---
title: For many centuries, it has been a common belief in India that when a… — The grateful elephant · tree and pragmatics
description: For many centuries, it has been a common belief in India that when a human being dies, he is at once born again. Who acts: change, that. A sentence of «The grateful elephant» by Eugene Watson Burlingame, Opening, part 1, with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of every clause.
---

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# The grateful elephant, Opening, part 1, sentence 199

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For many centuries, it has been a common belief in India that when a human being dies, he is at once born again.

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**Who acts:** change, that · **What happens:** be, die, bear · **To what, where:** common belief, India, Gotama

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This is a sentence of «The grateful elephant» by Eugene Watson Burlingame, Opening, part 1. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (change, that), 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:pg74064:1:214
# text = For many centuries, it has been a common belief in India that when a human being dies, he is at once born again.
1	For	for	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
2	many	many	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	centuries	century	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	3	punct	_	_
5	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	nsubj	_	_
6	has	have	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	10	aux	_	_
7	been	be	AUX	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	10	cop	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
9	common	common	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	belief	belief	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
11	in	in	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
12	India	India	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	10	nmod	_	_
13	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	18	nsubj	_	_
14	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	18	advmod	_	_
15	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
16	human	human	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	18	nsubj	_	_
17	being	be	AUX	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	18	nsubj	_	_
18	dies	die	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	10	parataxis	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	24	punct	_	_
20	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	24	nsubj:pass	_	_
21	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	24	aux:pass	_	_
22	at	at	ADP	IN	_	23	case	_	_
23	once	once	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Mult	24	obl	_	_
24	born	bear	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	18	advcl	_	_
25	again	again	ADV	RB	_	24	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
26	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	10	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present · perfect | change | a common belief |  | India | century |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **die** | present | that |  |  |  |  |  | vn calibratable\_cos-45.6.1 «NP.attribute V»: agent=Attribute |
| 3 | **bear** | present · passive |  | Gotama |  |  | again |  | vn birth-28.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Patient |

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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:** «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.

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