Kaffir folk-lore, Proverbs and Figurative Expressions., sentence 1
The language of a Kaffir is adorned with figurative expressions, some of which are readily understood by an Englishman, but others, when literally interpreted, are to us meaningless.
Who acts: Englishman, others · What happens: adorn, understand, interpret, be · To what, where: language, some, us
This is a sentence of «Kaffir folk-lore» by George McCall Theal, Proverbs and Figurative Expressions.. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (Englishman, others), 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 | The | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 2 language | det |
| 2 | language | language | NOUN | Number=Sing | 7 adorned | nsubj:pass |
| 3 | of | of | ADP | _ | 5 Kaffir | case |
| 4 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 5 Kaffir | det |
| 5 | Kaffir | Kaffir | PROPN | Number=Sing | 2 language | nmod |
| 6 | is | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 7 adorned | aux:pass |
| 7 | adorned | adorn | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | root | root |
| 8 | with | with | ADP | _ | 10 expressions | case |
| 9 | figurative | figurative | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 10 expressions | amod |
| 10 | expressions | expression | NOUN | Number=Plur | 7 adorned | obl |
| 11 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 17 understood | punct |
| 12 | some | some | DET | PronType=Ind | 17 understood | nsubj:pass |
| 13 | of | of | ADP | _ | 14 which | case |
| 14 | which | which | PRON | PronType=Rel | 12 some | nmod |
| 15 | are | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 17 understood | aux:pass |
| 16 | readily | readily | ADV | _ | 17 understood | advmod |
| 17 | understood | understand | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 7 adorned | advcl |
| 18 | by | by | ADP | _ | 20 Englishman | case |
| 19 | an | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 20 Englishman | det |
| 20 | Englishman | Englishman | PROPN | Number=Sing | 17 understood | obl |
| 21 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 29 are | punct |
| 22 | but | but | CCONJ | _ | 29 are | cc |
| 23 | others | other | NOUN | Number=Plur | 29 are | nsubj |
| 24 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 27 interpreted | punct |
| 25 | when | when | ADV | PronType=Int | 27 interpreted | advmod |
| 26 | literally | literally | ADV | _ | 27 interpreted | advmod |
| 27 | interpreted | interpret | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 23 others | acl:relcl |
| 28 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 23 others | punct |
| 29 | are | be | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 7 adorned | conj |
| 30 | to | to | ADP | _ | 31 us | case |
| 31 | us | we | PRON | Case=Acc Number=Plur Person=1 PronType=Prs | 29 are | obl |
| 32 | meaningless | meaningless | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 29 are | xcomp |
| 33 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 7 adorned | punct |
Pragmatics
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | adorn | present · passive | the language of a Kaffir | with figurative expressions | vn fill-9.8-1 «NP V NP PP.theme»: subject=Destination with expression=Theme | ||||
| 2 | understand | present · passive | a Englishman | some | readily property | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Experiencer subject=Stimulus | |||
| 3 | interpret | participle | literally property | vn characterize-29.2 «NP V NP S_ING»: agent=Agent | |||||
| 4 | does | present | others | us | meaningless property | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=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.
This page in Markdown → https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg71335/26/1/