---
title: The hyena tried to frighten him by saying there were many hyenas com… — Kaffir folk-lore · tree and pragmatics
description: The hyena tried to frighten him by saying there were many hyenas coming quickly to devour him. Who acts: hyena, many hyenas. A sentence of «Kaffir folk-lore» by George McCall Theal, The Story of Hlakanyana., with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of every clause.
---

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# Kaffir folk-lore, The Story of Hlakanyana., sentence 326

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The hyena tried to frighten him by saying there were many hyenas coming quickly to devour him.

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**Who acts:** hyena, many hyenas · **What happens:** try, frighten, say, be, come, devour · **To what, where:** Hlakanyana · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is a sentence of «Kaffir folk-lore» by George McCall Theal, The Story of Hlakanyana.. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (hyena, many hyenas), 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:pg71335:10:326
# text = The hyena tried to frighten him by saying there were many hyenas coming quickly to devour him.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	hyena	hyena	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	tried	try	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	to	to	PART	TO	_	5	mark	_	_
5	frighten	frighten	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	xcomp	_	_
6	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	obj	_	_
7	by	by	SCONJ	IN	_	8	mark	_	_
8	saying	say	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	5	advcl	_	_
9	there	there	PRON	EX	PronType=Dem	10	expl	_	_
10	were	be	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	8	ccomp	_	_
11	many	many	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	amod	_	_
12	hyenas	hyena	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	nsubj	_	_
13	coming	come	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	12	acl	_	_
14	quickly	quickly	ADV	RB	_	13	advmod	_	_
15	to	to	PART	TO	_	16	mark	_	_
16	devour	devour	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	13	advcl	_	_
17	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	16	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **try** | past | the hyena |  |  |  |  |  | vn try-61.1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality |
| 2 | **frighten** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | the hyena *not said here* | Hlakanyana |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus he=Experiencer |
| 3 | **say** *speech: assert* | gerund | the hyena *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 4 | **be** | past | many hyenas |  |  | there |  |  | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 5 | **come** | gerund | many hyenas *not said here* |  |  |  |  | quickly *property* | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 6 | **devour** | to-infinitive | many hyenas *not said here* | Hlakanyana |  |  |  |  | vn devour-39.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent he=Patient |

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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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