Kaffir folk-lore, The Story of Simbukumbukwana., sentence 28
She told her brother when his parents asked him who did these things to say that he did them himself, and if they should ask him to do them again to reply, “I have done it already.”
Who acts: voice, parents, boy · What happens: tell, ask, do, say, reply · To what, where: brother, boy, things, parents, bread · Speech: someone speaks here
This is a sentence of «Kaffir folk-lore» by George McCall Theal, The Story of Simbukumbukwana.. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (voice, parents, boy), 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 | She | she | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 2 told | nsubj |
| 2 | told | tell | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 3 | her | her | PRON | Case=Gen Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 4 brother | nmod:poss |
| 4 | brother | brother | NOUN | Number=Sing | 2 told | iobj |
| 5 | when | when | ADV | PronType=Int | 8 asked | advmod |
| 6 | his | his | PRON | Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 7 parents | nmod:poss |
| 7 | parents | parent | NOUN | Number=Plur | 8 asked | nsubj |
| 8 | asked | ask | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 2 told | advcl |
| 9 | him | he | PRON | Case=Acc Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 8 asked | iobj |
| 10 | who | who | PRON | PronType=Rel | 11 did | nsubj |
| 11 | did | do | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 8 asked | ccomp |
| 12 | these | this | DET | Number=Plur PronType=Dem | 13 things | det |
| 13 | things | thing | NOUN | Number=Plur | 11 did | obj |
| 14 | to | to | PART | _ | 15 say | mark |
| 15 | say | say | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 13 things | acl |
| 16 | that | that | SCONJ | _ | 18 did | mark |
| 17 | he | he | PRON | Case=Nom Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 18 did | nsubj |
| 18 | did | do | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | 15 say | ccomp |
| 19 | them | they | PRON | Case=Acc Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs | 18 did | obj |
| 20 | himself | himself | PRON | Case=Acc Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs Reflex=Yes | 18 did | nsubj |
| 21 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 26 ask | punct |
| 22 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 26 ask | cc |
| 23 | if | if | SCONJ | _ | 26 ask | mark |
| 24 | they | they | PRON | Case=Nom Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs | 26 ask | nsubj |
| 25 | should | should | AUX | VerbForm=Fin | 26 ask | aux |
| 26 | ask | ask | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 2 told | parataxis |
| 27 | him | he | PRON | Case=Acc Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 26 ask | obj |
| 28 | to | to | PART | _ | 29 do | mark |
| 29 | do | do | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 26 ask | xcomp |
| 30 | them | they | PRON | Case=Acc Number=Plur Person=3 PronType=Prs | 29 do | obj |
| 31 | again | again | ADV | _ | 29 do | advmod |
| 32 | to | to | PART | _ | 33 reply | mark |
| 33 | reply | reply | VERB | VerbForm=Inf | 29 do | advcl |
| 34 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 38 done | punct |
| 35 | “ | " | PUNCT | _ | 38 done | punct |
| 36 | I | I | PRON | Case=Nom Number=Sing Person=1 PronType=Prs | 38 done | nsubj |
| 37 | have | have | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=1 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 38 done | aux |
| 38 | done | do | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part | 26 ask | ccomp |
| 39 | it | it | PRON | Case=Acc Gender=Neut Number=Sing Person=3 PronType=Prs | 38 done | obj |
| 40 | already | already | ADV | _ | 38 done | advmod |
| 41 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 38 done | punct |
| 42 | ” | " | PUNCT | _ | 38 done | punct |
Pragmatics
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | tell speech: assert | past | voice | voice's brother | vn transfer_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent brother=Recipient | ||||
| 2 | ask speech: ask | past | boy's parents | boy | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V NP whether S»: agent=Agent he=Recipient clause=Topic | ||||
| 3 | do | past | this things | who nsubj | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent thing=Eventuality | ||||
| 4 | say speech: assert | to-infinitive | this things not said here | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic | |||||
| 5 | do | past | boy | things = thing | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent they=Eventuality | ||||
| 6 | ask speech: ask a condition, not said to happen | should | parents = parent | boy | vn urge-58.1-1-1 «NP V NP that S»: agent=Agent he=Recipient clause=Topic | ||||
| 7 | do not said to happen | to-infinitive | parents = parent not said here | parents = parent | again | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent they=Eventuality | |||
| 8 | reply speech: assert | to-infinitive | parents = parent not said here | vn respond-113 «NP V»: agent=Agent | |||||
| 9 | do in a quote | present · perfect | parents = parent | bread | vn act-114-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Eventuality |
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/pg71335/8/28/