---
title: The two children and the servant girl who told their father about th… — Kaffir folk-lore · tree and pragmatics
description: The two children and the servant girl who told their father about them were also called, and they all sat down on the mat. Who acts: two children, children. A sentence of «Kaffir folk-lore» by George McCall Theal, The Story of Mbulukazi., with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of every clause.
---

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# Kaffir folk-lore, The Story of Mbulukazi., sentence 33

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The two children and the servant girl who told their father about them were also called, and they all sat down on the mat.

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**Who acts:** two children, children · **What happens:** tell, call, sit down · **To what, where:** father, two children, mat · **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 (two children, children), 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:pg71335:17:33
# text = The two children and the servant girl who told their father about them were also called, and they all sat down on the mat.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	two	two	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	3	nummod	_	_
3	children	child	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	16	nsubj:pass	_	_
4	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
6	servant	servant	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	compound	_	_
7	girl	girl	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	conj	_	_
8	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	9	nsubj	_	_
9	told	tell	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	acl:relcl	_	_
10	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	11	nmod:poss	_	_
11	father	father	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	iobj	_	_
12	about	about	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
13	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	obl	_	_
14	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	16	aux:pass	_	_
15	also	also	ADV	RB	_	16	advmod	_	_
16	called	call	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	21	punct	_	_
18	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	21	cc	_	_
19	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	21	nsubj	_	_
20	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	21	advmod	_	_
21	sat	sit	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	16	conj	_	_
22	down	down	ADP	RP	_	21	compound:prt	_	_
23	on	on	ADP	IN	_	25	case	_	_
24	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	25	det	_	_
25	mat	mat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	21	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
26	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	16	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **tell** *speech: assert* | past | the two children and the servant girl |  | children's father |  |  | about children *= child* | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent father=Recipient about they=Topic |
| 2 | **call** | past · passive |  | the two children and the servant girl |  |  |  |  | vn initiate\_communication-37.4.2-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: subject=Recipient |
| 3 | **sit down** | past | children *= child* |  |  | the mat |  |  | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent on mat=Location |

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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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