---
title: The height of ambition is to be mentioned in one of the rude chants… — Kaffir folk-lore · tree and pragmatics
description: The height of ambition is to be mentioned in one of the rude chants which the bards, whose principal employment is to sing the praises of the chief, compose on the occasions of festivals, and to hear one’s name received with applause. Who acts: rude chants, principal employment, one name. A sentence
---

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# Kaffir folk-lore, Introductory Chapter Regarding the Kaffirs., sentence 105

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The height of ambition is to be mentioned in one of the rude chants which the bards, whose principal employment is to sing the praises of the chief, compose on the occasions of festivals, and to hear one’s name received with applause.

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**Who acts:** rude chants, principal employment, one name · **What happens:** mention, bard, be, compose, hear, receive · **To what, where:** height, occasions, chief, festivals · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is a sentence of «Kaffir folk-lore» by George McCall Theal, Introductory Chapter Regarding the Kaffirs.. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (rude chants, principal employment, one name), 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:pg71335:2:105
# text = The height of ambition is to be mentioned in one of the rude chants which the bards, whose principal employment is to sing the praises of the chief, compose on the occasions of festivals, and to hear one’s name received with applause.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	height	height	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	ambition	ambition	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
5	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	aux:pass	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	8	mark	_	_
7	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	8	aux:pass	_	_
8	mentioned	mention	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
9	in	in	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	8	obl	_	_
11	of	of	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
13	rude	rude	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	14	amod	_	_
14	chants	chant	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	nmod	_	_
15	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	17	nsubj	_	_
16	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	17	det	_	_
17	bards	bard	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	14	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	24	punct	_	_
19	whose	whose	PRON	WP$	Poss=Yes|PronType=Rel	21	nmod:poss	_	_
20	principal	principal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	21	amod	_	_
21	employment	employment	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	24	nsubj	_	_
22	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	24	cop	_	_
23	to	to	PART	TO	_	24	mark	_	_
24	sing	sing	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	17	parataxis	_	_
25	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	26	det	_	_
26	praises	praise	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	24	obj	_	_
27	of	of	ADP	IN	_	29	case	_	_
28	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	29	det	_	_
29	chief	chief	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	26	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
30	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	31	punct	_	_
31	compose	compose	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	24	conj	_	_
32	on	on	ADP	IN	_	34	case	_	_
33	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	34	det	_	_
34	occasions	occasion	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	31	obl	_	_
35	of	of	ADP	IN	_	36	case	_	_
36	festivals	festival	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	34	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
37	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	40	punct	_	_
38	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	40	cc	_	_
39	to	to	PART	TO	_	40	mark	_	_
40	hear	hear	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	8	conj	_	_
41	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	43	nummod	_	SpaceAfter=No
42	’s	's	PART	POS	_	41	case	_	_
43	name	name	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	44	nsubj	_	_
44	received	receive	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	40	ccomp	_	_
45	with	with	ADP	IN	_	46	case	_	_
46	applause	applause	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	44	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
47	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	8	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mention** *speech: other* | present · passive |  | the height of ambition |  |  |  | in one of the rude chants | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: subject=Topic |
| 2 | **bard** |  | the rude chants |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **is** | present | principal employment |  |  |  |  | the praises of the chief *obj*; sing *property* | tree rules |
| 4 | **compose** | infinitive | principal employment *not said here* |  |  | the occasions of festivals |  |  | vn create-26.4-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 5 | **hear** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn see-30.1-1-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Experiencer clause=Stimulus |
| 6 | **receive** | past | one name |  |  |  |  | with applause | vn obtain-13.5.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 7 | **praise** |  |  | the chief |  |  |  |  | nom praise «communication transitive»: of=patient |
| 8 | **occasion** |  |  | festivals |  |  |  |  | nom occasion «event transitive»: of=patient |

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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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