---
title: This is perhaps not so much on account of the evening being the most… — Kaffir folk-lore · tree and pragmatics
description: This is perhaps not so much on account of the evening being the most convenient time, as because such tales as these have most effect when told to an assemblage gathered round a fire circle, when night has spread her mantle over the earth, and when the belief in the supernatural is stronger than it 
---

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# Kaffir folk-lore, Opening, sentence 22

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This is perhaps not so much on account of the evening being the most convenient time, as because such tales as these have most effect when told to an assemblage gathered round a fire circle, when night has spread her mantle over the earth, and when the belief in the supernatural is stronger than it is by day.

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**Who acts:** This, such tales, belief · **What happens:** not be, be, have, tell, gather, spread · **To what, where:** account, convenient time, most effect, assemblage, night, earth · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is a sentence of «Kaffir folk-lore» by George McCall Theal, Opening. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (This, such tales, belief), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree.

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**Mova's own parse.** This tree may be wrong.

## The tree {#tree}

```conllu
# sent_id = book:pg71335:1:22
# text = This is perhaps not so much on account of the evening being the most convenient time, as because such tales as these have most effect when told to an assemblage gathered round a fire circle, when night has spread her mantle over the earth, and when the belief in the supernatural is stronger than it is by day.
1	This	this	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	8	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	cop	_	_
3	perhaps	perhaps	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
4	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	8	advmod	_	_
5	so	so	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
6	much	much	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
7	on	on	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	account	account	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
9	of	of	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	evening	evening	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	obl	_	_
12	being	be	AUX	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	16	cop	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
14	most	most	ADV	RBS	Degree=Sup	15	advmod	_	_
15	convenient	convenient	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	16	amod	_	_
16	time	time	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl:unmarked	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	24	punct	_	_
18	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	24	mark	_	_
19	because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	24	mark	_	_
20	such	such	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	21	amod	_	_
21	tales	tale	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	24	nsubj	_	_
22	as	as	ADP	IN	_	23	case	_	_
23	these	this	PRON	DT	Number=Plur|PronType=Dem	21	nmod	_	_
24	have	have	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	16	parataxis	_	_
25	most	most	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	26	amod	_	_
26	effect	effect	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	24	obj	_	_
27	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	28	advmod	_	_
28	told	tell	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	24	advcl	_	_
29	to	to	ADP	IN	_	31	case	_	_
30	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	31	det	_	_
31	assemblage	assemblage	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	28	obl	_	_
32	gathered	gather	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	31	acl	_	_
33	round	round	ADP	IN	_	36	case	_	_
34	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	36	det	_	_
35	fire	fire	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	36	compound	_	_
36	circle	circle	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	32	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
37	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	41	punct	_	_
38	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	41	advmod	_	_
39	night	night	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	41	nsubj:pass	_	_
40	has	have	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	41	aux	_	_
41	spread	spread	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	31	acl	_	_
42	her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	43	nmod:poss	_	_
43	mantle	mantle	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	41	obj	_	_
44	over	over	ADP	IN	_	46	case	_	_
45	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	46	det	_	_
46	earth	earth	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	41	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
47	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	56	punct	_	_
48	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	56	cc	_	_
49	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	56	advmod	_	_
50	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	51	det	_	_
51	belief	belief	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	56	nsubj	_	_
52	in	in	ADP	IN	_	54	case	_	_
53	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	54	det	_	_
54	supernatural	supernatural	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	51	nmod	_	_
55	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	56	cop	_	_
56	stronger	strong	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	24	parataxis	_	_
57	than	than	ADP	IN	_	61	case	_	_
58	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	61	nsubj	_	_
59	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	61	cop	_	_
60	by	by	ADP	IN	_	61	case	_	_
61	day	day	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	56	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
62	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	8	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **is** | present | This |  |  | account |  | perhaps *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **is a** | gerund |  | the convenient time |  |  | evening |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **have** | present | such tales as these | most effect |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent effect=Patient |
| 4 | **tell** *speech: assert* | participle | such tales as these *not said here* |  | a assemblage |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V PP.recipient how S»: agent=Agent to assemblage=Recipient |
| 5 | **gather** | participle |  | a assemblage *not said here* |  |  |  | round a fire circle | vn herd-47.5.2 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 6 | **spread** | present · perfect · passive |  | night |  | the earth |  | LOWREY's mantle *obj* | tree rules |
| 7 | **is** | present | the belief in the supernatural |  |  |  |  | strong *property* | tree rules |
| 8 | **is** | present | belief |  |  |  | than day |  | tree rules |

<!-- .note -->
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.

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**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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