Kaffir folk-lore, The Story of Sikulume., sentence 31
They are so sharp that although one is sure that he actually sees the grain taken into the right hand, that hand when opened will be found empty and the maize will be contained in the left, or perhaps it will be exhibited somewhere else.
Who acts: boys, one, cleverest · What happens: be, see, take, open, find, contain · To what, where: grain, right hand, hand, maize, left
This is a sentence of «Kaffir folk-lore» by George McCall Theal, The Story of Sikulume.. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (boys, one, cleverest), 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 | 4 sharp | nsubj |
| 2 | are | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 4 sharp | cop |
| 3 | so | so | ADV | _ | 4 sharp | advmod |
| 4 | sharp | sharp | ADJ | Degree=Pos | root | root |
| 5 | that | that | SCONJ | _ | 9 sure | mark |
| 6 | although | although | SCONJ | _ | 9 sure | mark |
| 7 | one | one | NUM | NumForm=Word NumType=Card | 9 sure | nsubj |
| 8 | is | be | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 9 sure | cop |
| 9 | sure | sure | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 4 sharp | advcl |
| 10 | that | that | SCONJ | _ | 13 sees | mark |
| 11 | he | he | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 13 sees | nsubj |
| 12 | actually | actually | ADV | _ | 13 sees | advmod |
| 13 | sees | see | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 9 sure | ccomp |
| 14 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 15 grain | det |
| 15 | grain | grain | NOUN | Number=Sing | 13 sees | obj |
| 16 | taken | take | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 15 grain | acl |
| 17 | into | into | ADP | _ | 20 hand | case |
| 18 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 20 hand | det |
| 19 | right | right | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 20 hand | amod |
| 20 | hand | hand | NOUN | Number=Sing | 16 taken | obl |
| 21 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 23 hand | punct |
| 22 | that | that | DET | Number=Sing PronType=Dem | 23 hand | det |
| 23 | hand | hand | NOUN | Number=Sing | 28 found | nsubj:pass |
| 24 | when | when | ADV | PronType=Int | 25 opened | advmod |
| 25 | opened | open | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 23 hand | acl |
| 26 | will | will | AUX | VerbForm=Fin | 28 found | aux |
| 27 | be | be | AUX | VerbForm=Inf | 28 found | aux:pass |
| 28 | found | find | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 4 sharp | parataxis |
| 29 | empty | empty | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 28 found | xcomp |
| 30 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 35 contained | cc |
| 31 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 32 maize | det |
| 32 | maize | maize | NOUN | Number=Sing | 35 contained | nsubj:pass |
| 33 | will | will | AUX | VerbForm=Fin | 35 contained | aux |
| 34 | be | be | AUX | VerbForm=Inf | 35 contained | aux:pass |
| 35 | contained | contain | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 28 found | conj |
| 36 | in | in | ADP | _ | 38 left | case |
| 37 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 38 left | det |
| 38 | left | left | NOUN | Number=Sing | 35 contained | obl |
| 39 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 45 exhibited | punct |
| 40 | or | or | CCONJ | _ | 45 exhibited | cc |
| 41 | perhaps | perhaps | ADV | _ | 45 exhibited | advmod |
| 42 | it | it | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 45 exhibited | nsubj:pass |
| 43 | will | will | AUX | VerbForm=Fin | 45 exhibited | aux |
| 44 | be | be | AUX | VerbForm=Inf | 45 exhibited | aux:pass |
| 45 | exhibited | exhibit | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 4 sharp | conj |
| 46 | somewhere | somewhere | ADV | PronType=Ind | 45 exhibited | advmod |
| 47 | else | else | ADV | _ | 46 somewhere | advmod |
| 48 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 4 sharp | punct |
Pragmatics
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | is | present | boys = boy | sharp property | tree rules | ||||
| 2 | is | present | one | sure property | tree rules | ||||
| 3 | see | present | cleverest = clever | the grain | actually property | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer grain=Stimulus | |||
| 4 | take | participle | the grain not said here | the right hand | vn bring-11.3 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent into hand=Destination | ||||
| 5 | open | participle | vn spatial_configuration-47.6-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | ||||||
| 6 | find | future · passive | that hand | empty property | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: subject=Topic | ||||
| 7 | contain | future · passive | the maize | the left | vn fit-54.3 «NP V NP PP.location»: subject=Value in left=Location | ||||
| 8 | exhibit | future · passive | maize | perhaps, somewhere property | vn reflexive_appearance-48.1.2 «NP V NP»: subject=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/pg71335/32/31/