Kaffir folk-lore, Introductory Chapter Regarding the Kaffirs., sentence 88
They are fond of decorating their persons with ornaments, such as shells, teeth of animals, and beads, used as necklaces, copper and ivory rings on their arms, etc. They protect their bodies from the effects of the sun by rubbing themselves all over with fat and red clay, which makes them look like polished bronze.
Who acts: women, etc., fat clay · What happens: be, decorate, use, protect, rub, make · To what, where: persons, bodies, women, sun
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 (women, etc., fat clay), 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 | They | they | PRON | Case=Nom Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs | 3 fond | nsubj |
| 2 | are | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 3 fond | cop |
| 3 | fond | fond | ADJ | Degree=Pos | root | root |
| 4 | of | of | SCONJ | _ | 5 decorating | mark |
| 5 | decorating | decorate | VERB | Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part | 3 fond | advcl |
| 6 | their | their | PRON | Case=Gen Number=Plur Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 7 persons | nmod:poss |
| 7 | persons | person | NOUN | Number=Plur | 5 decorating | obj |
| 8 | with | with | ADP | _ | 9 ornaments | case |
| 9 | ornaments | ornament | NOUN | Number=Plur | 5 decorating | obl |
| 10 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 13 shells | punct |
| 11 | such | such | ADJ | Degree=Pos ExtPos=ADP | 13 shells | case |
| 12 | as | as | ADP | _ | 11 such | fixed |
| 13 | shells | shell | NOUN | Number=Plur | 9 ornaments | conj |
| 14 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 15 teeth | punct |
| 15 | teeth | tooth | NOUN | Number=Plur | 9 ornaments | conj |
| 16 | of | of | ADP | _ | 17 animals | case |
| 17 | animals | animal | NOUN | Number=Plur | 15 teeth | nmod |
| 18 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 20 beads | punct |
| 19 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 20 beads | cc |
| 20 | beads | bead | NOUN | Number=Plur | 9 ornaments | conj |
| 21 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 22 used | punct |
| 22 | used | use | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 3 fond | conj |
| 23 | as | as | ADP | _ | 24 necklaces | case |
| 24 | necklaces | necklace | NOUN | Number=Plur | 22 used | obl |
| 25 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 26 copper | punct |
| 26 | copper | copper | NOUN | Number=Sing | 24 necklaces | conj |
| 27 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 29 rings | cc |
| 28 | ivory | ivory | NOUN | Number=Sing | 29 rings | compound |
| 29 | rings | ring | NOUN | Number=Plur | 24 necklaces | conj |
| 30 | on | on | ADP | _ | 32 arms | case |
| 31 | their | their | PRON | Case=Gen Number=Plur Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 32 arms | nmod:poss |
| 32 | arms | arm | NOUN | Number=Plur | 29 rings | nmod |
| 33 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 36 protect | punct |
| 34 | etc. | etc. | NOUN | Abbr=Yes Number=Plur | 36 protect | nsubj |
| 35 | They | they | PRON | Case=Nom Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs | 36 protect | nsubj |
| 36 | protect | protect | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 3 fond | conj |
| 37 | their | their | PRON | Case=Gen Number=Plur Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 38 bodies | nmod:poss |
| 38 | bodies | body | NOUN | Number=Plur | 36 protect | obj |
| 39 | from | from | ADP | _ | 41 effects | case |
| 40 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 41 effects | det |
| 41 | effects | effect | NOUN | Number=Plur | 36 protect | obl |
| 42 | of | of | ADP | _ | 44 sun | case |
| 43 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 44 sun | det |
| 44 | sun | sun | NOUN | Number=Sing | 41 effects | nmod |
| 45 | by | by | SCONJ | _ | 46 rubbing | mark |
| 46 | rubbing | rub | VERB | Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part | 36 protect | advcl |
| 47 | themselves | themselves | PRON | Case=Acc Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs Reflex=Yes | 46 rubbing | obj |
| 48 | all | all | ADV | _ | 49 over | advmod |
| 49 | over | over | ADV | _ | 46 rubbing | advmod |
| 50 | with | with | ADP | _ | 54 clay | case |
| 51 | fat | fat | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 54 clay | amod |
| 52 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 53 red | cc |
| 53 | red | red | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 51 fat | conj |
| 54 | clay | clay | NOUN | Number=Sing | 46 rubbing | obl |
| 55 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 57 makes | punct |
| 56 | which | which | PRON | PronType=Rel | 57 makes | nsubj |
| 57 | makes | make | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 54 clay | acl:relcl |
| 58 | them | they | PRON | Case=Acc Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs | 57 makes | obj |
| 59 | look | look | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 57 makes | xcomp |
| 60 | like | like | ADP | _ | 62 bronze | case |
| 61 | polished | polish | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 62 bronze | amod |
| 62 | bronze | bronze | NOUN | Number=Sing | 59 look | obl |
| 63 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 3 fond | punct |
Pragmatics
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | is | present | women = woman | fond property | tree rules | ||||
| 2 | decorate | gerund | women = woman not said here | women's persons | with ornaments and shells and teeth of animals and beads | vn illustrate-25.3 «NP V NP PP.theme»: agent=Agent person=Destination with ornament=Theme | |||
| 3 | use | participle | women = woman not said here | as necklaces and copper and ivory rings on women's arms | vn eat-39.1 «NP V»: agent=Agent | ||||
| 4 | protect | present | etc. | women's bodies | from the effects of the sun; women = woman nsubj | vn defend-72.3 «NP V NP PP.theme»: agent=Agent body=Beneficiary from effect=Theme | |||
| 5 | rub | gerund | etc. not said here | women = woman | with fat clay; over property | vn spray-9.7-1 «NP V NP.destination PP.theme»: agent=Agent themselves=Destination with clay=Theme | |||
| 6 | make | present | fat clay | women = woman | tree rules | ||||
| 7 | look | infinitive | women = woman not said here | like polished bronze | vn stimulus_subject-30.4 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Stimulus | ||||
| 8 | polish | participle | vn butter-9.9 «NP V NP.destination»: agent=Agent | ||||||
| 9 | effect | the sun | nom effect «phenomenon transitive»: 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.
This page in Markdown → https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg71335/2/88/