---
title: _ Eclipses of the sun and moon were supposed to be due to the fact t… — The grateful elephant · tree and pragmatics
description: _ Eclipses of the sun and moon were supposed to be due to the fact that they were swallowed from time to time by a demon named Rāhu, the Seizer. Who acts: demon. A sentence of «The grateful elephant» by Eugene Watson Burlingame, Opening, part 17, with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of every 
---

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# The grateful elephant, Opening, part 17, sentence 81

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\_ Eclipses of the sun and moon were supposed to be due to the fact that they were swallowed from time to time by a demon named Rāhu, the Seizer.

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**Who acts:** demon · **What happens:** suppose, be, swallow, name, eclipse · **To what, where:** Eclipses, demon, sun

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This is a sentence of «The grateful elephant» by Eugene Watson Burlingame, Opening, part 17. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (demon), 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:pg74064:17:82
# text = _ Eclipses of the sun and moon were supposed to be due to the fact that they were swallowed from time to time by a demon named Rāhu, the Seizer.
1	_	_	PUNCT	NFP	_	2	punct	_	_
2	Eclipses	eclipse	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	sun	sun	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
7	moon	moon	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	conj	_	_
8	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	9	aux:pass	_	_
9	supposed	suppose	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
10	to	to	PART	TO	_	15	mark	_	_
11	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	15	cop	_	_
12	due	due	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos|ExtPos=ADP	15	case	_	_
13	to	to	ADP	IN	_	12	fixed	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	fact	fact	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	xcomp	_	_
16	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	19	mark	_	_
17	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	19	nsubj:pass	_	_
18	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	19	aux:pass	_	_
19	swallowed	swallow	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	15	acl	_	_
20	from	from	ADP	IN	_	21	case	_	_
21	time	time	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	19	obl	_	_
22	to	to	ADP	IN	_	23	case	_	_
23	time	time	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	21	nmod	_	_
24	by	by	ADP	IN	_	26	case	_	_
25	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	26	det	_	_
26	demon	demon	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	19	obl:agent	_	_
27	named	name	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	26	acl	_	_
28	Rāhu	Rāhu	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	27	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
29	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	31	punct	_	_
30	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	31	det	_	_
31	Seizer	Seizer	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	28	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
32	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	9	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **suppose** | past · passive |  | Eclipses of the sun and moon |  |  |  |  | vn consider-29.9-2 «NP V NP ADJ»: subject=Attribute |
| 2 | **is** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  | due the fact | tree rules |
| 3 | **swallow** | past · passive | a demon | Eclipses *= eclipse* |  |  | time |  | vn gobble-39.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=Patient |
| 4 | **name** | participle |  | a demon *not said here* |  |  |  | Rāhu and the Seizer *xcomp* | vn appoint-29.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 5 | **eclipse** |  |  | the sun and moon |  |  |  |  | nom eclipse «event transitive»: of=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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