---
title: Said he to his son who sat beside him: “Son, a mosquito is stinging… — The grateful elephant · tree and pragmatics
description: Said he to his son who sat beside him: “Son, a mosquito is stinging me on the head,--it feels just as if he were sticking me with a spear! Who acts: mosquito, son, it. A sentence of «The grateful elephant» by Eugene Watson Burlingame, Opening, part 13, with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of 
---

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# The grateful elephant, Opening, part 13, sentence 62

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Said he to his son who sat beside him: “Son, a mosquito is stinging me on the head,--it feels just as if he were sticking me with a spear!

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**Who acts:** mosquito, son, it · **What happens:** say, sit, sting, feel, stick · **To what, where:** son, mosquito · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is a sentence of «The grateful elephant» by Eugene Watson Burlingame, Opening, part 13. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (mosquito, son, it), 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:pg74064:13:66
# text = Said he to his son who sat beside him: “Son, a mosquito is stinging me on the head,--it feels just as if he were sticking me with a spear!
1	Said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	1	nsubj	_	_
3	to	to	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	5	nmod:poss	_	_
5	son	son	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obl	_	_
6	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	7	nsubj	_	_
7	sat	sit	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	acl:relcl	_	_
8	beside	beside	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	17	punct	_	_
11	“	"	PUNCT	``	_	17	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	Son	Son	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	17	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	15	punct	_	_
14	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	mosquito	mosquito	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	appos	_	_
16	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	17	aux	_	_
17	stinging	sting	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	1	ccomp	_	_
18	me	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	17	obj	_	_
19	on	on	ADP	IN	_	21	case	_	_
20	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	21	det	_	_
21	head	head	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	25	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	--	--	PUNCT	,	_	25	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
24	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	25	nsubj	_	_
25	feels	feel	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	17	parataxis	_	_
26	just	just	ADV	RB	_	31	advmod	_	_
27	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	31	mark	_	_
28	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	31	mark	_	_
29	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	31	nsubj	_	_
30	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	31	aux	_	_
31	sticking	stick	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	25	advcl	_	_
32	me	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	31	obj	_	_
33	with	with	ADP	IN	_	35	case	_	_
34	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	35	det	_	_
35	spear	spear	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	31	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
36	!	!	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: express* | past | mosquito |  | mosquito's son |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V PP.recipient S-Quote»: agent=Agent to son=Recipient clause=Topic |
| 2 | **sit** | past | mosquito's son |  |  |  |  | beside mosquito | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent beside he=Location |
| 3 | **sting** *in a quote* | present · progressive | Son | mosquito |  |  |  | on the head | vn touch-20-1 «NP V NP PP.theme PP.instrument»: agent=Agent i=Experiencer on head=Theme |
| 4 | **feel** *in a quote* | present | it |  |  |  |  |  | vn stimulus\_subject-30.4 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Stimulus |
| 5 | **stick** *in a quote* | past · progressive | mosquito |  | mosquito |  |  | with a spear | vn spray-9.7-1 «NP V NP.destination PP.theme»: agent=Agent i=Destination with spear=Theme |

<!-- .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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