Kaffir folk-lore, Proverbs and Figurative Expressions., sentence 25
According to tradition, there was once a very rich chief who lived at Kukwane (near King William’s Town), and who was in the habit of entertaining strangers in a more liberal manner than any who went before or who came after him.
Who acts: rich chief · What happens: accord, be, live, go, come · To what, where: rich chief, Kukwane, habit
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 (rich chief), 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 | According | accord | VERB | ExtPos=ADP Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part | 3 tradition | case |
| 2 | to | to | ADP | _ | 1 According | fixed |
| 3 | tradition | tradition | NOUN | Number=Sing | 11 chief | obl |
| 4 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 3 tradition | punct |
| 5 | there | there | PRON | PronType=Dem | 6 was | expl |
| 6 | was | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 11 chief | cop |
| 7 | once | once | ADV | NumForm=Word NumType=Mult | 11 chief | advmod |
| 8 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 11 chief | det |
| 9 | very | very | ADV | _ | 10 rich | advmod |
| 10 | rich | rich | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 11 chief | amod |
| 11 | chief | chief | NOUN | Number=Sing | root | root |
| 12 | who | who | PRON | PronType=Rel | 13 lived | nsubj |
| 13 | lived | live | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 11 chief | acl:relcl |
| 14 | at | at | ADP | _ | 15 Kukwane | case |
| 15 | Kukwane | Kukwane | PROPN | Number=Sing | 13 lived | obl |
| 16 | ( | ( | PUNCT | _ | 21 Town | punct |
| 17 | near | near | ADP | _ | 21 Town | case |
| 18 | King | King | PROPN | Number=Sing | 19 William | nmod:desc |
| 19 | William | William | PROPN | Number=Sing | 21 Town | nmod:poss |
| 20 | ’s | 's | PART | _ | 19 William | case |
| 21 | Town | Town | PROPN | Number=Sing | 15 Kukwane | appos |
| 22 | ) | ) | PUNCT | _ | 21 Town | punct |
| 23 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 29 habit | punct |
| 24 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 29 habit | cc |
| 25 | who | who | PRON | PronType=Rel | 29 habit | nsubj |
| 26 | was | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 29 habit | cop |
| 27 | in | in | ADP | _ | 29 habit | case |
| 28 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 29 habit | det |
| 29 | habit | habit | NOUN | Number=Sing | 13 lived | obl |
| 30 | of | of | ADP | _ | 32 strangers | case |
| 31 | entertaining | entertaining | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 32 strangers | amod |
| 32 | strangers | stranger | NOUN | Number=Plur | 29 habit | nmod |
| 33 | in | in | ADP | _ | 37 manner | case |
| 34 | a | a | DET | Definite=Ind PronType=Art | 37 manner | det |
| 35 | more | more | ADV | Degree=Cmp | 36 liberal | advmod |
| 36 | liberal | liberal | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 37 manner | amod |
| 37 | manner | manner | NOUN | Number=Sing | 13 lived | obl |
| 38 | than | than | SCONJ | _ | 41 went | mark |
| 39 | any | any | DET | PronType=Ind | 41 went | det |
| 40 | who | who | PRON | PronType=Rel | 41 went | nsubj |
| 41 | went | go | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 13 lived | advcl |
| 42 | before | before | ADV | _ | 41 went | advmod |
| 43 | or | or | CCONJ | _ | 45 came | cc |
| 44 | who | who | PRON | PronType=Rel | 45 came | nsubj |
| 45 | came | come | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 41 went | conj |
| 46 | after | after | ADP | _ | 47 him | case |
| 47 | him | he | PRON | Case=Acc Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 45 came | obl |
| 48 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 11 chief | punct |
Pragmatics
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | accord | gerund | vn future_having-13.3 «NP V NP.theme (PP)»: agent=Agent | ||||||
| 2 | is a | past | a rich chief | accord tradition; once property | tree rules | ||||
| 3 | live | past | a rich chief | Kukwane | in a liberal manner | vn lodge-46 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme at kukwane=Location | |||
| 4 | is | past | the habit | of entertaining strangers; who nsubj | tree rules | ||||
| 5 | go | past | who nsubj; before property | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | |||||
| 6 | come | past | after Kukwane | who nsubj | vn escape-51.1-1 «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.
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