---
title: The young chief was called Broad Breast, because his chest was very… — Kaffir folk-lore · tree and pragmatics
description: The young chief was called Broad Breast, because his chest was very wide, and it was also made of a glittering metal that shone in the sun. These men asked for water to drink. Who acts: chest, glittering metal, men. A sentence of «Kaffir folk-lore» by George McCall Theal, The Story of Mbulukazi., wi
---

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# Kaffir folk-lore, The Story of Mbulukazi., sentence 21

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The young chief was called Broad Breast, because his chest was very wide, and it was also made of a glittering metal that shone in the sun. These men asked for water to drink.

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**Who acts:** chest, glittering metal, men · **What happens:** call, be, make, glitter, shine, ask · **To what, where:** young chief, chief, sun. · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is a sentence of «Kaffir folk-lore» by George McCall Theal, The Story of Mbulukazi.. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (chest, glittering metal, men), 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:pg71335:17:21
# text = The young chief was called Broad Breast, because his chest was very wide, and it was also made of a glittering metal that shone in the sun. These men asked for water to drink.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	young	young	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	chief	chief	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj:pass	_	_
4	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux:pass	_	_
5	called	call	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
6	Broad	Broad	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	5	xcomp	_	_
7	Breast	Breast	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	6	flat	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
9	because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	14	mark	_	_
10	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	11	nmod:poss	_	_
11	chest	chest	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	nsubj	_	_
12	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	14	cop	_	_
13	very	very	ADV	RB	_	14	advmod	_	_
14	wide	wide	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	parataxis	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	20	punct	_	_
16	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	20	cc	_	_
17	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	20	nsubj:pass	_	_
18	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	20	aux:pass	_	_
19	also	also	ADV	RB	_	20	advmod	_	_
20	made	make	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	5	advcl	_	_
21	of	of	ADP	IN	_	24	case	_	_
22	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	24	det	_	_
23	glittering	glitter	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	24	amod	_	_
24	metal	metal	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	20	obl	_	_
25	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	26	nsubj	_	_
26	shone	shine	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	24	acl:relcl	_	_
27	in	in	ADP	IN	_	29	case	_	_
28	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	29	det	_	_
29	sun.	sun.	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	26	obl	_	_
30	These	this	DET	DT	Number=Plur|PronType=Dem	31	det	_	_
31	men	man	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	32	nsubj	_	_
32	asked	ask	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	26	parataxis	_	_
33	for	for	ADP	IN	_	34	case	_	_
34	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	32	obl	_	_
35	to	to	PART	TO	_	36	mark	_	_
36	drink	drink	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	32	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
37	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **call** *speech: assert* | past · passive |  | the young chief |  |  |  | Broad *xcomp* | vn initiate\_communication-37.4.2-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: subject=Recipient |
| 2 | **is** | past | Broad's chest |  |  |  |  | wide *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **make** | past · passive |  | chief |  |  |  | of a glittering metal | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: subject=Product |
| 4 | **glitter** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn light\_emission-43.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 5 | **shine** | past | a glittering metal |  |  | the sun. |  |  | vn light\_emission-43.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme in sun.=Location |
| 6 | **ask** *speech: ask* | past | this men |  |  |  |  | for water | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V how S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 7 | **drink** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | this men *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

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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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