---
title: Then a holy man said to Baber: “If some precious thing were given to… — Indian tales of the great ones among men, women,… · tree and pragmatics
description: Then a holy man said to Baber: “If some precious thing were given to God in exchange for Humayun, God might let him live.” Who acts: holy man, God, Humayun. A sentence of «Indian tales of the great ones among men, women, and bird-people» by Cornelia Sorabji, Opening, part 3, with its dependency tree
---

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# Indian tales of the great ones among men, women, and bird-people, Opening, part 3, sentence 60

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Then a holy man said to Baber: “If some precious thing were given to God in exchange for Humayun, God might let him live.”

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**Who acts:** holy man, God, Humayun · **What happens:** say, give, let, live · **To what, where:** Baber, precious thing, God, exchange, Humayun · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is a sentence of «Indian tales of the great ones among men, women, and bird-people» by Cornelia Sorabji, Opening, part 3. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (holy man, God, Humayun), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree.

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**Mova's own parse.** This tree may be wrong.

## The tree {#tree}

```conllu
# sent_id = book:pg69647:3:60
# text = Then a holy man said to Baber: “If some precious thing were given to God in exchange for Humayun, God might let him live.”
1	Then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	5	advmod	_	_
2	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	holy	holy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	man	man	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
5	said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	to	to	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	Baber	Baber	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	25	punct	_	_
9	“	"	PUNCT	``	_	25	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	If	if	SCONJ	IN	_	15	mark	_	_
11	some	some	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	13	det	_	_
12	precious	precious	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	13	amod	_	_
13	thing	thing	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	nsubj:pass	_	_
14	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	15	aux:pass	_	_
15	given	give	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	25	advcl	_	_
16	to	to	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
17	God	God	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	15	obl	_	_
18	in	in	ADP	IN	_	19	case	_	_
19	exchange	exchange	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	obl	_	_
20	for	for	ADP	IN	_	21	case	_	_
21	Humayun	Humayun	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	19	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	15	punct	_	_
23	God	God	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	25	nsubj	_	_
24	might	might	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	25	aux	_	_
25	let	let	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	ccomp	_	_
26	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	25	obj	_	_
27	live	live	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	25	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
28	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	25	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
29	”	"	PUNCT	''	_	25	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | a holy man |  | Baber |  | then |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V PP.recipient S-Quote»: agent=Agent to baber=Recipient clause=Topic |
| 2 | **give** *a condition, not said to happen, in a quote* | past · passive |  | some precious thing | God | exchange for Humayun |  |  | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP PP.recipient»: subject=Theme to god=Recipient |
| 3 | **let** *in a quote* | might | God | Humayun |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 4 | **live** *in a quote* | infinitive | Humayun *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn exist-47.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

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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.

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**Text:** «Indian tales of the great ones among men, women, and bird-people» by Cornelia Sorabji, Project Gutenberg book 69647 (public domain in the USA). **Tree:** Mova's own parse, Elamur Cosmic License. **Frames:** Mova's frames reader (`prag`), the chapter read in order.

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