---
title: One of them said to the other: “Dove, ask the woman why she is cryin… — Kaffir folk-lore · tree and pragmatics
description: One of them said to the other: “Dove, ask the woman why she is crying.” Who acts: One, Dove, woman. 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 6

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One of them said to the other: “Dove, ask the woman why she is crying.”

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**Who acts:** One, Dove, woman · **What happens:** say, ask, cry · **To what, where:** other, woman · **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 (One, Dove, woman), 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:pg71335:17:6
# text = One of them said to the other: “Dove, ask the woman why she is crying.”
1	One	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	4	nsubj	_	_
2	of	of	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
3	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	1	nmod	_	_
4	said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	to	to	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	other	other	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	12	punct	_	_
9	“	"	PUNCT	``	_	12	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	Dove	dove	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
12	ask	ask	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	ccomp	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	woman	woman	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obj	_	_
15	why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	18	advmod	_	_
16	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	18	nsubj	_	_
17	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	18	aux	_	_
18	crying	cry	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	12	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	12	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	”	"	PUNCT	''	_	12	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | One of doves |  | the other |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V PP.recipient S-Quote»: agent=Agent to other=Recipient clause=Topic |
| 2 | **ask** *speech: ask* *in a quote* | infinitive | Dove |  | the woman |  |  |  | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent woman=Recipient |
| 3 | **cry** *speech: express* *in a quote* | present · progressive | woman |  |  |  |  |  | vn manner\_speaking-37.3 «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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