--- title: While engaged in this occupation she used to sing about the mbulu ta… — Kaffir folk-lore · tree and pragmatics description: While engaged in this occupation she used to sing about the mbulu taking her clothes and passing itself off for a person, until the women who worked in the gardens took notice of this song of hers. Who acts: women, mbulu. A sentence of «Kaffir folk-lore» by George McCall Theal, Story of the Girl and --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg71335/16/26/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [tales](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/) / [Kaffir folk-lore](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg71335/) / [Story of the Girl and the Mbulu.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg71335/16/) / 26 # Kaffir folk-lore, Story of the Girl and the Mbulu., sentence 26 While engaged in this occupation she used to sing about the mbulu taking her clothes and passing itself off for a person, until the women who worked in the gardens took notice of this song of hers. **Who acts:** women, mbulu · **What happens:** engage, use, sing, take, pass off, work · **To what, where:** occupation, clothes, notice, song This is a sentence of «Kaffir folk-lore» by George McCall Theal, Story of the Girl and the Mbulu.. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (women, mbulu), 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 {#tree} ```conllu # sent_id = book:pg71335:16:26 # text = While engaged in this occupation she used to sing about the mbulu taking her clothes and passing itself off for a person, until the women who worked in the gardens took notice of this song of hers. 1 While while SCONJ IN _ 2 mark _ _ 2 engaged engage VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 32 advcl _ _ 3 in in ADP IN _ 5 case _ _ 4 this this DET DT Number=Sing|PronType=Dem 5 det _ _ 5 occupation occupation NOUN NN Number=Sing 2 obl _ _ 6 she she PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 7 nsubj _ _ 7 used use VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 5 acl:relcl _ _ 8 to to PART TO _ 9 mark _ _ 9 sing sing VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 7 xcomp _ _ 10 about about ADP IN _ 12 case _ _ 11 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 12 det _ _ 12 mbulu mbulu NOUN NN Number=Sing 9 obl _ _ 13 taking take VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 9 advcl _ _ 14 her her PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 15 nmod:poss _ _ 15 clothes clothes NOUN NNS Number=Ptan 13 obj _ _ 16 and and CCONJ CC _ 17 cc _ _ 17 passing pass VERB VBG Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part 13 conj _ _ 18 itself itself PRON PRP Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes 17 obj _ _ 19 off off ADP RP _ 17 compound:prt _ _ 20 for for ADP IN _ 22 case _ _ 21 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 22 det _ _ 22 person person NOUN NN Number=Sing 17 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 23 , , PUNCT , _ 32 punct _ _ 24 until until SCONJ IN _ 32 mark _ _ 25 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 26 det _ _ 26 women woman NOUN NNS Number=Plur 32 nsubj _ _ 27 who who PRON WP PronType=Rel 28 nsubj _ _ 28 worked work VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 26 acl:relcl _ _ 29 in in ADP IN _ 31 case _ _ 30 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 31 det _ _ 31 gardens garden NOUN NNS Number=Plur 28 obl _ _ 32 took take VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ _ 33 notice notice NOUN NN Number=Sing 32 obj _ _ 34 of of ADP IN _ 36 case _ _ 35 this this DET DT Number=Sing|PronType=Dem 36 det _ _ 36 song song NOUN NN Number=Sing 33 nmod _ _ 37 of of ADP IN _ 38 case _ _ 38 hers her PRON PRP Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 36 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 39 . . PUNCT . _ 32 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **engage** | participle | the women *not said here* | | | | | in this occupation *goal* | vn involve-107.1 «NP V NP PP.goal»: agent=Agent in occupation=Goal | | 2 | **use** | past | mbulu | this occupation *not said here* | | | | | vn use-105.1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Agent occupation=Theme clause=Eventuality | | 3 | **sing** *speech: express* | to-infinitive | mbulu *not said here* | | | | | about the mbulu | vn sound\_emission-43.2 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme about mbulu=Location | | 4 | **take** | gerund | mbulu *not said here* | mbulu's clothes | | | | | vn bring-11.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent clothes=Theme | | 5 | **pass off** | gerund | mbulu *not said here* | occupation | | | | for a person | vn escape-51.1-1-3 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme itself=Trajectory | | 6 | **work** | past | the women | | | | | in the gardens | vn employment-95.3 «NP V PP.theme»: agent=Agent in garden=Theme | | 7 | **take** | past | the women | notice of this song of mbulu | | | | | vn bring-11.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent notice=Theme | | 8 | **notice** | | | this song of mbulu | | | | | nom notice «communication transitive»: of=patient | | 9 | **sing** | | mbulu | | | | | | nom song «communication intransitive»: of=agent | 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. - ← previous: [sentence 25](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg71335/16/25/) - next →: [sentence 27](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg71335/16/27/) - ↑ back to [Story of the Girl and the Mbulu.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg71335/16/)