Kaffir folk-lore, Introductory Chapter Regarding the Kaffirs., sentence 80
There are numerous old men in every clan who profess to be acquainted with the deeds of the past, but their accounts of these seldom correspond in details beyond a period of about a century and a half.
Who acts: numerous old men, clan, accounts, deeds · What happens: be, profess, acquaint, correspond, account · To what, where: details, seldom
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 (numerous old men, clan, accounts, deeds), 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 | There | there | PRON | PronType=Dem | 2 are | expl |
| 2 | are | be | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 3 | numerous | numerous | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 5 men | amod |
| 4 | old | old | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 5 men | amod |
| 5 | men | man | NOUN | Number=Plur | 2 are | nsubj |
| 6 | in | in | ADP | _ | 8 clan | case |
| 7 | every | every | DET | PronType=Tot | 8 clan | det |
| 8 | clan | clan | NOUN | Number=Sing | 5 men | nmod |
| 9 | who | who | PRON | PronType=Rel | 10 profess | nsubj |
| 10 | profess | profess | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 8 clan | acl:relcl |
| 11 | to | to | PART | _ | 13 acquainted | mark |
| 12 | be | be | AUX | VerbForm=Inf | 13 acquainted | aux:pass |
| 13 | acquainted | acquaint | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 10 profess | ccomp |
| 14 | with | with | ADP | _ | 16 deeds | case |
| 15 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 16 deeds | det |
| 16 | deeds | deed | NOUN | Number=Plur | 13 acquainted | obl |
| 17 | of | of | ADP | _ | 19 past | case |
| 18 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 19 past | det |
| 19 | past | past | NOUN | Number=Sing | 16 deeds | nmod |
| 20 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 27 correspond | punct |
| 21 | but | but | CCONJ | _ | 27 correspond | cc |
| 22 | their | their | PRON | Case=Gen Number=Plur Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 23 accounts | nmod:poss |
| 23 | accounts | account | NOUN | Number=Plur | 27 correspond | nsubj |
| 24 | of | of | ADP | _ | 26 seldom | case |
| 25 | these | this | DET | Number=Plur PronType=Dem | 26 seldom | det |
| 26 | seldom | seldom | NOUN | Number=Plur | 23 accounts | nmod |
| 27 | correspond | correspond | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 2 are | parataxis |
| 28 | in | in | ADP | _ | 29 details | case |
| 29 | details | detail | NOUN | Number=Plur | 27 correspond | obl |
| 30 | beyond | beyond | ADP | _ | 32 period | case |
| 31 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 32 period | det |
| 32 | period | period | NOUN | Number=Sing | 29 details | nmod |
| 33 | of | of | ADP | _ | 36 century | case |
| 34 | about | about | ADV | _ | 36 century | advmod |
| 35 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 36 century | det |
| 36 | century | century | NOUN | Number=Sing | 32 period | nmod |
| 37 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 39 half | cc |
| 38 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 39 half | det |
| 39 | half | half | NOUN | Number=Sing NumForm=Word NumType=Frac | 36 century | conj |
| 40 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 2 are | punct |
Pragmatics
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | does | present | numerous old men in every clan | there | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | ||||
| 2 | profess | present | every clan | vn declare-29.4-1-1-2 «NP V what S_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Theme | |||||
| 3 | acquaint speech: other | to-infinitive · passive | every clan not said here | with the deeds of the past | vn tell-37.2 «NP V NP.recipient» | ||||
| 4 | correspond | present | deeds's accounts of this seldom | details beyond a period of a century and a half | vn correspond-36.1 «NP V»: agent=Agent | ||||
| 5 | account | deeds = deed | this seldom | nom account «communication transitive»: poss=agent of=patient |
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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