---
title: If the next to the last syllable is long, it receives the accent, as… — The grateful elephant · tree and pragmatics
description: If the next to the last syllable is long, it receives the accent, as _Brahmadátta_, _Nibbāna_. Who acts: syllable. 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 43

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If the next to the last syllable is long, it receives the accent, as \_Brahmadátta\_, \_Nibbāna\_.

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**Who acts:** syllable · **What happens:** be, receive · **To what, where:** accent

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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 (syllable), 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:pg74064:1:48
# text = If the next to the last syllable is long, it receives the accent, as _Brahmadátta_, _Nibbāna_.
1	If	if	SCONJ	IN	_	3	mark	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	next	next	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	csubj	_	_
4	to	to	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	last	last	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	syllable	syllable	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
8	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	cop	_	_
9	long	long	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
11	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	12	nsubj	_	_
12	receives	receive	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	parataxis	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	accent	accent	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	18	punct	_	_
16	as	as	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
17	_	_	PUNCT	NFP	_	16	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	Brahmadátta	Brahmadátta	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	12	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	_	_	PUNCT	NFP	_	12	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
21	_	_	PUNCT	NFP	_	22	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	Nibbāna	Nibbāna	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	9	parataxis	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	_	_	PUNCT	NFP	_	22	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
24	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	9	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present |  |  |  |  |  | Nibbāna *parataxis*; long *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **receive** | present | syllable | the accent |  |  |  | as Brahmadátta | vn obtain-13.5.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent accent=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:** «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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