---
title: When he was sixteen years old, he went to Takkasilā, acquired profic… — The grateful elephant · tree and pragmatics
description: When he was sixteen years old, he went to Takkasilā, acquired proficiency in all the arts and crafts, and on the death of his father, became established in the kingdom. Who acts: Benāres, father. A sentence of «The grateful elephant» by Eugene Watson Burlingame, Opening, part 7, with its dependency 
---

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# The grateful elephant, Opening, part 7, sentence 85

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When he was sixteen years old, he went to Takkasilā, acquired proficiency in all the arts and crafts, and on the death of his father, became established in the kingdom.

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**Who acts:** Benāres, father · **What happens:** be, go, acquire, become, establish, die · **To what, where:** Takkasilā, death, kingdom

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This is a sentence of «The grateful elephant» by Eugene Watson Burlingame, Opening, part 7. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (Benāres, father), 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:pg74064:7:90
# text = When he was sixteen years old, he went to Takkasilā, acquired proficiency in all the arts and crafts, and on the death of his father, became established in the kingdom.
1	When	when	SCONJ	WRB	_	6	mark	_	_
2	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj	_	_
3	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
4	sixteen	sixteen	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	5	nummod	_	_
5	years	year	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	obl:unmarked	_	_
6	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
8	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	nsubj	_	_
9	went	go	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	parataxis	_	_
10	to	to	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	Takkasilā	Takkasilā	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
13	acquired	acquire	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	14	amod	_	_
14	proficiency	proficiency	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	appos	_	_
15	in	in	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
16	all	all	DET	PDT	PronType=Tot	18	det:predet	_	_
17	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	18	det	_	_
18	arts	art	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	14	nmod	_	_
19	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	20	cc	_	_
20	crafts	craft	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	18	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	25	punct	_	_
22	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	25	cc	_	_
23	on	on	ADP	IN	_	25	case	_	_
24	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	25	det	_	_
25	death	death	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	_
26	of	of	ADP	IN	_	28	case	_	_
27	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	28	nmod:poss	_	_
28	father	father	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	25	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
29	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	30	punct	_	_
30	became	become	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	9	conj	_	_
31	established	establish	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	30	xcomp	_	_
32	in	in	ADP	IN	_	34	case	_	_
33	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	34	det	_	_
34	kingdom	kingdom	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	31	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
35	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | Benāres |  |  |  | year | old *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **go** | past | Benāres |  | Takkasilā | the death of Benāres's father |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme to takkasilā=Initial\_Location |
| 3 | **acquire** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn obtain-13.5.2-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset |
| 4 | **become** | past | Benāres *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 5 | **establish** | participle | Benāres *not said here* |  |  | the kingdom |  |  | vn indicate-78-1-1 «NP V NP to be NP»: agent=Pivot |
| 6 | **die** |  | Benāres's father |  |  |  |  |  | nom death «event intransitive»: of=agent |

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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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