Kaffir folk-lore, Introductory Chapter Regarding the Kaffirs., sentence 167
That good fortune may attend him,—that he may not be carried away by the river spirit when crossing a stream,—that he may find food prepared for him where he is to rest,—that he may be successful in the business he is engaged in,—or something of the kind that he is thinking of at the time.
Who acts: good fortune, river spirit, Kaffir · What happens: attend, not carry away, cross, find, prepare, be · To what, where: Kaffir, stream, food, business
This is a sentence of «Kaffir folk-lore» by George McCall Theal, Introductory Chapter Regarding the Kaffirs.. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (good fortune, river spirit, Kaffir), 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 | That | that | DET | Number=Sing PronType=Dem | 3 fortune | det |
| 2 | good | good | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 3 fortune | amod |
| 3 | fortune | fortune | NOUN | Number=Sing | 5 attend | nsubj |
| 4 | may | may | AUX | VerbForm=Fin | 5 attend | aux |
| 5 | attend | attend | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | root | root |
| 6 | him | he | PRON | Case=Acc Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 5 attend | obj |
| 7 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 5 attend | punct |
| 8 | — | - | PUNCT | _ | 14 carried | punct |
| 9 | that | that | SCONJ | _ | 14 carried | mark |
| 10 | he | he | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 14 carried | nsubj:pass |
| 11 | may | may | AUX | VerbForm=Fin | 14 carried | aux |
| 12 | not | not | PART | Polarity=Neg | 14 carried | advmod |
| 13 | be | be | AUX | VerbForm=Inf | 14 carried | aux:pass |
| 14 | carried | carry | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 5 attend | parataxis |
| 15 | away | away | ADV | _ | 14 carried | advmod |
| 16 | by | by | ADP | _ | 19 spirit | case |
| 17 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 19 spirit | det |
| 18 | river | river | NOUN | Number=Sing | 19 spirit | compound |
| 19 | spirit | spirit | NOUN | Number=Sing | 14 carried | obl |
| 20 | when | when | ADV | PronType=Int | 21 crossing | advmod |
| 21 | crossing | cross | VERB | Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part | 14 carried | advcl |
| 22 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 23 stream | det |
| 23 | stream | stream | NOUN | Number=Sing | 21 crossing | obj |
| 24 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 29 find | punct |
| 25 | — | - | PUNCT | _ | 29 find | punct |
| 26 | that | that | SCONJ | _ | 29 find | mark |
| 27 | he | he | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 29 find | nsubj |
| 28 | may | may | AUX | VerbForm=Fin | 29 find | aux |
| 29 | find | find | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 14 carried | advcl |
| 30 | food | food | NOUN | Number=Sing | 29 find | obj |
| 31 | prepared | prepare | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 30 food | acl |
| 32 | for | for | ADP | _ | 33 him | case |
| 33 | him | he | PRON | Case=Acc Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 31 prepared | obl |
| 34 | where | where | ADV | PronType=Rel | 38 rest | advmod |
| 35 | he | he | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 38 rest | nsubj |
| 36 | is | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 38 rest | cop |
| 37 | to | to | PART | _ | 38 rest | mark |
| 38 | rest | rest | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 31 prepared | advcl |
| 39 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 45 successful | punct |
| 40 | — | - | PUNCT | _ | 45 successful | punct |
| 41 | that | that | SCONJ | _ | 45 successful | mark |
| 42 | he | he | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 45 successful | nsubj |
| 43 | may | may | AUX | VerbForm=Fin | 45 successful | aux |
| 44 | be | be | AUX | VerbForm=Inf | 45 successful | cop |
| 45 | successful | successful | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 30 food | conj |
| 46 | in | in | ADP | _ | 48 business | case |
| 47 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 48 business | det |
| 48 | business | business | NOUN | Number=Sing | 45 successful | obl |
| 49 | he | he | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 51 engaged | nsubj |
| 50 | is | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 51 engaged | aux:pass |
| 51 | engaged | engage | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 48 business | acl:relcl |
| 52 | in | in | ADP | _ | 51 engaged | compound:prt |
| 53 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 56 something | punct |
| 54 | — | - | PUNCT | _ | 56 something | punct |
| 55 | or | or | CCONJ | _ | 56 something | cc |
| 56 | something | something | PRON | Number=Sing PronType=Ind | 48 business | conj |
| 57 | of | of | ADP | _ | 59 kind | case |
| 58 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 59 kind | det |
| 59 | kind | kind | NOUN | Number=Sing | 56 something | nmod |
| 60 | that | that | SCONJ | _ | 63 thinking | mark |
| 61 | he | he | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 63 thinking | nsubj |
| 62 | is | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 63 thinking | aux |
| 63 | thinking | think | VERB | Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part | 56 something | acl |
| 64 | of | of | ADP | _ | 67 time | case |
| 65 | at | at | ADP | _ | 67 time | case |
| 66 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 67 time | det |
| 67 | time | time | NOUN | Number=Sing | 63 thinking | obl |
| 68 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 5 attend | punct |
Pragmatics
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | attend | may | that good fortune | Kaffir | vn attend-107.4-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme he=Goal | ||||
| 2 | not carry away | may · passive | the river spirit | Kaffir | away property | vn carry-11.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=Theme | |||
| 3 | cross | gerund | the river spirit not said here | a stream | vn crane-40.3.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent stream=Patient | ||||
| 4 | find | may | Kaffir | food | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent food=Topic | ||||
| 5 | prepare | participle | food not said here | for Kaffir | vn preparing-26.3-1 «NP V NP PP.beneficiary»: agent=Agent for he=Beneficiary | ||||
| 6 | is | present | Kaffir | rest property | tree rules | ||||
| 7 | is | may | Kaffir | the business something of the kind | successful property | tree rules | |||
| 8 | engage in | present · passive | Kaffir | vn act-114 «NP V NP»: subject=Eventuality | |||||
| 9 | think speech: other | present · progressive | Kaffir | time | vn focus-87.1-1 «NP V»: agent=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/pg71335/2/167/