---
title: We are told that whenever they captured two persons, they would _des… — The grateful elephant · tree and pragmatics
description: We are told that whenever they captured two persons, they would _despatch_ one of them to fetch ransom-money; therefore they were appropriately called _Despatcher-thieves_. Who acts: Thieves. A sentence of «The grateful elephant» by Eugene Watson Burlingame, Opening, part 8, with its dependency tree
---

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# The grateful elephant, Opening, part 8, sentence 87

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We are told that whenever they captured two persons, they would \_despatch\_ one of them to fetch ransom-money; therefore they were appropriately called \_Despatcher-thieves\_.

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**Who acts:** Thieves · **What happens:** tell, capture, fetch, call · **To what, where:** We, two persons, ransom money, Thieves · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is a sentence of «The grateful elephant» by Eugene Watson Burlingame, Opening, part 8. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (Thieves), 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:pg74064:8:89
# text = We are told that whenever they captured two persons, they would _despatch_ one of them to fetch ransom-money; therefore they were appropriately called _Despatcher-thieves_.
1	We	we	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	told	tell	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	7	mark	_	_
5	whenever	whenever	ADV	WRB	PronType=Rel	7	advmod	_	_
6	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj	_	_
7	captured	capture	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	ccomp	_	_
8	two	two	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	9	nummod	_	_
9	persons	person	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	3	punct	_	_
11	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	12	nsubj	_	_
12	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	ccomp	_	_
13	_	_	PUNCT	NFP	_	14	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	despatch	despatch	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	dep	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	_	_	PUNCT	NFP	_	16	punct	_	_
16	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	12	conj	_	_
17	of	of	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
18	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	16	nmod	_	_
19	to	to	PART	TO	_	20	mark	_	_
20	fetch	fetch	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	16	advcl	_	_
21	ransom	ransom	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	23	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	21	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	money	money	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	20	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
24	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	29	punct	_	_
25	therefore	therefore	ADV	RB	_	29	advmod	_	_
26	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	29	nsubj:pass	_	_
27	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	29	aux:pass	_	_
28	appropriately	appropriately	ADV	RB	_	29	advmod	_	_
29	called	call	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	parataxis	_	_
30	_	_	PUNCT	NFP	_	33	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
31	Despatcher	Despatcher	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	33	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
32	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	31	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
33	thieves	thief	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	29	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
34	_	_	PUNCT	NFP	_	29	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
35	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **tell** *speech: assert* | present · passive |  | We |  |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: subject=Recipient clause=Topic |
| 2 | **capture** | past | Thieves *= thief* | two persons |  |  |  | whenever *property* | vn steal-10.5-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent person=Theme |
| 3 | **fetch** | to-infinitive |  | ransom money |  |  |  |  | vn get-13.5.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent money=Theme |
| 4 | **call** | past · passive |  | Thieves *= thief* |  |  |  | Despatcher thieves *obl*; appropriately, therefore *property* | vn initiate\_communication-37.4.2-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: subject=Recipient |

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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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