Kaffir folk-lore, The Story of Hlakanyana., sentence 237
Hlakanyana said: “You have killed my calf, the calf that I received from the keepers of calves, the keepers of calves that killed my goat, the goat that I received from the boys that were tending goats, the boys that broke my pot, the pot that I received from the people who make pots, the people who broke my digging-stick, the digging-stick that I received from my companion, my companion who ate my birds and left me with the heads.”
Who acts: Hlakanyana, calves, that, boys, people, companion · What happens: say, kill, receive, tend, be, break · To what, where: You, calf, keepers, goat, tending goats, pot · Speech: someone speaks here
This is a sentence of «Kaffir folk-lore» by George McCall Theal, The Story of Hlakanyana.. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (Hlakanyana, calves, that, boys), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree.
Mova's own parse. This tree may be wrong.
The tree
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hlakanyana | Hlakanyana | PROPN | Number=Sing | 2 said | nsubj |
| 2 | said | say | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 3 | : | : | PUNCT | _ | 7 killed | punct |
| 4 | “ | " | PUNCT | _ | 7 killed | punct |
| 5 | You | you | PRON | Case=Nom Person=2 PronType=Prs | 7 killed | nsubj:pass |
| 6 | have | have | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=2 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 7 killed | aux |
| 7 | killed | kill | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 2 said | ccomp |
| 8 | my | my | PRON | Case=Gen Number=Sing Person=1 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 9 calf | nmod:poss |
| 9 | calf | calf | NOUN | Number=Sing | 7 killed | obj |
| 10 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 12 calf | punct |
| 11 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 12 calf | det |
| 12 | calf | calf | NOUN | Number=Sing | 9 calf | appos |
| 13 | that | that | PRON | PronType=Rel | 15 received | obj |
| 14 | I | I | PRON | Case=Nom Number=Sing Person=1 PronType=Prs | 15 received | nsubj |
| 15 | received | receive | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=1 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 12 calf | acl:relcl |
| 16 | from | from | ADP | _ | 18 keepers | case |
| 17 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 18 keepers | det |
| 18 | keepers | keeper | NOUN | Number=Plur | 15 received | obl |
| 19 | of | of | ADP | _ | 20 calves | case |
| 20 | calves | calf | NOUN | Number=Plur | 18 keepers | nmod |
| 21 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 23 keepers | punct |
| 22 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 23 keepers | det |
| 23 | keepers | keeper | NOUN | Number=Plur | 20 calves | conj |
| 24 | of | of | ADP | _ | 25 calves | case |
| 25 | calves | calf | NOUN | Number=Plur | 23 keepers | nmod |
| 26 | that | that | PRON | PronType=Rel | 27 killed | nsubj |
| 27 | killed | kill | VERB | Mood=Ind Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 25 calves | acl:relcl |
| 28 | my | my | PRON | Case=Gen Number=Sing Person=1 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 29 goat | nmod:poss |
| 29 | goat | goat | NOUN | Number=Sing | 27 killed | obj |
| 30 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 32 goat | punct |
| 31 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 32 goat | det |
| 32 | goat | goat | NOUN | Number=Sing | 9 calf | appos |
| 33 | that | that | PRON | PronType=Rel | 35 received | obj |
| 34 | I | I | PRON | Case=Nom Number=Sing Person=1 PronType=Prs | 35 received | nsubj |
| 35 | received | receive | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=1 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 32 goat | acl:relcl |
| 36 | from | from | ADP | _ | 38 boys | case |
| 37 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 38 boys | det |
| 38 | boys | boy | NOUN | Number=Plur | 35 received | obl |
| 39 | that | that | PRON | PronType=Rel | 42 goats | nsubj |
| 40 | were | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 42 goats | cop |
| 41 | tending | tend | VERB | VerbForm=Ger | 42 goats | amod |
| 42 | goats | goat | NOUN | Number=Plur | 38 boys | nmod |
| 43 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 45 boys | punct |
| 44 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 45 boys | det |
| 45 | boys | boy | NOUN | Number=Plur | 42 goats | conj |
| 46 | that | that | PRON | PronType=Rel | 47 broke | nsubj |
| 47 | broke | break | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 45 boys | acl:relcl |
| 48 | my | my | PRON | Case=Gen Number=Sing Person=1 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 49 pot | nmod:poss |
| 49 | pot | pot | NOUN | Number=Sing | 47 broke | obj |
| 50 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 52 pot | punct |
| 51 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 52 pot | det |
| 52 | pot | pot | NOUN | Number=Sing | 49 pot | conj |
| 53 | that | that | PRON | PronType=Rel | 55 received | obj |
| 54 | I | I | PRON | Case=Nom Number=Sing Person=1 PronType=Prs | 55 received | nsubj |
| 55 | received | receive | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=1 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 52 pot | acl:relcl |
| 56 | from | from | ADP | _ | 58 people | case |
| 57 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 58 people | det |
| 58 | people | people | NOUN | Number=Plur | 55 received | obl |
| 59 | who | who | PRON | PronType=Rel | 60 make | nsubj |
| 60 | make | make | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 58 people | acl:relcl |
| 61 | pots | pot | NOUN | Number=Plur | 60 make | obj |
| 62 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 64 people | punct |
| 63 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 64 people | det |
| 64 | people | people | NOUN | Number=Plur | 42 goats | conj |
| 65 | who | who | PRON | PronType=Rel | 66 broke | nsubj |
| 66 | broke | break | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 64 people | acl:relcl |
| 67 | my | my | PRON | Case=Gen Number=Sing Person=1 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 70 stick | nmod:poss |
| 68 | digging | digging | NOUN | Number=Sing | 70 stick | compound |
| 69 | - | - | PUNCT | _ | 68 digging | punct |
| 70 | stick | stick | NOUN | Number=Sing | 66 broke | obj |
| 71 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 75 stick | punct |
| 72 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 75 stick | det |
| 73 | digging | digging | NOUN | Number=Sing | 75 stick | compound |
| 74 | - | - | PUNCT | _ | 73 digging | punct |
| 75 | stick | stick | NOUN | Number=Sing | 70 stick | conj |
| 76 | that | that | PRON | PronType=Rel | 78 received | obj |
| 77 | I | I | PRON | Case=Nom Number=Sing Person=1 PronType=Prs | 78 received | nsubj |
| 78 | received | receive | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=1 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 75 stick | acl:relcl |
| 79 | from | from | ADP | _ | 81 companion | case |
| 80 | my | my | PRON | Case=Gen Number=Sing Person=1 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 81 companion | nmod:poss |
| 81 | companion | companion | NOUN | Number=Sing | 78 received | obl |
| 82 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 84 companion | punct |
| 83 | my | my | PRON | Case=Gen Number=Sing Person=1 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 84 companion | nmod:poss |
| 84 | companion | companion | NOUN | Number=Sing | 9 calf | conj |
| 85 | who | who | PRON | PronType=Rel | 86 ate | nsubj |
| 86 | ate | eat | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 84 companion | acl:relcl |
| 87 | my | my | PRON | Case=Gen Number=Sing Person=1 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 88 birds | nmod:poss |
| 88 | birds | bird | NOUN | Number=Plur | 86 ate | obj |
| 89 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 90 left | cc |
| 90 | left | leave | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=1 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 7 killed | conj |
| 91 | me | I | PRON | Case=Acc Number=Sing Person=1 PronType=Prs | 90 left | iobj |
| 92 | with | with | ADP | _ | 94 heads | case |
| 93 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 94 heads | det |
| 94 | heads | head | NOUN | Number=Plur | 90 left | obl |
| 95 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 2 said | punct |
| 96 | ” | " | PUNCT | _ | 2 said | punct |
Pragmatics
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | say speech: assert | past | Hlakanyana | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic | |||||
| 2 | kill in a quote | present · perfect · passive | You | my calf and my companion obj | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP ADJ»: subject=Experiencer calf=Result | ||||
| 3 | receive in a quote | past | Hlakanyana | the calf | the keepers of calves and the keepers of calves | vn obtain-13.5.2 «NP V NP PP.source»: agent=Agent that=Theme from keeper=Source | |||
| 4 | kill in a quote | past | calves | my goat | vn remove-10.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent goat=Theme | ||||
| 5 | receive in a quote | past | Hlakanyana | the goat | from the boys | vn obtain-13.5.2 «NP V NP PP.source»: agent=Agent that=Theme from boy=Source | |||
| 6 | tend in a quote | gerund | vn caring-75.2-1-1 «NP V PP»: agent=Agent | ||||||
| 7 | is a in a quote | past | that | tending goats and the boys and the people | the boys conj; the people conj | tree rules | |||
| 8 | break in a quote | past | the boys | my pot and the pot | vn hurt-40.8.3-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer pot=Patient | ||||
| 9 | receive in a quote | past | Hlakanyana | the pot | from the people | vn obtain-13.5.2 «NP V NP PP.source»: agent=Agent that=Theme from people=Source | |||
| 10 | make in a quote | present | the people | pots | vn build-26.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent pot=Product | ||||
| 11 | break in a quote | past | the people | my digging stick and the digging stick | vn hurt-40.8.3-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer stick=Patient | ||||
| 12 | receive in a quote | past | Hlakanyana | the digging stick | my companion | vn obtain-13.5.2 «NP V NP PP.source»: agent=Agent that=Theme from companion=Source | |||
| 13 | eat in a quote | past | my companion | my birds | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent bird=Patient | ||||
| 14 | leave in a quote | past | Hlakanyana | with the heads | vn fulfilling-13.4.1 «NP V NP-Fulfilling PP.theme»: agent=Agent i=Recipient with head=Theme |
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.
Text: «Kaffir folk-lore» by George McCall Theal, Project Gutenberg book 71335 (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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