---
title: These were never of great size, the largest being the picks or heavy… — Kaffir folk-lore · tree and pragmatics
description: These were never of great size, the largest being the picks or heavy hoes used in gardening. Who acts: These. A sentence of «Kaffir folk-lore» by George McCall Theal, Introductory Chapter Regarding the Kaffirs., with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of every clause.
---

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# Kaffir folk-lore, Introductory Chapter Regarding the Kaffirs., sentence 211

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These were never of great size, the largest being the picks or heavy hoes used in gardening.

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**Who acts:** These · **What happens:** not be, be, use · **To what, where:** largest picks, gardening

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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 (These), 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:pg71335:2:211
# text = These were never of great size, the largest being the picks or heavy hoes used in gardening.
1	These	this	PRON	DT	Number=Plur|PronType=Dem	6	nsubj	_	_
2	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
3	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	6	advmod	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	great	great	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	size	size	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	6	punct	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
9	largest	large	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	12	amod	_	_
10	being	be	AUX	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	12	cop	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	picks	pick	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nmod	_	_
13	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	15	cc	_	_
14	heavy	heavy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	15	amod	_	_
15	hoes	hoe	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	12	conj	_	_
16	used	use	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	12	acl	_	_
17	in	in	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
18	gardening	gardening	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **is** | past | These |  |  |  |  | of great size | tree rules |
| 2 | **is a** | gerund |  | the largest picks or heavy hoes |  |  |  | heavy hoes *conj* | tree rules |
| 3 | **use** | participle |  | the largest picks or heavy hoes *not said here* |  | gardening |  |  | vn eat-39.1 «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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