Kaffir folk-lore, Story of the Girl and the Mbulu., sentence 26
While engaged in this occupation she used to sing about the mbulu taking her clothes and passing itself off for a person, until the women who worked in the gardens took notice of this song of hers.
Who acts: women, mbulu · What happens: engage, use, sing, take, pass off, work · To what, where: occupation, clothes, notice, song
This is a sentence of «Kaffir folk-lore» by George McCall Theal, Story of the Girl and the Mbulu.. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (women, mbulu), 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 | While | while | SCONJ | _ | 2 engaged | mark |
| 2 | engaged | engage | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 32 took | advcl |
| 3 | in | in | ADP | _ | 5 occupation | case |
| 4 | this | this | DET | Number=Sing PronType=Dem | 5 occupation | det |
| 5 | occupation | occupation | NOUN | Number=Sing | 2 engaged | obl |
| 6 | she | she | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 7 used | nsubj |
| 7 | used | use | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 5 occupation | acl:relcl |
| 8 | to | to | PART | _ | 9 sing | mark |
| 9 | sing | sing | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 7 used | xcomp |
| 10 | about | about | ADP | _ | 12 mbulu | case |
| 11 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 12 mbulu | det |
| 12 | mbulu | mbulu | NOUN | Number=Sing | 9 sing | obl |
| 13 | taking | take | VERB | Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part | 9 sing | advcl |
| 14 | her | her | PRON | Case=Gen Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 15 clothes | nmod:poss |
| 15 | clothes | clothes | NOUN | Number=Ptan | 13 taking | obj |
| 16 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 17 passing | cc |
| 17 | passing | pass | VERB | Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part | 13 taking | conj |
| 18 | itself | itself | PRON | Case=Acc Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs Reflex=Yes | 17 passing | obj |
| 19 | off | off | ADP | _ | 17 passing | compound:prt |
| 20 | for | for | ADP | _ | 22 person | case |
| 21 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 22 person | det |
| 22 | person | person | NOUN | Number=Sing | 17 passing | obl |
| 23 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 32 took | punct |
| 24 | until | until | SCONJ | _ | 32 took | mark |
| 25 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 26 women | det |
| 26 | women | woman | NOUN | Number=Plur | 32 took | nsubj |
| 27 | who | who | PRON | PronType=Rel | 28 worked | nsubj |
| 28 | worked | work | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 26 women | acl:relcl |
| 29 | in | in | ADP | _ | 31 gardens | case |
| 30 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 31 gardens | det |
| 31 | gardens | garden | NOUN | Number=Plur | 28 worked | obl |
| 32 | took | take | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 33 | notice | notice | NOUN | Number=Sing | 32 took | obj |
| 34 | of | of | ADP | _ | 36 song | case |
| 35 | this | this | DET | Number=Sing PronType=Dem | 36 song | det |
| 36 | song | song | NOUN | Number=Sing | 33 notice | nmod |
| 37 | of | of | ADP | _ | 38 hers | case |
| 38 | hers | her | PRON | Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 36 song | nmod |
| 39 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 32 took | punct |
Pragmatics
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | engage | participle | the women not said here | in this occupation goal | vn involve-107.1 «NP V NP PP.goal»: agent=Agent in occupation=Goal | ||||
| 2 | use | past | mbulu | this occupation not said here | vn use-105.1 «NP V NP S_INF»: agent=Agent occupation=Theme clause=Eventuality | ||||
| 3 | sing speech: express | to-infinitive | mbulu not said here | about the mbulu | vn sound_emission-43.2 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme about mbulu=Location | ||||
| 4 | take | gerund | mbulu not said here | mbulu's clothes | vn bring-11.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent clothes=Theme | ||||
| 5 | pass off | gerund | mbulu not said here | occupation | for a person | vn escape-51.1-1-3 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme itself=Trajectory | |||
| 6 | work | past | the women | in the gardens | vn employment-95.3 «NP V PP.theme»: agent=Agent in garden=Theme | ||||
| 7 | take | past | the women | notice of this song of mbulu | vn bring-11.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent notice=Theme | ||||
| 8 | notice | this song of mbulu | nom notice «communication transitive»: of=patient | ||||||
| 9 | sing | mbulu | nom song «communication intransitive»: of=agent |
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.
This page in Markdown → https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg71335/16/26/