---
title: This happened three times; but Nomagoda, who was very angry, caught… — Kaffir folk-lore · tree and pragmatics
description: This happened three times; but Nomagoda, who was very angry, caught the bird and swallowed it. Who acts: This, Nomagoda. A sentence of «Kaffir folk-lore» by George McCall Theal, The Runaway Children; Or, the Wonderful Feather., with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of every clause.
---

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# Kaffir folk-lore, The Runaway Children; Or, the Wonderful Feather., sentence 43

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This happened three times; but Nomagoda, who was very angry, caught the bird and swallowed it.

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**Who acts:** This, Nomagoda · **What happens:** happen, be, catch, swallow · **To what, where:** bird, chip

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This is a sentence of «Kaffir folk-lore» by George McCall Theal, The Runaway Children; Or, the Wonderful Feather.. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (This, Nomagoda), 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:pg71335:12:43
# text = This happened three times; but Nomagoda, who was very angry, caught the bird and swallowed it.
1	This	this	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	2	nsubj	_	_
2	happened	happen	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	three	three	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	4	nummod	_	_
4	times	time	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obl:unmarked	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	14	punct	_	_
6	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	14	cc	_	_
7	Nomagoda	Nomagoda	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	14	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
9	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	12	nsubj	_	_
10	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	12	cop	_	_
11	very	very	ADV	RB	_	12	advmod	_	_
12	angry	angry	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	parataxis	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
14	caught	catch	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	parataxis	_	_
15	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
16	bird	bird	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	obj	_	_
17	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	18	cc	_	_
18	swallowed	swallow	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	14	conj	_	_
19	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	18	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **happen** | past | This |  |  |  | time |  | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **is** | past | Nomagoda |  |  |  |  | angry *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **catch** | past | Nomagoda | the bird |  |  |  |  | vn get-13.5.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent bird=Theme |
| 4 | **swallow** | past | Nomagoda *not said here* | chip |  |  |  |  | vn gobble-39.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=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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