---
title: Then the snakes, the sons of Kadrū, said to the griffin, the son of… — The grateful elephant · tree and pragmatics
description: Then the snakes, the sons of Kadrū, said to the griffin, the son of Vinatā: “O griffin, the gods have begun to churn the sea of milk. Who acts: snakes, griffin. A sentence of «The grateful elephant» by Eugene Watson Burlingame, Opening, part 16, with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of every c
---

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# The grateful elephant, Opening, part 16, sentence 62

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Then the snakes, the sons of Kadrū, said to the griffin, the son of Vinatā: “O griffin, the gods have begun to churn the sea of milk.

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**Who acts:** snakes, griffin · **What happens:** say, begin, churn · **To what, where:** griffin, gods, sea · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is a sentence of «The grateful elephant» by Eugene Watson Burlingame, Opening, part 16. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (snakes, griffin), 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:pg74064:16:65
# text = Then the snakes, the sons of Kadrū, said to the griffin, the son of Vinatā: “O griffin, the gods have begun to churn the sea of milk.
1	Then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	10	advmod	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	snakes	snake	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	6	punct	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	sons	son	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	appos	_	_
7	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	Kadrū	Kadrū	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	3	punct	_	_
10	said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
11	to	to	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	griffin	griffin	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	16	punct	_	_
15	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
16	son	son	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	appos	_	_
17	of	of	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
18	Vinatā	Vinatā	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	16	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	22	punct	_	_
20	“	"	PUNCT	``	_	22	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	O	o	INTJ	UH	_	22	discourse	_	_
22	griffin	griffin	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	27	punct	_	_
24	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	25	det	_	_
25	gods	god	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	27	nsubj:pass	_	_
26	have	have	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	27	aux	_	_
27	begun	begin	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	22	acl:relcl	_	_
28	to	to	PART	TO	_	29	mark	_	_
29	churn	churn	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	27	xcomp	_	_
30	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	31	det	_	_
31	sea	sea	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	29	obj	_	_
32	of	of	ADP	IN	_	33	case	_	_
33	milk	milk	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	31	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
34	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	10	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 snakes |  | the griffin |  | then |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V PP.recipient S-Quote»: agent=Agent to griffin=Recipient |
| 2 | **begin** *in a quote* | present · perfect · passive | griffin *not said here* | the gods |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **churn** *in a quote* | to-infinitive | griffin *not said here* | the sea of milk |  |  |  |  | vn build-26.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent sea=Product |

<!-- .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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