---
title: If they say there is not, then the Tiger is to eat me; but if they s… — Folk tales from Tibet · tree and pragmatics
description: If they say there is not, then the Tiger is to eat me; but if they say that there is such a thing, I am to go free. Who acts: eyes, Tiger, thing. A sentence of «Folk tales from Tibet» by William Frederick Travers, Sir O'Connor, The Story of Good Faith., with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of
---

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# Folk tales from Tibet, The Story of Good Faith., sentence 59

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If they say there is not, then the Tiger is to eat me; but if they say that there is such a thing, I am to go free.

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**Who acts:** eyes, Tiger, thing · **What happens:** say, not be, be, go · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is a sentence of «Folk tales from Tibet» by William Frederick Travers, Sir O'Connor, The Story of Good Faith.. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (eyes, Tiger, thing), 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:pg75000:4:59
# text = If they say there is not, then the Tiger is to eat me; but if they say that there is such a thing, I am to go free.
1	If	if	SCONJ	IN	_	3	mark	_	_
2	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
3	say	say	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	there	there	PRON	EX	PronType=Dem	5	expl	_	_
5	is	be	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	ccomp	_	_
6	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	5	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
8	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	13	advmod	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	Tiger	Tiger	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	13	nsubj	_	_
11	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	13	cop	_	_
12	to	to	PART	TO	_	13	mark	_	_
13	eat	eat	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	parataxis	_	_
14	me	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	13	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	;	;	PUNCT	,	_	28	punct	_	_
16	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	28	cc	_	_
17	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	19	mark	_	_
18	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	19	nsubj	_	_
19	say	say	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	28	advcl	_	_
20	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	22	mark	_	_
21	there	there	PRON	EX	PronType=Dem	22	expl	_	_
22	is	be	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	19	ccomp	_	_
23	such	such	DET	PDT	PronType=Ind	25	det:predet	_	_
24	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	25	det	_	_
25	thing	thing	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	22	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
26	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	19	punct	_	_
27	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	28	nsubj	_	_
28	am	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	parataxis	_	_
29	to	to	PART	TO	_	30	mark	_	_
30	go	go	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	28	xcomp	_	_
31	free	free	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	30	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
32	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | eyes *= eye* |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **not** **be** | present |  |  |  | there |  |  | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 3 | **is** | present | the Tiger |  |  |  | then | me *obj*; eat *property* | tree rules |
| 4 | **say** *speech: assert* *a condition, not said to happen* | present | eyes *= eye* |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 5 | **be** | present | such thing |  |  | there |  |  | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 6 | **go** | to-infinitive | eyes *= eye* *not said here* |  |  |  |  | free *property* | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

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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:** «Folk tales from Tibet» by William Frederick Travers, Sir O'Connor, Project Gutenberg book 75000 (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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