---
title: Once when she was working in her garden, and crying as usual, two do… — Kaffir folk-lore · tree and pragmatics
description: Once when she was working in her garden, and crying as usual, two doves came and perched near her. Who acts: reason, two doves. 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 5

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Once when she was working in her garden, and crying as usual, two doves came and perched near her.

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**Who acts:** reason, two doves · **What happens:** work, cry, come, perch

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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 (reason, two doves), 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:pg71335:17:5
# text = Once when she was working in her garden, and crying as usual, two doves came and perched near her.
1	Once	once	ADV	RB	NumForm=Word|NumType=Mult	5	advmod	_	_
2	when	when	SCONJ	WRB	_	5	mark	_	_
3	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
4	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
5	working	work	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
6	in	in	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	8	nmod:poss	_	_
8	garden	garden	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
10	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	11	cc	_	_
11	crying	cry	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	5	advcl	_	_
12	as	as	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
13	usual	usual	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	17	punct	_	_
15	two	two	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	16	nummod	_	_
16	doves	dove	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	17	nsubj	_	_
17	came	come	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	parataxis	_	_
18	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	19	cc	_	_
19	perched	perch	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	17	conj	_	_
20	near	near	ADP	IN	_	21	case	_	_
21	her	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	19	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **work** | past · progressive | reason |  |  |  |  | in reason's garden; once *property* | vn employment-95.3 «NP V PP.theme»: agent=Agent in garden=Theme |
| 2 | **cry** *speech: express* | gerund | reason *not said here* |  |  |  |  | as usual | vn manner\_speaking-37.3 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **come** | past | two doves |  |  |  |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 4 | **perch** | past | two doves *not said here* |  |  |  |  | near reason | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Agent near she=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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