one knows anything abo… — The descent of the sun: A cycle of birth · tree and pragmatics description: But if nobody has ever seen that land, and no one knows anything about it, then, if one should come and say: Lo: I have seen it: who could discern whether he was speaking the truth or telling a lie? Who acts: nobody, one, I, Land. A sentence of «The descent of the sun: A cycle of birth» by Unknown, --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg68641/4/40/) [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/) / [The descent of the sun: A cycle of birth](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg68641/) / [A Sleep and a Dream., part 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg68641/4/) / 40 # The descent of the sun: A cycle of birth, A Sleep and a Dream., part 2, sentence 40 But if nobody has ever seen that land, and no one knows anything about it, then, if one should come and say: Lo: I have seen it: who could discern whether he was speaking the truth or telling a lie? **Who acts:** nobody, one, I, Land · **What happens:** see, know, come, say, discern, speak · **To what, where:** land, anything, sword, truth, lie · **Speech:** someone speaks here This is a sentence of «The descent of the sun: A cycle of birth» by Unknown, A Sleep and a Dream., 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 (nobody, one, I, Land), 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 {#tree} ```conllu # sent_id = book:pg68641:4:40 # text = But if nobody has ever seen that land, and no one knows anything about it, then, if one should come and say: Lo: I have seen it: who could discern whether he was speaking the truth or telling a lie? 1 But but CCONJ CC _ 6 cc _ _ 2 if if SCONJ IN _ 6 mark _ _ 3 nobody nobody PRON NN Number=Sing|PronType=Neg 6 nsubj _ _ 4 has have AUX VBZ Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 6 aux _ _ 5 ever ever ADV RB PronType=Ind 6 advmod _ _ 6 seen see VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part 0 root _ _ 7 that that DET DT Number=Sing|PronType=Dem 8 det _ _ 8 land land NOUN NN Number=Sing 6 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 9 , , PUNCT , _ 13 punct _ _ 10 and and CCONJ CC _ 13 cc _ _ 11 no no DET DT PronType=Neg 12 det _ _ 12 one one NOUN NN Number=Sing 13 nsubj _ _ 13 knows know VERB VBZ Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 6 advcl _ _ 14 anything anything PRON NN Number=Sing|PronType=Ind 13 obj _ _ 15 about about ADP IN _ 16 case _ _ 16 it it PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 14 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 17 , , PUNCT , _ 18 punct _ _ 18 then then ADV RB PronType=Dem 13 parataxis _ SpaceAfter=No 19 , , PUNCT , _ 23 punct _ _ 20 if if SCONJ IN _ 23 mark _ _ 21 one one PRON PRP Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 23 nsubj _ _ 22 should should AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 23 aux _ _ 23 come come VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 6 parataxis _ _ 24 and and CCONJ CC _ 25 cc _ _ 25 say say VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 23 conj _ SpaceAfter=No 26 : : PUNCT : _ 31 punct _ _ 27 Lo lo INTJ UH _ 31 discourse _ SpaceAfter=No 28 : : PUNCT : _ 31 punct _ _ 29 I I PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs 31 nsubj _ _ 30 have have AUX VBP Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin 31 aux _ _ 31 seen see VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part 25 ccomp _ _ 32 it it PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 31 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 33 : : PUNCT : _ 36 punct _ _ 34 who who PRON WP PronType=Rel 36 nsubj _ _ 35 could could AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 36 aux _ _ 36 discern discern VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 31 conj _ _ 37 whether whether SCONJ IN _ 40 mark _ _ 38 he he PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 40 nsubj _ _ 39 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 40 aux _ _ 40 speaking speak VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 36 advcl _ _ 41 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 42 det _ _ 42 truth truth NOUN NN Number=Sing 40 obj _ _ 43 or or CCONJ CC _ 44 cc _ _ 44 telling tell VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 40 conj _ _ 45 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 46 det _ _ 46 lie lie NOUN NN Number=Sing 44 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 47 ? ? PUNCT . _ 6 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **see** | present · perfect | nobody | that land | | | ever | | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer land=Stimulus | | 2 | **know** | present | no one | anything | | | | about sword | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Experiencer anything=Stimulus | | 3 | **come** *a condition, not said to happen* | should | one | | | | | | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 4 | **say** *speech: assert* | infinitive | one *not said here* | | | | | | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic | | 5 | **see** | present · perfect | I | sword | | | | | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer it=Stimulus | | 6 | **discern** | could | | | | | | who *nsubj* | vn see-30.1-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Experiencer | | 7 | **speak** *speech: other* | past · progressive | Land | the truth | | | | | tree rules | | 8 | **tell** *speech: assert* | gerund | Land *not said here* | a lie | | | | | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent lie=Recipient | 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 descent of the sun: A cycle of birth» by Unknown, Project Gutenberg book 68641 (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 39](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg68641/4/39/) - next →: [sentence 41](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg68641/4/41/) - ↑ back to [A Sleep and a Dream., part 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg68641/4/)