---
title: Said the monks: “We do not understand what you mean by saying that i… — The grateful elephant · tree and pragmatics
description: Said the monks: “We do not understand what you mean by saying that it is like the ‘rat-a-tat’ the little hare heard. Who acts: We, you, hare. A sentence of «The grateful elephant» by Eugene Watson Burlingame, Opening, part 10, with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of every clause.
---

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# The grateful elephant, Opening, part 10, sentence 105

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Said the monks: “We do not understand what you mean by saying that it is like the ‘rat-a-tat’ the little hare heard.

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**Who acts:** We, you, hare · **What happens:** say, not understand, mean, be, hear · **To what, where:** monks, little hare, rat tat · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is a sentence of «The grateful elephant» by Eugene Watson Burlingame, Opening, part 10. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (We, you, hare), 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:pg74064:10:109
# text = Said the monks: “We do not understand what you mean by saying that it is like the ‘rat-a-tat’ the little hare heard.
1	Said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	monks	monk	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	1	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	9	punct	_	_
5	“	"	PUNCT	``	_	9	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	We	we	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs	9	nsubj	_	_
7	do	do	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	aux	_	_
8	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	9	advmod	_	_
9	understand	understand	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	1	parataxis	_	_
10	what	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	9	obj	_	_
11	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs	12	nsubj	_	_
12	mean	mean	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	10	acl:relcl	_	_
13	by	by	SCONJ	IN	_	14	mark	_	_
14	saying	say	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	9	advcl	_	_
15	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	25	mark	_	_
16	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	25	nsubj	_	_
17	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	25	cop	_	_
18	like	like	SCONJ	IN	_	25	mark	_	_
19	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	25	det	_	_
20	‘	'	PUNCT	``	_	25	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	rat	rat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	25	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	25	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	25	det	_	SpaceAfter=No
24	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	23	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
25	tat	tat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
26	’	'	PUNCT	''	_	25	punct	_	_
27	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	29	det	_	_
28	little	little	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	29	amod	_	_
29	hare	hare	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	obj	_	_
30	heard	hear	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	29	acl	_	SpaceAfter=No
31	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	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 |  | the monks |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **not** **understand** *in a quote* | present · do-support | We |  |  |  |  | what *obj* | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Experiencer what=Stimulus |
| 3 | **mean** *in a quote* | present | you |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent |
| 4 | **say** *speech: assert* *in a quote* | gerund | We *not said here* | the little hare |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: agent=Agent hare=Topic |
| 5 | **is a** *in a quote* | present | hare | the rat tat |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 6 | **hear** *in a quote* | participle |  | the little hare *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn see-30.1-1-1 «NP V PP.stimulus»: agent=Experiencer |

<!-- .note -->
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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